How Is Chris Mccandless Justified In Into The Wild

Ryzz
Mrs. Moffat
English 5-6
11 January 2023
Was Chris Justified? In John Krakauers book Into the Wild, a man named Chris McCandless left everyone he knew in his hometown of Annandale, Virginia as he hitchhiked to Alaska. He burned all of his money and left behind most of his personal belongings, in order to live life to the fullest in the wild. Chris McCandless was justified in leaving his family to travel in the wild simply because he was old enough to decide to cut ties with his abusive family and be happier in life. The first reason to justify Chris is the fact that he was old enough to make that decision on his own. During the story of Walt—Chris’s father—it is very clearly stated that Chris was over 21 at the time he left for his journey across the country. “On February 12, 1968, Billie gave birth to a son.. Twenty-two years later, rangers from the National Park service would find..” (106). Some could argue that the male brain isn’t done developing at twenty-one, however, he clearly didn’t make this decision on a whim as teenagers are notorious for.

When discussing Chris’s childhood, it states, “Now and then the tension erupted in verbal sparring. In moments of anger one or the other often threatened divorce” (107). Carine mentions that these sparrs were a factor as to why her and Chris were so close. “We learned to count on each other when Mom and Dad weren’t getting along” (107). In a documentary outside form the book, it’s mentioned that Billie and her children suffered physical abuse from Walt, as well as Chris recieving mental abuse from Billie—her saying things such as “If you weren’t born we wouldnt be stuck with him” and so