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

-- In this quote Eric Hathaway reveals that McCandless was more than just his criticizing persona, He was a caring person who defies the pressures of society, which can be supported with his trips to the underdeveloped parts of town. He is a self-reliant individual who stands for individualism.

In his novel, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer establishes young Christopher McCandless as a heroic and brave figure. Krakauer supports his portrayal of Chris by utilizing a narrative form and focusing on the relatable, human aspects of Chris, and by contrasting his story with the cautionary tales that are scattered throughout the history of the Alaskan wilderness. The author’s purpose is to promote his own theories and opinions on the boy’s life and death in order to establish what he believes to be the truth. The author writes in a fond tone for aspiring wilderness explorers and their critics.

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

Throughout the novel, Christopher McCandless’s character changed over time. Up to McCandless’s death, he wanted to live with the wild and to be away from civilization as far as possible. He changes his mind when he writes “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED” (189). His purpose of living in the wild is to live with freedom and do whatever he wishes to do. However, he realizes he was a “refuge in nature” (189) and intended to abandon his solitary life and rejoin the human community. It is assumed that McCandless died a preventable death because of his unpreparedness, but it is now undeniable that his adversity is what caused his mortality. “…McCandless simple had the misfortune to eat moldy seeds. An innocent mistake, it was nevertheless

Besides his views on “mainstream American life” (52), Christopher McCandless had strong convictions of issues beyond America. Racial oppression and widespread hunger particularly fueled him and he made several attempts to make a difference for both issues. During high school he would talk to his friends about smuggling weapons into South Africa to end apartheid (113) and after he finished university, he donated the remaining $24,000 from his education fund to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger (20). His desire to end those issues of racism and hunger may have diminished once he perceived how ambitious his desire really was. Perhaps it was the feeling of not making a difference in what he was truly passionate about that drove McCandless to run away and escape from essentially being insignificant. He was driven away from the comfort of his life by the discomforts of the world around him; McCandless was not happy with the state of both his local society and the distant world and decided he could only find solace by venturing out into the wilderness.

McCandless was trapped in a society that created an illusion of his own fake happiness while he was looking to discover himself. He possessed a desperate need to find the true meaning that only he could answer. McCandless quotes “I'm going to paraphrase Thoreau here... rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me

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

In all his adventures, McCandless possessed little to nothing in possessions and subsistence, but that didn’t stop him from doing achieving his goals. Likewise, the American dream or character stands on the same foundation of success where anyone can gain wealth and happiness even if they start from nothing. Though McCandless was privileged with a comfortable life, he intentionally threw everything away like his college money and car to prove he could continue without having a head start. With nothing but determination and a steadfast mentality, he embodies the American character to the extent that Americans hope for the best in all situations. Even in near death situations, McCandless survived and grew stronger as an individual, but his major flaw was that he believed too much in the American dream which lead to his downfall. Instead of falling short of being an American, I think he lived an extreme and irrational mode of an American where all his decisions were not prudent. On the other hand, The American lives with preparedness for the future which distinguishes McCandless from the ideal character. Some examples of his negligence for his own health were when he declined to take additional clothing, burned the last of his money, and threw away his ammunition. It was foolhardy for him to purposefully hurt himself and his surrounding like his loved ones. But he isn’t the only one, and only when someone dies from his mistake does people begin to realize the flaws

In Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction book, Into the Wild, we follow how humans love the wilderness, the strain of father son relationships, and for the majority of the book a young adult named Chris McCandless. We see mostly through Chris’ eyes just how much the wilderness can entice young adults as well as how important crushing news of one’s father can change your life. McCandless was an angry pseudo adult who couldn’t handle a sizeable change in his life. He was too stuck on it being his way that he rarely could bring himself to accept help and improve his ability to actually survive. However, there was some good about McCandless. His search for himself and the truth were great intentions despite the flawed approach.

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

Freedom and Nature. These are both things Chris McCandless longed to dwell in. He took his steps into becoming everying thing he had hoped. But were his dreams and aspirations worth the ‘’Betrayal” of everyone who had ever cared about him? Do we owe our families anything in the first place? By looking at McCandless’s actions and reasonings we can see that he is justified solely on his passion and courage. People would like to say that he was irresponsible, ignorant and careless in his actions. However, all he wanted was complete freedom. He didn’t have to be sorry for anyone just because he was letting his heart guide the way.

While in an old family cabin, Chris McCandless finds out about his father’s previous relationship with another woman at the same time as his relationship with McCandless’ mother. Although this problem is painfully resolved without McCandless knowing, his discovery drives him to an irrational and immature reaction. Jon Krakauer said “he indicated that he was planning another extended trip”(95) after McCandless’s senior year in Emory. He then donated all of his money and disappeared, entirely out of contact with any, and all, family. McCandless reacts in a rash and immature fashion when he leaves. McCandless never spoke to his family about what he knew, nor did he try to find a way to cope with this information, he simply let it grow

Although McCandless’s family loves him, Krakauer shows family disputes to create the enigma for novel and a suggested reason for McCandless to leave. Soon “after Chris unearthed the particulars of Walt’s divorce, two years passed before his anger began to leak to the surface…” and McCandless’ community became a disarray causing a personality change and lost in trust (122). Krakauer shows McCandless as extremely emotional towards his family after this revelation, being a contributing factor to the rebellious side of McCandless to be expressed. McCandless ended most communications with his family after school, by sending a note, with no means of telling them what he was going to be doing this summer. The end of the note read “…Not much else happening,.. Say Hi to everyone from me… It was the last anyone in McCandless’s family would ever hear from him” (22). Throughout the note it seemed as if McCandless was being supportive and missed them. However, because McCandless knew the truth, it seemed as if this letter was a way of keeping his family away from Atlanta, and not ask questions on what he was doing that summer. Before he left on his second trip to Alaska, at school “[McCandless] seldom contacted his parents that year…” which caused his parents to worry, but McCandless did not have much care for these types of

McCandless views the world differently comparing it to nature around him. He views the world different from other people’s perspective and he does not want anything to do with the current generation. How everyone around mostly revolved around money and thinking they need the newest thing to fit in into society or the new generation An example from chapter 3 it says “chris had only recently upbraided walt and billie for expressing their desire to buy him a new car as a graduation present”. Also McCandless responded saying,”i can’t believe they’d try and buy me a car, later he complained to my sister” showing how humble he is by saying he already has car, why would he want or need a

McCandless can be described as a Caterpillar breaking through the unbreakable cocoon and spreading his wings to fly. He loved the life he lived and for him it went from all negative to positive by leaving home. The reasons why McCandless left home were exceptionally justified. McCandless became tired of being around self centered rich people whom only cared about their possessions in life. He grew tired of being around people who were not connected to nature and the real world. This is evident when Billie says, “Chris started