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What Is Chris Mccandless Journey In Into The Wild

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"Seemed like a kid who was looking for something, looking for something, just didn't know what it was" (Krakauer 42). As an individual Chris McCandless was looking for himself. In the non-fiction book Into The Wild written by Jon Krakauer, it talks about the spiritual journey Chris made to the Alaskan wilderness, alone.There comes a time in everyones lives when a person realizes the satisfaction in ones life is mediocre, when that person realizes they want something more. The community Chris was raised in often set guidelines that limited his freedom. Being an individual in a community, there are certain responsibilities that one has to the people around them and to oneself. It is worthwhile to go against one's community for personal beliefs …show more content…

Chris McCandless wanted more from himself as an individual rather than what the community wanted for him. Everyone has a deeper feeling of wanting something new in their lives, striving for something different. "I have always been unsatisfied with life as most people live it. Always I want to live more intensely and richly" (Krakauer 91). McCandless was discouraged by the idea of having the same routine day after day. There was a side to Chris that was out of touch with reality, he never went with the normal flow of things, he was an innovator. In the short story “Excerpts from Walden” that is often credited in the book, it says, "It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves" (Thoreau 3). Having the same routine every day takes out the adventure of an individuals and communities lives, this could have been one of the reasons Chris left his community, he wanted adventure and true happiness away from society that has rules we must follow. Leaving the community for a want that would benefit your future could possibly have a positive outcome for the community …show more content…

Leaving the community for moral decisions is thought of as an immoderation, or lack of personal restraint, rather than the yearning of something different that the individual has been longing for. Each individual is apart of a larger community, but full potential from an individual is suppressed by the community. In the Declaration of Independence it states “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”. This relates to opposing argument about community rights over individual rights, this text presents that each individual has a right to do what they want to do to find their happiness. Unavoidable pressure from society will happen, which may make an individual flee from its surroundings. The quality that makes a person different from others is important because when going against one’s community, and individual needs to have strong beliefs and a demand for something new. Chris McCandless was an example of an independent, willing, person who left his community despite all the bad regards to find

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Chris made a decision that he beloved would fulfill his most greatest desires and then finally find peace within himself. Chris went into the wild unprepared but some didn't believe he'd dare go farther out into the wild with the very little equipment he had. In chapter 1 Westerberg claims "I figured he’d be OK… I thought he’d probably get hungry pretty quick and just walk out to the

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According to Krakauer, who wrote the book of Chris McCandless’ life “Into The Wild”, Chris McCandless was a nonconformist that wasn't a good fit into society, within his own mind, and searching for himself out in the wilderness, from what I can perceive. I believe he had found what he was looking for right before his passing in the wild. He was always adventuring out when he was younger, by instinct. His parents were never really there with him or for him in a mental figurative way. He always believed the answers to everything was in the wild and in nature.

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In the words of John Krakauer “So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.” If asked to describe Chris Mcandless in Into The Wild one could say that he is simply foolish. Chris could have lived a longer life if he would have stayed in the comfort of his own hometown. Chris’ common sense was obliterated by his time in the wilderness. Not only did he throw common sense to the wind, he also went into the wild leaving behind many people who loved and cared deeply about him.

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“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” is an excerpt from “Walden,” one of the many texts that had influence on McCandless(Thoreau). Through his various annotations and markings on texts such as “Walden,” readers are able to identify McCandless’ overall purpose for shunning society, as clearly indicated in this excerpt, which was to reach some sort of epiphany or realization about his identity and life in general. Towards the end of Chris’ time spent in Alaska, he actually does reach an epiphany, that “…happiness [is] only real when shared…” (qtd. in Krakauer 189). This statement, written by McCandless, indicates that perhaps he had become more forgiving, tender-hearted, and finally appreciated the value of relationships.

