Chris Mccandless Into The Wild: A Nonconformist

Into The Wild was a tremendous story which Shaun Callarman did not have many positive things to say about Chris McCandless, the main character. He went on this adventure to find out what life is all about in his own eyes. He wanted to see how different living in the wild really was compared to society because he was not satisfied with his living arrangements and household. Shaun’s quote says that he thinks “Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant at the same time. He had no common sense, and he had no business going into Alaska with his Romantic silliness. 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.

In life some feel the need to prove something to others. That they are better, stronger, or even more intelligent. Whatever the case may be people will go through extreme measures to prove themselves. But who do we really need to prove anything to? Is it our parents? Friends? Enemies? Or is it even ourselves? Chris McCandless, deceased adventurer from “Into the Wild”, underwent many obstacles that seems highly ridiculous. Certain physical and mental challenges that could have prevented, Chris decided to do defying the chance of death or severe injury. But the real misunderstanding is who was Chris proving his manhood too?

Into The Wild was a tremendous story which Shaun Callarman did not have many positive things to say about Chris McCandless, the main character. He went on this adventure to find out what life is all about in his own eyes. He wanted to see how different living in the wild really was compared to society because he was not satisfied with his living arrangements and household. Shaun’s quote says that he thinks “Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant at the same time. He had no common sense, and he had no business going into Alaska with his Romantic silliness. 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 since leaving society for the wild. I agree with Callarman’s position of thinking “ he had no common sense” and that

“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. Although it may seem as though Chris McCandless is immature or reckless, he is actually rather admirable for his ideals because they allow him to live a life he is happy with.

Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that protests culture and society. Toward the end of Chris McCandless’s life he started to show many signs of a transcendentalist. Unlike Thoreau Chris was not in it for his love of nature, but to free himself from a corrupt world and a bitter society. "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 conservatism, 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." (Krakauer p. 57)

Chris lived in a way most of us will never get to experience. He lived his life to the fullest, and more importantly he lived the way he wanted to. This alone should be some solace to his family. Really Chris was a nice person who people loved to be around. Just talking to him for a little while would show this. In Into the Wild it says, “ The more they talked, the less Alex struck Gallien as a nutcase” (Krakauer 6). This really shows that Alex, or Chris, was a bright person who, on the outside looked like a strange vagabond was really a well educated person. More important, however, is the fact that Chris had a positive impact on everyone he met. A prime example of this would be another traveler he met named Jan Burres. In the book said, “ We got to talking. He was a nice kid” (Krakauer 22). Jan also said, “ He was a really good kid. We thought the world of him” (Krakauer 23). If Chris could earn the respect and love of people who he had just met, this shows a lot about his character and who he was. However let us not forget the fact of the kind of person he was on the inside. On the inside he was like a raging bull whose anger was focused mainly at his parents.

I am in agreement with Krakauer on the fact that Chris McCandless was not a sociopath

In particular Chris Mccandless should be supported for he had things happen to him that led up to the point where he wanted to go into the wild to get away from his old life and created a new one for himself to have more opportunities. Others may think he shouldn’t be supported just because he some bad flaws he had and also that he just left his sister who he actually got along with, but here are some reasons that are logical and reasonable to why Chris Mccandless should be supported.

The line between rational and irrational thought is often blurred for some more than others. Usually when we cross this line into irrational thought our brain will let us know that what we are doing isn’t within reason. While many believe that Christopher McCandless was crazy and his ideas were ludicrous; I believe that he saw the line between rational and irrational thought very clearly, and that all though some of his ideas may have seemed crazy to some, he carried them out in sane body and mind. Chris was an extremist, a radical youth with different ways of thinking, and often we as a society tend to identify someone as crazy when we cannot comprehend the reasoning behind why a person would do something. Chris was not crazy, but he was

Chris McCandless was a reckless idiot and there is no denying that basic truth. Chris McCandless was a man born into a middle class family. Chris had parents that loved him, a roof over his head, and food to eat. Despite all those riches he had, he threw them away. Chris was a very selfish man. Chris went off after he graduated college and “lived off the land”. Chris would travel to the coast of Mexico, the plains of Kansas, and the dunes of Nevada. Chris went on a final expedition to Alaska that cost him everything. In the following paragraphs I will fully detail how Chris was reckless, selfish, and naive. I will also explore how Chris tied his life to the beliefs of transcendentalism. One thing to not forget:

He wasn’t afraid of not coming back alive. So when he went into the wild in Alaska, Chris felt like he was for sure going to come back and publish the book that he has written throughout his journey to show others that taking risks like this is totally okay. Unfortunately for Chris it wasn’t okay. I believe that he did not intend to “kill himself” for going into the wild with basically nothing. He wanted to go in there without really anything so that he can make things that were in the nature. “Chris didn’t think twice about risking his own life…”(Carine McCandless 128). I absolutely think that this quote about Chris is very true because he was so into finding new adventures to take, to enjoy and be happy with

Into the wild, is a book by Jon Krakauer that later got turned into a film by Sean Penn, it follows the life of Christopher McCandless, who graduated from Emory University as a top student and athlete with wealthy pushing parents. Instead of continuing his life as a working man of society and taking his offers at top law schools, he decides to ultimately completely disconnect himself from society and instead tries to find his own meaning of life in the wild. Shaun Callarman says “ I think that Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant at the same time.” and i really agree with him on that because

Unlike the book, the movie portrays him as a very friendly and likeable person. This is conflicting to the book were in reality Chris wasn’t always a nice person often times he was abrasive. A great example to this is that in the book, Chris’ relationship with Tracy is very one sided. Tracy has a huge crush on Chris but Chris doesn’t like her much. While the movie shows them dating. The problem with showing the viewer that Chris is this wonderful person all the time is that it’s fake. Showing the character’s his faults makes him more relatable. On top of that Chris is very intriguing on his outlooks of the life he lives adding a sort of mysterious enigma to his character. “Some readers admired the boy immensely for his courage and noble ideals; other fulminated that he was a reckless idiot, a wacko, a narcissist who perished out of arrogance and stupidity—and was undeserving of the considerable media attention he received” (Krakauer – Author’s Note).

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. In addition, McCandless thought he could found the solution to his frustration with the adultery of his father, and found the true happiness for his life through escaping into the wild.

Chris McCandless, the main character of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, leaves his family, identity, money and much more to pursue his dream of living in the wild. But why does he do it? Chris is searching for his true self. Although very smart Chris grew up with a difficult childhood. He wants to escape his past, leave his family and start something new. His numerous tests of both his physical and mental abilities are proof of his determination. Simplifying and doing what he wants was what he knew he had to do to make the most out of his life.