McCandless Journey to Death
Chris McCandless was a well educated and smart man that was eager to leave everything behind and start a new life. McCandless believed that he would truly find himself in nature. He left his old life when the compassion to start a new life, but his arrogance and underestimations over nature caused him to walk into the wild unprepared. McCandless believed that he would conquer nature with his intelligence and academic abilities but he didn 't realize how nature worked until it was too late. McCandless visions of his reality Distorted his views which lead to his failure.
Christopher had an overestimated skill before walking into the wild that lead him to struggle to survive in his Journey. McCandless went on his journey
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Later on in the book it is discovered that Chris might have changed his mind about his philosophies. Christopher learns from nature that one can become very lonely and ill being in the wild. In the article the New Yorker there is a quote from Alex’s journal that states “ SOS I NEED YOUR HELP. I AM INJURED, NEAR DEATH, AND TO WEAK TOO 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 CHRIS McCANDLESS AUGUST?” (KraKauer The New Yorker 3).This quote from christopher 's journal is very important because it shows that McCandless began to feel isolated in the wild and was desperate to get out of the wild and back into society. When Chris McCandless was asked why he was walking into the wild he responded that he was tired of society and wanted to start fresh. McCandless believed that the only way to start fresh was to leave everything behind. In the book it summarizes that Christopher McCandless gathered the remaining amount of money he had and set it on fire p29. This information proves that Chris McCandless wanted to have a fresh start and left all his values behind him. When Chris McCandless began to hitchhike his way up to Alaska he introduced himself as someone else to protect his identity from the past. In the book it reads “ Fishing for a last …show more content…
Christopher McCandless was a smart and studious man in school, but not in nature. When Chris McCandless walked into the wild he was confident and underestimated the control of nature. Therefore Chris McCandless corpse was found four months after by some moose hunters. Christophers underestimation over nature lead him to pack a very light load for the time he was going to be out in the wild. In the book it read that “Chris McCandless had way to light of a load to be out in the woods for several months”p4. This proves that Christopher McCandless was underestimating nature when he decided to go into the wild and was confident that he understood nature well enough to survive off of that very light load. When Christopher McCandless was asked by Gallien if he was sure he was ready to go into the wild he never had doubt in his plans, he was eager to start! The text summarizes that Chris was very confident about walking into the wild that no matter what people said he was extremely excited to go to Alaska p6. This piece of evidence is important to analyze because it provides evidence that McCandless underestimated Alaska and believed he would be just fine. When McCandless was in Alaska he would dig up and eat sweet-pea plants without realizing the poisonous wild potato plant looked nearly the same. The book summarizes that That McCandless left a message in his
In the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless had many decisions to leave his old life behind and start over. Chris’ decision to leave was justified for the following reasons. When he suddenly disappeared, it made it easier for him to let go of his past and focus on what he wants to do in the future. McCandless could make all his own decisions, nobody had a chance to tell him that he could not leave and certainly did not allow anyone to find out where he was going. Finally he didn’t agree to social norms.
"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.
Chris McCandless was in his early 20’s, he was the kind of that guy that wanted to learn and experience life without all of the material things. He wanted to be independent from his parents and friends so Chris did something that would be insane for most of us humans but to him, it wasn’t. He went into the wild of Alaska for months, in fact, McCandless even thought he could make it out alive at the end of his journey. As a matter of fact, he was known as being a risk taker and enjoyed being out and about in the nature side of the world. Many would believe that Chris McCandless went into the wild to purposely kill himself; however, I myself believe that McCandless did not do it purposely.
Throughout the course of Jon Krakauer’s Into The Wild the reader can see that time and time again Chris McCandless is unprepared for what lies ahead of him, which is why he is not a noble man, nor should his journey be considered noble. While it is true that McCandless had gone on adventures before, nothing had prepared him for the bitter cold climate and the lack of food he had in Alaska. McCandless was not prepared physically or mentally and he did not bring anywhere near enough supplies for someone planning to spend the summer in the harsh environment of Alaska. While it wasn’t foolish for Chris to go out and try to find happiness for himself, it was foolish of him to have been unprepared to begin a difficult adventure in Alaska. Chris McCandless
Into The Wild portrays a man who went on a fatal unforgettable journey through the alaska wilderness. Chris McCandless was a man with great courage and the ability to live on his own made him more of a hero going on his fatal journey. Many would say he was foolish or not thinking right, but that is not the case. The case here is simply a man with courage wanting to fulfill is beliefs through his journey. One may ask what is courage.
Chris was the type of person that wouldn’t accept handouts from anyone. While hitchhiking in Alaska, Chris was picked up by Jim Gallien who offered Chris supplies. As krakauer writes “Gallien reached behind the seat, pulled out an old pair of rubber boots, and persuaded the boy to take them. They were too big for him, Gallien recalls” (Krakauer 7). Chris was the type of person that wanted to learn things on his own and do thing his way.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
He made a lot of mistakes based on arrogance. I don’t admire him at all for his courage nor his noble ideas. Really, I think he was just plain crazy,” shows that Shaun believes Chris had no common sense in his doing for leaving society for the wild. I agree with Callarman’s position of thinking “ he had no common sense” and that he was “bright and Ignorant” because Chris thinks he did not have much to offer in his society, ditched all his possessions to take a trip into the Alaskan Wilderness and did not have much common sense or survival skills. Chris McCandless was very courageous for ditching all his possessions to take a trip in the wilderness.
Christopher McCandless, the protagonist of the novel and film Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, is not your average guy. Driven by his minimalist ideals and hate for society, he challenged the status quo and embarked on a journey that eventually lead to his unforeseen demise. A tragic hero, defined by esteemed writer, Arthur Miller, is a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on tragedy. Christopher McCandless fulfills the role of Miller’s tragic hero due to the fact that his tragic flaw of minimalism and aversion towards society had lead him to his death.
Chris McCandless was a college student with a need for adventure. On April 28, 1992, he left on a journey which would lead to the end of his life. After news of his death had reached public ear, most people came to the same conclusion: Chris McCandless was an uneducated, arrogant boy who went on a journey seeking death. However, in the novel Into the Wild, Jon Krakaur portrays Chris McCandless’ transcendental quest as a journey full of wonder. Throughout the novel, Krakaur defines McCandless as an intelligent, hard working, determined young man.
Doing everything flawless with no agitation and finessing the trip to Alaska to fall short to a poisonous plant. The only thing that McCandless could have done to survive would probably be not crossing the river because that was the main complication that got him stuck. To conclude, I would agree with Shaun Callarman at the end because there was plenty of evidence on how inadequate Christopher McCandless’s decisions were and how unpredictable his situation was. There was no other way this journey could have ended for McCandless except if he just stayed home from the beginning. Overall, he was amateurish and incompetent person that could not accomplish his dream, but did inspire endless people to follow their dreams and achieve nature tranquility.
Because he is not prepared, McCandless dies in a bus he finds. Chris had every intention of coming back to civilization, but sadly eats something poisonous and is unable to get it out of his system. Prior to eating the poisonous food, Chris tries to cross the river that he had easily traveled through in the spring. Since it is now winter, he is unable to do so and is forced to retreat back to the bus. Though the book focuses on McCandless, it tells brief stories of other men who have gone into nature and passed away as well.