How can one person be the same but be different at the same time? In the novel, “Into the Wild”, author Jon Krakuaer shares how Chris Mccandless was able to change himself into a man known as Alex Supertramp. After Chris Mccandless graduated from college he made the decision to leave everything behind and travel alone with no money, gear, or responsibility to anyone or anything. Slowly over time Jon Krakuaer reveals characteristics of Mccandless that showed how he became a different man at the end of his life.
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.
After reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, I wondered to myself why I should even care about Chris McCandless. I can see how some think Chris McCandless was an idiot and he was trying to kill himself. After I dove deeper into this question, I learned that Chris McCandless story teaches us important life lessons. Chris McCandless teaches us to get out of our comfort zone. Ronald Franz was an older man who encountered Chris McCandless and gave him a ride from Salton City California to Grand Junction Colorado In Chris’s last letter to Ronald Franz, he says “So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation…
Chris McCandless was a man who made his own destiny, who seeked the challenges and thrill of adventure life had to offer. He was morally driven, and was not tied down by the dogma of society. McCandless’s hubris, his ultimate downfall in his quest to shake off the clashing ideals of materialistic culture, allowed him to live a life without regrets. Brought up in a home where his parents pushed their ideals onto their children, McCandless developed morals quite differently than that of his parents. His ideals clashed between that of a libertarian and a transcendentalist.
Many people may feel corrupt or threatened by the government and may want to disappear from the system. A young man managed to get away, however did not accomplish it on good terms. Chris McCandless was the name of the nonconformist. He wanted to go into the wild with no technology and nothing that would connect him with society. Not even his parents because he felt a sense of betrayal, his dad had another family with another woman that nobody knew about.
Chris McCandless (a.k.a. Alexander Supertramp), the main character of Into the Wild was very much alike to Gregor. He was more adventurous and didn’t share his family loyalty, but Chris did not enjoy being an active member of society, and wanted isolation, just like Gregor did. McCandless was just more willing to pursue it than him. He preferred being alone in the wilderness to having a job and an apartment, and he hated all the social conventions that came with being an active member of the human world, such as wearing socks.
Chris McCandless, the young man who left everything he knew to venture into the wild. The core reason why McCandless traveled out into the wild was to escape the stifling world of his parents and peers. Instead of following the commonly accepted road to success he chose to do things his own way, and find his own happiness out in the world around him. Chris McCandless does not meet the definition of a Transcendentalist because he is running away from his problems, rather than feeling the need to belong in nature. Chris had always had problems with his parents, at one point he even writes to his sister saying ”I’m going to let them think they are right, I’m going to let them think that I’m “coming around to see their side of things” and that
Although numerous may argue that McCandless’s family problems served as primary motivation for his journey, there is more evidence showing that it was the literature he read while he was in college. Various events led Chris McCandless up to the start of his journey into the wilderness, but it was literature that served as the primary reason. That being unusual, McCandless lived according to “I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life” (Krakauer 15). McCandless wanted to go out and explore for himself a life in which he got a glimpse of in the literature he read.
We have all made mistakes, for some they are small mistakes that do not impact anyone. For others, they are of mammoth proportions and have a preponderant impact on how people think, or say about them. In the book Into the Wild it tells about the journey of Chris McCandless who died in the Alaskan wilderness. Chris McCandless was definitely one of these people who made a big mistake. People around the globe have mixed feelings about this twentieth century adventurer.
Chris McCandless was your typical college student, very fortunate family had the eligibility of going to many very great schools. The movie Into the Wild follows the life of McCandless, giving a better understanding of his life and his decisions,as well his rise to becoming Alexander Supertramp, but everyone ask why did he venture out into the wild?, even though he wasn't very bush like, he also had many opportunities to have profitable career so why did he decide to leave society, why did he leave all of his opportunities?. McCandless decided to hit life head first, he left everything burned his money, also gave it to charity,cut all of his credit cards and only had the check his parents had written out to him, also McCandless decided to
Into the Wild In Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into the Wild , he depicts the story of Chris McCandless and his journey as “Alex Supertramp” across the United States, starting in Georgia and ending with the his death in Alaska. Jon states his argument that Chris wasn’t “stupid, tragic, and inconsiderate” and he tell the story of a young man with a profound moral compass and wants to seek higher truth. In the novel, Chris left to go into the wilderness right after he graduated from college. He did not let his parents know he was leaving for many reasons.
A common thought among adolescents is the dream to finally leave home and discover who they are; I certainly share this dream. Though the concept is common, the reasons are unique; The differences in character and circumstances define who a person is. What may appear reasonable to some could very well be completely irrational to another. The story of Chris McCandless as reported by Jon Krakauer in the biographic novel Into the Wild is no exception. From the events in his childhood to the conflict with his father, we can see that Chris McCandless, a young man still discovering himself, became disillusioned with the structure of society and desired nothing more than to “no longer be poisoned by civilization” (163).
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 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.
In this unit, my classmates and I read Into the Wild and discussed on the few reasons why Chris McCandless may have gone to Alaska. I have developed an understanding on why he may have gone into the wild and I believe that the reason is because of his family situation. McCandless never had a trustworthy family and with his father hiding secrets behind their back made the situation worse. Going into the wild was his only escape from the disgrace of the world. Despite his reference to Tolstoy, Emerson, Thoreau, and London, it is only reasonable to believe that the actions he took for going into the wild was because of his personal life with his family issues.
