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

Krakauer admits that Chris McCandless was a rash, but he insists he "wasn't a nutcase, he wasn’t a sociopath, he wasn’t an outcast. McCandless was something else-- although precisely what is hard to say. A pilgrim, perhaps" (85). Many thought McCandless was wise and he knew what he was dong, while others disagree, stating his poor decisions contributed to his own death. In my opinion, Chris was indeed wise- he was a young man who didn’t care about labels, brands, big things, or anything materialistic. Instead, he thrived on more important concepts of life like truth and freedom. He believed he would find his true self and relieved of society once he became one with the wild.

In the brighter spectrum of Mr. Chris McCandless, is his deep and intellectual personality, shining through on most every occasion with cynical value or an interesting opinion every now and then. In Chris’s deep scholarly thought he decides to give up many things for his own self righteousness in attemp to make himself free of any evil or distraction as well as anything that may hold him down. As a younger boy in high school he proved his good Samaritan self by spending weekends taking to the the streets, spending nights with prostitutes, the homeless, and the addicts, feeding them and experiencing a little of what they felt. As I mentioned before he gave up what he thought would ruin his dreams and soil his life, he rid his life of luxury and wealth along with long-term relationships with people. As one of the things that he had apparently given up was the desire of sex and all of it’s evils, and proclaimed that his need was much to great for something so petty. Truly I believe traveling as a child with his family engineered a mind set within Chris that made him feel as if familiarity was just a weight holding him down from the flight toward his dreams. He also thought that being lost in such a superficial and trivial society could help no one

Callarman tends to believe that Chris is crazy, although I know he’s not. Rachel states “McCandless travels throughout North America, following three main Transcendentalist ideals: a minimalist lifestyle, the disconnection of society, and a reverence for both God and nature.” (Lin, R. n.d.) , by that statement, it shows that from that point in his life he’s going to be disconnected from society. I believe that when he was making his choice to go to Alaska he wanted to be with nature and try for himself with god too. Rachel comments on the part where Chris lights his money on fire by saying,

Chris McCandless from an early age began to despise and constantly disagree with certain things. For example, Chris hated his parents. He disagreed with them in many political and moral views. It seems as if Chris always felt out of place or uneasy and he couldn’t handle being around things that he didn’t like. One example of this is that in a letter with his sister he said that “I’m going to divorce them as my parents once and for all and never speak to either of those idiots

Chris McCandless went out into the wild with different intention’s then Thoreau. One of Thoreau’s intentions was to get away from the government because of his disagreements with slavery. He left because he didn’t want to support the government by paying his taxes. Chris McCandless never showed any reasons for leaving that helped anyone else. He left in his own selfish manner. McCandless was running away from his own problems that could have been worked out with his family. When reading Thoreau’s Experiment at Walden Pond it states that Thoreau spent his time at the house writing, reading, taking long walks, observing nature and entertaining visitors. This quote explains that Thoreau used his time alone to focus on his writing and observing nature. McCandless’s main focus was surviving. He didn’t have time for anything else.

Throughout his childhood, Chris McCandless mindlessly kept the image that he parents portray of him. He was always a good student maintaining A average grades, just like his parents wanted. After excelling in high school, he continues to impress his family with his success in being accepted into college, and later on graduating. Despite his inability to break free from his parent’s extreme ideals, inside he is struggling to be his own person, and escape from the conforming lifestyle he was born into. McCandless comes from a very materialistic family, while he, as an individual is the furthest from it. Chris is strongly against the society and the lifestyle he grew up in. Growing up in his family, who constantly puts him under pressure to meet

Another one of the reasons Chris left was to pursue a life of adventure. Chris liked the wilderness he probably thought that it was peaceful and a spiritual enlightenment just a quiet place to reflect on life and think or not think at all. Life of adventure was where he can live life differently and explore the wilderness. This adventure made McCandless think about life in a different perspective and when he was in the woods he lived more traditionally, with no gadgets, no making his life simpler. “McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as

First things first, Chris Mccandless followed his dream to escape society and live in nature. Once he got out of society and was on the road he delighted, "McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well—relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy” (Krakauer, 55). Chris had the capability of escaping the society where he could go off on a journey to find himself. Chris is one of the few people out there that has the mindset of doing whatever it is to achieve his dream. Not many people in this world are able to do that especially if it is going out into the wild to fulfill your dream, maybe they will swim 50 miles in an ocean

