Chris Mccandless Negative Effect

People are drawn to others with confidence, people who are confident enough in themselves to do what makes them happy, not what society expects of them. Chris McCandless was no exception to this. This is why people like Jan Burres, a drifter; Ronald Franz, an eighty year-old widower; and Wayne Westerberg, the owner of a mill, were greatly impacted by Chris. Each of these people are merely a few of the many who were impacted by his unique outlook on life and risky behavior. Most of those who has met the young man were intrigued by him, wanting to know more about his philosophies and his drive that had gotten him so far. Chris’ determined and risk-seeking attitude left a strong and positive impact on most of those who had crossed his path. Of

People who are risk-takers are quite common, everyone has taken a risk at some point in their life, and usually are not a cause of worry for parents. Risk-taking is a natural part of life and has many benefits on a person’s attitude. These benefits may be psychological, such as gaining confidence, social, such as becoming more assertive, and/or physical, such as gaining more strength. (Taylor) Though, like everything in this world, it can be taken too far. When parents try to hold back their children from taking risks during their developmental years, they lash out and/or become overconfident in their abilities, like McCandless. In Forbes, author Kathy Caprino explains the effects of parents holding their children back from taking risks. She said, “If parents remove risk from children’s lives, we will likely experience high arrogance and low self-esteem in our growing leaders” (forbes.com) This could possibly explain why Chris felt it necessary to go on long journeys with little contact with his family. His few experiences with risk-taking were successful, so he became overconfident in his abilities and did not want people to try and stop him from going on these adventures. So, he cut off contact with his family the first chance he

She and her boyfriend, Bob, were fascinated by him and wanted to get to know the young man on a deeper level. However, just because Jan admired McCandless’ dedication, she did not necessarily agree with his actions. She understood how his parents must have felt, because she herself could relate to them. Constantly worrying about their son, wondering if he was okay, was something Jan had to go through every single day. She desperately tried to convince Chris to contact his parents, but was unsuccessful. She would ask him, “Have you let your parents know what you’re up to? Does your mom know you’re going to Alaska? Does your dad know?”, but it was all for not, he was stubborn and would immediately shut down when she began to question him. Nevertheless, she would keep trying, because of the situation between her and her son. Saying, “I would want someone to look after him like I tried to look after Alex” (Krakauer, 45). She, of course, was worried about him and his behavior. She tried to warn McCandless of the dangers of his actions, but he refused to listen to her. She cared for McCandless deeply and wanted nothing more than to help him. Though, all efforts she made to try to help the young man were all for nothing, as he would not listen, and he assured her that he would be okay on his own. This did leave Jan