Chris McCandless was a young man who hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness. He had donated all of his money, abandoned most of his possessions, and invented a new life for himself. Chris wanted to live off the grid and gain a true understanding of his life. However, his body was discovered 4 months after walking into the Alaskan Wilderness. Going on a 2-year hitchhiking journey made Chris discover himself and what he wanted. However, Chris made critical mistakes that could have been prevented easily if he had listened to advice given to him. Although some see Chris as brave and noble, Chris was not properly planned, and he isolated himself, pushed people away, and ultimately perished. He is unworthy of media attention. …show more content…
For example, “He scrupulously avoided contacting either his parents or Carine, the sister for whom he purportedly cared immensely” (Krakauer 125). The opposite side will defend Chris by saying Chris needed to escape from everyone and isolate himself to start fresh to discover who he was when he was not able to as a child, due to his home life of abuse. What they neglect to include in their argument is that throughout Chris’s journey, he pushed people who cared for him away and wanted to be isolated. It took him dying to realize happiness is only real when shared with others. He also had the opportunity to start a new life and be adopted by Franz, but declined the offer. For instance, “He noted, “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED” (Krakauer 189). Chris had an opportunity to “abandon” his old life like he wanted to as an adoptive grandson, but made his own decision not to accept. He met so many people along the way that cared for him and offered to help and give advice but ultimately declined those offers; this makes him responsible for his own demise. Chris only learned from his mistakes and actually cared for these people during his last