Chris McCandless'a Adventure: Foolish or Heroic?

Chris and his father never got along well due to the fat that they both liked being in charge. On page 105, “Walt and chris both liked to call the shots. Taking control is something he does unconsciously, reflexively… Father and son want to control their own lives and they don’t like to be told what to do.” this quote shows how there may have been arguments that arose between chris and his father due to the control and power issue they had. Also chris felt that with the way his father treated him just made him tired of everyday life and made him venture out to the wild.

Introduction: Throughout the book of Into The Wild Chris McCandless is known to be a wacko reckless idiot, and is also known to be courageous and heroic. However does a courageous person go out into the wilderness knowing that the outcome will be fatal? People viewed him from different perspectives and also have broad range of opinions of this young man. Some deemed him to be incredibly dim-witted or a man that simply just followed his heart. Evidence shows that Chris McCandless is actually a mix of both. The first opinion that described McCandless was brainless, idiotic, and extremely foolish. Many passages from Into The Wild can support this outlook.

Chris McCandless was possessed by a nomadic existence and was trying to share his principle of life to his friend by telling that the truth about life was to explore the nature. Chris McCandless's last letter to Wayne revealed his true passion of nature. "This is the last you shall hear from me...I now walk into the wild"(pg 69). Some people concluded that it was Chris McCandless's suicide letter. However, in my opinion, Chris McCandless was just a victim of his own ego, pride and confidence that made him to neglect basic precautions that keep one person alive. He was controlled by his own delusions and that made him eager to test himself into strenuousness which proved fatal to him.

Chris McCandless was a young adventurer who went to extreme lengths to finish what he

There is no question that Chris McCandless had reason for the courageous, difficult, or some may even call suicidal stunt he pulled. Throwing away your education, giving up your most precious possessions, and burning all the money in your wallet must have a purpose behind it. McCandless was the type of person who would rather give than receive and did not like having things done for him and demonstrated strong characteristics of being independent. Although, out of the thousands of reasons that could have drawn him to make this drastic decision I believe it was literary influences and his philosophical beliefs that impacted his choice the most.

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

Chris McCandless is a person of great strength of mind that is not well used for he became arrogant in his life and stayed stubbornly away from new knowledge that could have helped him. While chris may have ended his life's story with his odyssey he is still one of the few people to actually follow their dreams all the way to their ends even if it meant

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

Ultimately this may end up being the reason that Chris does not survive his journey, but it does not make him any less of a hero. Chris’s story is a tragic one, but at the same time it is one of triumph and accomplishment. Since Chris believed the only way to go about his journey was to do it alone, it is an admirable thing that he did just that. Chris may not have had a moral gripe with allowing other people to travel with him, but it is because he did not want to spend too much time with other people. Ken Sleight says about McCandless “We like companionship, see, but we can’t stand to be around people for very long. So we go get ourselves lost, come back for a while, then get the hell out again” (85). McCandless made tons of friends along his journey and he positively affected many people’s lives, but at his core McCandless was a lone wanderer. I do not subscribe to the notion that happiness is only real when shared, and I believe the only reason Chris wrote that in his journal is because he was feeling lonely and scared. Chris McCandless lived a full happy life in his short 24 years and everybody could learn something about themselves if they were a little more like Chris

In what could have been Chris McCandless’s last contact with humanity he tells his new comrade, Wayne Westerberg, “If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t hear from me again I want you to know you are a great man. I now walk into the wild” (Krakauer 3). For 112 days Chris lived off the harsh Alaskan land. For anyone who is brave enough to travel on the stampede trail and cross the treacherous Teklanika River you will come across the Fairbanks City Transit System Bus 142. Once a backcountry shelter for hunters, trappers, ranger patrols, and for a short time Chris McCandless, Bus 142 now serves as a memorial for Chris McCandless. Travelers will make the trip to witness the basic resources Chris had at hand and the courage it took to

In the book Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer writes about Christopher McCandless, a young man who drops everything in his life to go travel throughout the states and end up in Alaska to find the truth to his questions. But did Chris find the truth he desperately desired? Some would say that McCandless did, other would say that he has wasted his time and was being ignorant and stupid. I agree with the author, Jon Krakauer, that Christopher McCandless was not a crazy lunatic, a sociopath, or an outcast because he had made lots of friends while traveling, but there were times when Chris was incompetent, even though he managed to stay alive for quite awhile. Christopher McCandless had a pretty normal childhood.

Unfortunately, this led McCandless to his untimely demise due to him being ill prepared for such a traitorous trek through the wild. I feel that if Chris had understood the big picture of how dangerous his adventure might be he may have been better prepared for his adventure “Into the Wild”. Looking at the book from my point of view, I find that, in my personal opinion, Chris was in search of self discovery, but did not prepare himself and felt that he was invincible. Because of his feeling of invincibility he did not prepare himself and met his demise. I feel that his death was a “foolish, pointless, death” (71), that could have been prevented had he put aside

Christopher McCandless is not the smartest man to ever enter the wild. His actions are noble and brave, but his lack of preparation ended his life abruptly. I agree that life is best when lived to the fullest and following your dreams, but if death is the consequence of your actions then I do not deem it intellectual to follow a half hearted dream. As Shaun Callerman said “I don’t admire him at all for his noble ideas. Really, I think he was just plain crazy.”

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.

It has been very perplexing reading this novel and trying to truly understand the motives one would have to have to make the decisions McCandless made. I am questioning Chris’ motives for cutting ties with his family and travelling all around the country. I think that he truly had a deep love and spiritual connection with nature. It began as a young child when Walt McCandless (Chris’ father) took Chris on many excursions in the outdoors, such as hiking in the mountains. Chris immediately fell in love with nature and all of the pleasures it had to offer. Also, Chris was motivated by his withering relationship with his family. Early in his life his parents worked tirelessly and it was difficult for Chris to spend time and build a solid relationship with them. Throughout his young life he had disagreed with his parents about many aspects of life. It was said that he