Chris Mccandless Unprepared In Into The Wild

Throughout the course of Jon Krakauer’s Into The Wild the reader can see that time and time again Chris McCandless is unprepared for what lies ahead of him, which is why he is not a noble man, nor should his journey be considered noble. While it is true that McCandless had gone on adventures before, nothing had prepared him for the bitter cold climate and the lack of food he had in Alaska. McCandless was not prepared physically or mentally and he did not bring anywhere near enough supplies for someone planning to spend the summer in the harsh environment of Alaska. While it wasn’t foolish for Chris to go out and try to find happiness for himself, it was foolish of him to have been unprepared to begin a difficult adventure in Alaska. Chris McCandless

An example citing his lack of mental strength was when he killed the moose. When McCandless killed the moose he, “castigated himself severely for the waste of a life he’d taken” (Krakauer 167). McCandless was not mentally prepared for taking the life of another living being which caused him to become depressed after killing the moose. Had he been mentally prepared he would have been able to kill the moose and realize that it was a necessary evil. He would have been content with his actions, but instead he beat himself up for taking another living creature’s life. He even goes as far as saying, “I now wish I had never shot the moose. One of the greatest tragedies of my life” (Krakauer 167). Another example of McCandless’ mental unpreparedness can be seen when he was discovered by Ken Thompson, Gordon Samel and Ferdie Swanson. They found the letter that said, “S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here. I am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of God, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless” (Krakauer 12). This letter from McCandless to any potential visitors shows his lack of mental coping ability to be able to survive on his own and unfortunately at this point it was too late. Had McCandless been more mentally prepared he would have known that as soon as he started becoming weak he should have left the bus and gone back to civilization, but he instead tried to continue on his own which cost him his