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Guaranteed Chris Mccandless Analysis

1216 Words5 Pages

Guequierre, Clara-Lou

A Death “Guaranteed” by a Lifetime of Choices

“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.” (198) Chris McCandless was alone. For 144 days he had persevered in the harsh Alaskan wilderness, and now he lay starving in the sleeping bag his mother sewed for him years before, taking his final breath. The journey he took to get to this final resting place was winding and northbound, and the song “Guaranteed” by Eddie Vedder is a homage to the dying moments of Chris McCandless through sweeping musical elements, lyrics and literary …show more content…

This idea is best shown in Vedder’s line “I know all the rules but the rules did not know me/ Guaranteed.” First and foremost, this line shows Chris’s moment of death because the lyrics proceeding are wholly in present tense, and this line alone transitions into past tense, indicating that McCandless has passed away. Along with the allusion to McCandless’s death, Vedder encompasses Chris’s motives in the single line. Chris understood society, and despised it. His rejection of society is what prompted his ultimate and final journey into the wild. McCandless expresses this disdain in many ways throughout the book, including the authors he worshiped, books he read, and passages he underlined, such as a quote from Doctor Zhivago, which reads: “Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence, from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature apparently so inarticulate or in the wordlessness of long, grinding labor, of sound sleep, or of a human understanding rendered speechless by emotion!” (189) This clearly shows that Chris valued what he believed a restless life in the wilderness could give him over what he surmised society could. This belief influenced Chris’s decisions throughout his life, and is reflected in Vedder’s

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My reaction to this quote would be that I would agree with what Chris had to do with his car because if the engine wouldn’t work then there would be no use for it. This quote implies that Chris McCandless didn’t have a choice to leave his car. It represents how much he is wanting to forget about his past and to start a new

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Compare and Contrast Argument Essay Christopher McCandless and Adam Shepard were both two young men who graduated from college. Right after college McCandless left his family and left everything behind to show that one does not need anyone but oneself. McCandless’s goal was too show everyone that he was self reliant. On the other hand, Shepherd was a young college graduate that decides to embark on a year long project trying to prove that the American dream is still achievable.

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Throughout the novel, Krakauer uses strategies to demonstrate comparisons between himself and Christopher McCandless. These comparisons effectively show that Chris was sane enough to make his own decisions regarding Alaska. One of the reasons why Krakauer wrote this book was because he experienced a natural liking for McCandless. Ever since his initial encounter with McCandless’s story while working at the Outside magazine company, his affinity towards the young adventurer grew by leaps and bounds. This affinity came from the very similar experiences the two were involved in.

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In particular Chris Mccandless should be supported for he had things happen to him that led up to the point where he wanted to go into the wild to get away from his old life and created a new one for himself to have more opportunities. Others may think he shouldn’t be supported just because he some bad flaws he had and also that he just left his sister who he actually got along with, but here are some reasons that are logical and reasonable to why Chris Mccandless should be supported. One of the reasons why readers should support Chris McCandless is because he is generous, he gave people inspiration, or felt inspired by others, and like in the book Krakauer tells us “Chris’s Father suggested the boy had probably been inspired. ”(94),his way of living inspired everyone that you can live anyway you want.

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494 Words | 2 Pages

McCandless based many of his actions on things he read by his role models. He developed an ideal society on the teachings of authors like Estwick Evans. Estwick Evans says, “I wished to acquire the...virtues of savage life; to divest myself of the...imperfections of civilization...and to find...more correct views of human nature” (Krakauer 157). McCandless, therefore, rebels against society in order to enjoy the savage life. Chris

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663 Words | 3 Pages

McCandless’s self-reliance is a big part of identifying him as transcendentalist. In the short story, “Death of an Innocent”, Chris says, “I've decided that I'm going to live this life for some time to come. The freedom and simple beauty of it is just too good to pass up.” McCandless feels that life should not be wasted doing what you do not love, and shows this by traveling and living off the land every chance he gets. Transcendentalists take in all of what nature has to give them by becoming one with it; like McCandless does throughout the story.