Not only did Chris McCandless sacrifice so much for the future that he wanted, but he remained focus on his goal and he never ever regretted a minute of it. Even close to his death he was always smiling in the pictures he took and he never looked for a way out. He came into the wild and learned to be one with it. He respected it and learned from it all while staying at his peak of happiness. Chris McCandless’ did not necessarily have a bad life, but it was clear that he was not always happy. When he was truly happiest, he was alone. His disapproval of modern day society is evident throughout the book; “I told him ‘Man, you gotta have money to get along in this world’ but he wouldn’t take it” (46). He realized he needed to be separated from these people and live on his own. He decided to change his course for the future into an isolated lifestyle all without notice to the people that loved him. He was set up for a great life, but he ended it all to follow his dreams and fulfill his purpose. Not

Chris McCandless: a man so infatuated with nature, he practically committed suicide to bring himself nearer to it. This extreme liking for nature, along with other ideals, makes up the core tenets of the transcendentalist philosophy. McCandless demonstrates other tenets of transcendentalism as well, most notably the supremacy of the individual, by detaching himself from the mammon of this world. Another way he shows the supremacy of the individual, by the belief that one should not conform to the usual policies of life, causes him great trouble in some cases. As well as the belief that the individual supersedes all else, McCandless received much of his inspiration from nature. Finally, always following what he believes correct, McCandless

Chris McCandless’ was well liked by the many people he met while he was on the road, he made an impact on everyone that he met, as Wayne Westerberg said, “A lot of folks here in town got attached to old Alex. Kind of a strange deal what happened to him.” (Krakauer 16), People loved and adored Christopher McCandless, even though he left to go live in the wild by himself, that didn’t make him antisocial. He also liked

Chris McCandless came from a very different lifestyle compared to that of Perry Smith and the Clutters. He was obedient and listened to his parents for the most part. However, Krakauer viewed McCandless’s parents as too demanding and ultimately implies that part of his death was brought on by his parents. Chris’s relationship with his father was stressed at best and Krakauer equally “believe[s] we were similarly affected by the skewed relationships we had with our fathers. And I suspect we had similar intensity, a similar heedlessness, a similar agitation of the soul" (159). Chris was a highly opinionated and willful young man with little room for negotiation with his father sharing those same qualities. His criticism towards his parents eventually turned to outright anger, and after his father’s secret double life is revealed Chris begins viewing his father as a

Christopher McCandless was a man that could not stand to abide by other people’s rules. In the novel, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer documents his interview with McCandless’ sister, Carrie. She tells the audience that he always wanted to live by his own rules and despised restrictions. By saying this, he came to the conclusion that he had followed societies’ rules for long enough. He thought that the only way to escape their regulations was to begin a transcendental lifestyle. Transcendentalism is going above and beyond a belief system by experiencing life “outside” the normal range of experience. A tTranscendental lifestyle can be described as: detaching oneself from society, developing a spiritual connection to nature, and becoming self-reliant. Within five weeks, he was free from his parents and peers and a world that revolved around materialistic objects. Throughout his adventure, he read novels from other transcendentalists such as: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Chris McCandless can be seen as a good example to a transcendental life because he separated himself from modern society, was self-reliant, and immersed with nature.

Christopher McCandless, also known as Alexander Supertramp, was brave and adventurous. Chris was not an outcast, or an incompetent person. He was an elaborate man, who risked a lot to walk Into The Wild. He achieved serenity, and accomplished his goals. His expedition proved fatal, but purposeful.

This is one reason why he decided to leave home; he wanted to experience the life of not having anything to his name, this is also shown through out the book during his journeys, however this not the only reason why he left home. The ultimate reason why he left home was because of what his father had done. A cab driver name Stuckey whom helped McCandless reach Alaska elaborated that McCandless said that he found out that his father was living a bigamist life and that it went against Chris’s beliefs (159). This was ultimately one of the reasons why Chris left home and had no feelings towards his parents. This exhibits the hatred and no remorseful attitude McCandless had through out the book towards his parents, especially his father. However, this attitude towards his father and civilization is justified completely when he decided to leave home and take on the wilderness.