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How would you react if you felt that your whole childhood was fake? If every happy and cherished moment spent with your parents as a child now just concealed itself in your memory as a lie? Well that’s how one young man felt after discovering a secret hidden from him by his parents for two whole decades. Chris McCandless was an intelligent person academically, truthful to himself and others, as well as an adventurous person who had an insightful view on the world. Chris despised phony people and being told what to do by others, so he wanted to live life by his own terms.

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After reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, I wondered to myself why I should even care about Chris McCandless. I can see how some think Chris McCandless was an idiot and he was trying to kill himself. After I dove deeper into this question, I learned that Chris McCandless story teaches us important life lessons. Chris McCandless teaches us to get out of our comfort zone. Ronald Franz was an older man who encountered Chris McCandless and gave him a ride from Salton City California to Grand Junction Colorado In Chris’s last letter to Ronald Franz, he says “So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation…

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Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a biography that follows Chris McCandless and his journey through the wilderness while finding himself along the way. Chris McCandless died in the August of 1992 after a four month journey through places like Mexico and Alaska. Krakauer investigates his actions and analyzes his identity after his death, trying to find meaning within his seemingly unnecessary expedition. Chris McCandless constructs his personal identity as a man who wanted to be challenged and inspired by his actions and interests with people he met on the road, and his beliefs and values as a stubborn person. Chris McCandless’s actions are unusual in many ways; for one, he graduates college with honors, but instead of pursuing a career,

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A common thought among adolescents is the dream to finally leave home and discover who they are; I certainly share this dream. Though the concept is common, the reasons are unique; The differences in character and circumstances define who a person is. What may appear reasonable to some could very well be completely irrational to another. The story of Chris McCandless as reported by Jon Krakauer in the biographic novel Into the Wild is no exception. From the events in his childhood to the conflict with his father, we can see that Chris McCandless, a young man still discovering himself, became disillusioned with the structure of society and desired nothing more than to “no longer be poisoned by civilization” (163).

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"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”- Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalism is an American philosophy that revolves around self-reliance and independence, commonly in nature, a Transcendentalist wants to find the true meaning in life. I believe that Chris McCandless was a Transcendentalist because he was able to leave his whole life behind and take on a minimalist lifestyle while having a strong relationship with god. However, I believe that I am not a Transcendentalist, but simply an adventurer.

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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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Individualism is when a person has achieved non-conformity, self-reliance, free-thought, confidence, and finding one’s self through nature. Although individualism may be achieved in society, it cannot be fully achieved until one removes himself from society. Chris McCandless did exactly that; he removed himself from society by backpacking and hitchhiking throughout the United States to test and achieve individualism. McCandless’s last great adventure was to Alaska to fully obtain individualism, unfortunately, he died trying to find his spiritual belonging and individualism. Many people would think it was absurd that Chris left his family and threw his life away, and they would think that he was not justified in leaving society, however, Chris McCandless was justified in leaving society because by doing so he could achieve non-conformity and self-reliance without being oppressed.

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Before and during his journey he read books by men who heavily focused their lives on philosophy, even their stories carried out their messages of their philosophy on life; which I’m sure influenced, if not, inspired Chris to seek out these philosophies first hand to experience himself. Leo Tolstoy rejected his inherited and earned wealth, similar to how Chris decided to leave a very abundant wealthy life that was in the grasp of his fingers. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a very bright man, who could’ve made such a

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“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” ―Maya Angelou. Jon Krakauer’s true story titled Into the Wild is about a man who decides to throw away his old life and escape the rules of conventional society. Twenty-two-year-old Chris McCandless came from a well-to-do family in Virginia and, without warning, abandons everything. He changes his name, loses contact with his family, gives away his car and all his money, and begins a two-year long journey hitchhiking to Alaska where he eventually dies of starvation.

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By changing his identity and leaving society, he felt he was shedding the fake elements of his past and evolving into a person he wanted to be. Chris McCandless did not depart on his transcendental quest to die, he ventured into the wilderness to kill the disappointments of his

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