Analysis Of Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

Some say that Chris was an idiot for going out into the Alaskan wilderness unprepared and without any knowledge of nature. “Why would anyone intending to live off the land for a few months forget boy scout rule number one: Be prepared” (krakauer, 71). This was a complaint sent in by a Alaskan hunter, and there were many more that followed that. The people writing the negative comments all believed that Chris either wanted attention, was stupid, or went out on a suicide mission. However, Chris was none of those things, he wouldn’t have been able to survive 113 days off

One of Chris’s most admirable traits was that he was confident, brave, and reasonably prepared for what he was doing no matter how many people tried to change his mind.”He invented a new life for himself...” (N.P.) Chris was driven into doing his own thing. He wanted to

Having the right supplies for hiking or in Chris’s case going out to live in the wild is critical. Chris was lacking in this category. When Chris was found a few weeks later in the woods it was evident that he didn’t have the food supply he needed to survive. Matthew Power from Men's Journal The Magazine, brings up the point that Chris only brought a few things with him, “Setting off with little more than a twenty-two caliber rifle and a ten-pound bag of rice, McCandless hoped to find his true self by renouncing society and living off the land.” Chris later proved that even if you intend to live off the land if you are not used to it and living that way it is going to be extremely hard and may even result in death.

(41) Though he possessed natural talent in many areas such as business, music, and sports, Chris had “little patience for learning the finer points” of any activity. This lack of patience applied to Chris’ survival skills as well. Before his Alaska adventure, Chris McCandless had spent the last two years after graduation traveling around and taking temporary jobs. On of his trips, Chris decided to take a canoe trip from America down into the Gulf of California and almost drowned when a storm came up.” (5) For nearly a month, McCandless subsisted on nothing but five pounds of rice and what marine life he could pull from the sea, an experience that would later convince him he could survive on similarly meager rations in the Alaska bush.” (36) Chris naively believed that the experience in Mexico and his travels in South Dakota and West Coast had taught him the “full repertoire of crucial skills”

Chris then, after graduating from Emory University, donated most of his savings to charity. He then took a path to the vagabond lifestyle and worked when necessary as a restaurant food preparer and a helping hand for farming. A good contrast between McCandless and Shepard, is that McCandless was not interested in the knowledge of wanting “...to know what day it is, or where i am. None of it matters” (Death of an Innocent 1). Once McCandless was on his way to Alaska, he did not want to take part in knowing what time or day it was when on his voyage. McCandless is well-known for his stubborn personality, while also having a different to abnormal thought process when finding solutions for solving worldwide problems. Chris was only 24 years of age when he died out in the abandoned bus. His survival out in Alaska lasted 4 months, where he ate a very poisonous plant that forced the human body to starve, no matter how many calories you

The only food Chris had brought “was a ten-pound bag of rice” (page 5). A trained hunter would bring more food for when and if he was not able to kill for nourishment. Chris’s gear was not enough as well for the harsh woods of Alaska. Chris even had “only a .22 caliber… no snowshoes, no compass” (page 5). Chris had no idea what he had just gotten himself into or had the slightest idea that he was not at all prepared for this journey he was about to endure. Chris lack of supplies was one of the reasons that ad lead up to his death. If Chris had packed up a better amount of gear for Alaska so he wouldn’t have eaten the potato seeds there is a chance Chris would still be alive

McCandless probably never thought he would die in an abandoned bus after eat some moldy seeds. But at the time of his death, there was probably no where or reason he would rather die. This is because he found himself in Alaska. On the surface it may seems that Chris got nothing from going to Fairbanks, Alaska. However, Chris got everything and lost nothing.

During Chris’s journey, he was able to accomplish a lot which most people would dream of. For instance, “By the end of summer in 1990, McCandless had driven his Datsun through Arizona, California, and South Dakota, where he worked at a grain elevator in Carthage.” Also, one day “A flash flood disabled his car, at which point he removed its license plates, took what he could carry, and kept moving on foot.” This proves that Chris McCandless was not ignorant. Chris McCandless always kept moving on no matter what conflict came his way. When he went into the wild, he was committed to staying there as long as he could. He survived for four months in the wild. However, he is

But, Chris McCandless made many mistakes. He could have taken many pre-cautions to prevent his death in the end. In the article, “How Chris McCandless died” by Jon Krakauer, the author reveals that Chris died from starvation. Chris became paralyzed from consuming potato seeds. Being paralyzed, it made Chris McCandless unable to function to hunt for food, which led to his starvation and death. The toxic potato seeds poisoned Chris McCandless. Krakauer mentions, “It wasn’t arrogance that had killed him, it was ignorance”. Chris McCandless was very ignorant and did not really think it through when he ate the potato seeds. He should’ve taken many pre-cautions to avoid his paralysis, starvation, and death. However, Chris McCandless knew that his adventure would become

He also spurned the generosity of those who helped him throughout his journey. Furthermore, Chris abandoned his family and old friends for his own obstinate reasons. McCandless was inherently selfish for journeying to find “ultimate freedom” because of how much

Chris had good intentions when he went into the Alaskan wilderness. It was not a suicide journey, like many people believe. When Chris was talking to Gaylord Stuckey after he dropped Chris off at the Stampede Trail, Chris told Stuckey “ his intent was to spend summer alone in the bush, living off the land.”(Krakauer 159) Well Chris obviously planned the leave the bush after the summer disproving the thought that he went in suicidal. Some people still think that McCandless was suicidal because in a postcard he referenced that he could die. Although that is true he went out and did very well for himself, even killing a moose Chris just got unlucky and ate poison potato seeds. Chris even have thoughts of starting a family maybe back in North

His final journey was to Alaska, where he took more risks than ever before, eventually resulting in his passing. Chris McCandless was reckless and foolish in his endeavors; however, he did have attributes that were admirable. Chris McCandless had always had an edgy side, constantly pushing the limits. He was good at most everything he did and failure was not a common experience throughout his life. His father states “‘[h]e didn’t think the odds applied to him’”

One of the many reasons he left was to get away from his parents he recently started hating. After finding out about his father's affair, and his mother's weakness for staying in the marriage, Chris was affected in such a negative way, that he immediately thought his whole childhood was a lie. McCandless also read a lot of books by Henry David Thoreau and other transcendentalist. He read them so often, sometimes more than once, that he became obsessed with the idea of finding himself in nature. The obsession with the books raises another psychological question.

McCandless wanted to live off the land. Chris is putting himself at a disadvantage because he never told anyone where he was going and he didn’t bring enough resources to survive. McCandless also had little knowledge on the land, and was unprepared. I believe if someone goes into a dangerous situation, they are crazy.

Typically the people who viewed Chris’s story in a negative light were from Alaska themselves. For instance Peter Christian, he is a park ranger who works near the area where Chris’s body was found. “When you consider McCandless from my perspective, you quickly see that what he did wasn't even particularly daring, just stupid, tragic and inconsiderate.” He like many others sees Chris as just some dumb kid who came unprepared and essentially committed suicide by doing so. He didn't even bother bringing a map with him or take time to learn skills to let him survive, which lead to his death and the continuous assumption that Alaska is nothing but an empty tundra. When in reality is many people’s proud homes. Not to mention how inconsiderate McCandless was for just poaching a moose, one of Alaska’s prime animals with the intention of eating it and then just leaving