Who Is Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild

In Jon Krakauer’s narrative, Into the Wild, 22 year old Chris leaves his family behind to venture off to unexplored scenes all over the U.S. From start to end, he meets various individuals who take him in and teach him essential life lessons. Chris makes his way through the states to find himself in Alaska, and resides in the wilderness for about 3 months, where he eventually passes away. When the McCandless family receives this information, they mourn and question why Chris would abandon them without reason. Chris McCandless has been perceived as irresponsible and ungrateful for leaving his seemingly perfect family, when in reality, he was damaged from past traumas and naive because of his young age. Many were quick to express their opinion

In the Ted Talk, Your DNA Does Not Define You, she discusses both her and Chris’s traumatic childhood, which heavily relates to why Chris acted the way he did in his adult years. Carine expresses,” our childhood home was far from peaceful- domestic violence, our father’s gin-included rages, combined with constant lies and manipulations…”(McCandless 2:37). Many presumed that Chris was immoral for leaving his family, not knowing that those various family gifts and pictures were a front to put up for both Chris and his sister’s sufferings. Internally, Chris taking the emotional damage from his overcontrolling parents affected the way he perceived life and others. Thus explaining why he made decisions for himself, whether that meant ignoring others advice or hitchhiking to cities with drastic measures. It was a way to finally express his freedom from his past. Despite the fact that Chris did not have the ideal childhood, he strived to focus on the things that he loved. As he grew up,” Chris was drawn to nature from an early age. He immersed in the peace, the purity and honesty that those surroundings offered him”(McCandless 4:35). Using nature as a coping mechanism was beneficial towards Chris, helping him to see the positive in his life and protect his peace. Nature gave him what he lacked at home; tranquility and answers to his own