Chris Mccandless Pursuit Of Happiness In Into The Wild

Jake Soiriano

Mr. Nargazian

English Period: 3

22 February, 2022

Chasing Happiness; Chris McCandless The American Adventurer Happiness is something that you achieve, happiness is not given, it is gained. In the non-fiction book, Into the Wild, John Krakauer tells the story of Christopher McCandless, an American adventurer searching for an individualistic pursuit of happiness. McCandless grew up privileged in Virginia with a poor relationship with his parents. McCandless was given his whole life ahead of him by his parents, but he had different plans. McCandless was in search of freedom and his goal lay in Fairbanks Alaska. McCandless, viewed as ill prepared or even an idiot, sought individualist happiness through pursuit of adventure, rejection of societal norms and given material things, but finally discovered happiness must be shared as being alone is much too difficult.

When one is to venture off into the wild, they seek freedom and escape from society. McCandless was no exception; he sought personal growth and freedoms which led him to be unprepared. Some call him idiotic, but why? He did it to find true happiness. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, in his essay Self Reliance when discussing his distaste for

In Into the Wild McCandless is discussing his early life and reflecting on his childhood when he claims, "It is easy, when you are young, to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want something badly enough, it is your God-given right to have it." (Krakauer 155). I believe this shows how McCandless had desires and things he felt he deserved, but the things his parents gave him did not represent him or his efforts for those things. I believe this shows McCandless' hard working spirit as he was passionate about chasing his love for