Analysis Of Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

Under the eyes of a young child, the modern society looks so innocent, fills with limelight, but as one grows up, he realized the world that he about to explore is not the same as he once thought. Deep under the layer of that pure, virtuous view is the layer of darkness, corrupted, complicated society in which people changed completely-from a sheep to a wolf-to adapt to the tough environment. Most people will accept the transformation, but there are also others who want to resist the change. Chris McCandless belongs to the resistance group as he decided to leave his society to find a better world, a world in which he could live a simple life, with no money and other materialistic objects. With his tragic death, he was criticized by the public

Jon Krakauer, the men behind the book Into the Wild, gave us the details about McCandless’s family. Having a father who worked for NASA as well as being “the test director for the Surveyor 1 mission, the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the moon” (106) along with a mother, who also processed a great education background, McCandless’s family set itself apart from other ordinary families. Their son and daughter received their unbelievable genes of intelligence as Chris McCandless was full of natural talents and proved himself as genius student, always get A and B on his report card. According to Krakauer, McCandless was said to be “a high achiever in almost everything that caught his fancy” (109). Their daughter, Carine McCandless, was smart and bright just like her own brother. Peaceful as well as exciting family’s atmosphere seem to present most of the time in the family as the house brimmed with memories, from camping trips to simple family

His family was proved to be the main reason why McCandless left for his journey toward Alaskan wilderness-to find freedom and peace without being involved with his parents. Jon Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild, stressed that the incident in which McCandless discovered his dad wrongdoing act as a catalyst that lead to his angered: “Long after falling in love with Billie, long after she gave birth to Chris, Walt continued his relationship with Marcia in secret, dividing his time between two households, two families.” The discovery fueled McCandless hatred toward his family as he lost all respect to his father, the one he looked up to, the one that he considered as his role model. McCandless was upset and angered by his father’s action, which explain why he left his family, even leaving his sister behind, the person who was said to be the closest person to McCandless. As if knowing that his father cheated on his mother while continue his relationship with his old wife was not enough, the real truth about McCandless’s father was completely exposed, as Carine Mccandless released her own book The Wild Truth, revealing the naked reality of the world McCandless