What Is Christopher Mccandless Tension In Into The Wild

1024 Words5 Pages

Christopher McCandless was a recent college graduate who decided to abandon the entirety of his past life and restart with a nomadic, self-sufficient lifestyle in Alaska's wilderness. On Tuesday, April 28, 1992, McCandless entered the wild, ceasing all forms of human interaction; this was the last time he was seen alive. Jon Karkauer's, Into The Wild, combines the findings of his passionate, in-depth investigation using firsthand information extracted from McCandless's personal journal, letters, and interviews with his family members in order to tell the story of McCandless' adventure across the country that eventually ended his life. Additionally, using longform journalism, Karkauer explores the motivations behind McCandless's decision; in …show more content…

His family endured a lot of suffering by not knowing what had happened to their adored Christopher. The book describes his parents, especially his father, as very authoritative and demanding. Additionally, McCandless was very bothered that his father was married to a woman who was not his mother when he was born, subsequently making his a bastard. This tension is illustrated in the book and suggested to be one of the reasons McCandless felt little remorse about his actions. However, since the publishing of the story, McCandless' sister, Carine, has become more vocal about their abusive home life during their childhood. In a 2014 interview with ABC News, Carine revealed just how abusive her father was, stating "he would be choking her, and she -- in between her breath -- she would be screaming out for help, and when he released her and walked out, she would run over to us and put her arms around us, and she would apologize to us," in reference to his father beating their mother. McCandless had to act as Carine's protector and was a witness to his mother's abuse; one can only imagine the impact this could have on a young child. In addition to the natural desire for self-exploration, McCandless was physically distancing himself from the pain of his

Open Document