The Alaskan Wilderness: cold, lonely and, for some people, their final resting place. John Krakauer’s book “Into the Wild” describes the story of Chris McCandless, who was a normal American man on the verge of entering adulthood with a college degree, over $20,000 in savings, and a beloved Datsun car who met his fate in Alaska. One day, he dropped everything to live alone, and eventually die alone, in the middle of nowhere, Alaska. Chris McCandless believed that conformity was too restrictive. He trusted that anyone could find true happiness and passion by leaving everything behind and starting a new lifestyle, which would allow for him to become free and independent. His traits, and choices, helped him live a life of high quality.
When McCandless left his whole entire life behind, he went on the
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Krakauer states, “Then on June 9, he bagged the biggest prize of all: ‘MOOSE!’ he recorded in the journal. Overjoyed, the proud hunter took a photograph of himself kneeling over his trophy, rifle thrust triumphantly overhead, his features distorted in a rictus of ecstasy and amazement.” (166). McCandless got a sense of overwhelming pride and joy when he accomplished things on his own. He was not one to accept help from anyone because he thought it would decrease the value of his accomplishments. Krakauer mentions an instance where Wayne Westerburg, an old boss of McCandless’s, tried to give McCandless some assistance: “‘I even offered to buy him a plane ticket to Fairbanks, which would have let him work an extra ten days and still get to Alaska by the end of April, but he said, ‘No, I want to hitch north. Flying would be cheating. It would wreck the whole trip.’” (67). Ultimately, McCandless’s refusal of any help allowed even the smallest accomplishment to be a big deal. McCandless found happiness in doing everything alone, which helped him live a good life, full of value and