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1019 Words | 5 Pages

I think Chris McCandless felt unfufilled in his life of privilege, and wanted to go out and experience life how he wanted to for awhile, and live freely. Chris may even still be alive today, had he been more prepared. Chris McCandless has always been a bit of a rebel. His spiritual awakening, has led him to quit society. He

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Chris McCandless: A Reckless Idiot Chris McCandless was a reckless idiot and there is no denying that basic truth. Chris McCandless was a man born into a middle class family. Chris had parents that loved him, a roof over his head, and food to eat. Despite all those riches he had, he threw them away. Chris was a very selfish man.

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Perspective of Christopher McCandless’s Life Callarman’s argument to Christopher McCandless’s is relatable and understanding, but he does not see the full picture. Christopher McCandless had everything in his life: money, material, family, prestige etc. but the only thing he wanted to fully experience is the outside world, to get out of his comfort zone and see how nature really feels like. I would agree with Callarman’s argument because he was arrogant and unenlightenment, but I also would disagree because he died doing what he loved and a place he wanted to be.

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McCandless believed that his mind was better than a map and that he could trust his instinct. Chris’s confidence told him that his opinion was better than any opinion out there, and that he could live his life without others useless ideas. McCandless was very confident in his idea, like he should be with the grades that he got in college. Emerson writes, “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind” (Emerson 4). Opinions are very important because that’s what makes a human different.

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While Pat Boone’s cover of “Ain’t That a Shame” (1955), originally performed by Fats Domino, has many similarities to the original, there are a few differences that alter the song and arguably its meaning. Although the two versions have nearly the same rhythm, harmony, and form; the groove, vocal delivery, and a subtle lyric change make the two versions of the song quite distinct. Because of these differences, the Fats Domino version of the song has a much more easygoing and optimistic vibe than the Pat Boone cover, which seemingly puts more emphasis on the heartbreak described in the lyrics. Additionally, the alterations Pat Boone made to the original song allows him to appeal more to a white, conservative audience. Despite Pat Boone putting

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1125 Words | 5 Pages

Chris McCandless abandoned the modern world and chose the wild because he believed that he could improve himself through living in the wild, and found the true happiness of the life. McCandless abandoned his wealthy family because of his complicated relationship with his father, and he was ashamed with his father’s adultery. Therefore, McCandless believed that human relationship was not the only thing that forms happiness, instead a man’s connection with the nature brings joy as well. He also believed the habitual lifestyle was not what people were meant to do, and people shouldn't have more possessions than what they need. For this reason, McCandless traveled with little effects.

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1040 Words | 5 Pages

He was not concerned with the trivial details of life that most people would have. He constantly tried to get away from society. Chris never wanted to stay in a place for too long. He had a mentality of “Don’t come closer or I’ll have to go / Holding me like gravity are places that pull” (Vedder, Guaranteed). Whenever Chris got close to someone he would always leave.

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664 Words | 3 Pages

What really drove Chris McCandless into the wild? I believe the top three of the countless reasons that drove McCandless into the wild was the emotional damage from his parents, rebellion of the youth & risk taking tendencies, and his hubris and detestation against authority and/or someone telling him what to do. Some may believe that Chris McCandless went into the wild because of his literary heroes Leo Tolstoy, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau , and Jack London but the real reason he left everything was because of those reasons. In this essay I will elaborate on why I believe those are the reasons that drove McCandless into the wild.

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703 Words | 3 Pages

If someone has not suffered a similar inner turmoil, it would be easy for them to misunderstand his actions and assume that he was just an uneducated, crazy man. Chris McCandless despised the phoniness of the world around him and wanted to escape it by engaging in a, “climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution” (pg. 112). These thoughts are similar to those experienced by people who struggle with depression. Chris McCandless felt that he was living in a world full of superficial beings whose only concern was what other people thought of them. His solution was to journey into the wild where he would, “no longer answer to Chris McCandless he was now Alexander Supertramp, master of his own destiny” (pg. 18).

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