On the road again, I can't wait to get on the road again. The words of Donkey, from Shrek, seem to sum up Chris mccandless very well. He was a wondering soul, whose drive for adventure eventually lead to his death. He spent a majority of his short adult life tramping around the country and even parts of Mexico and canada. IT is well known that the straw that broke Chris’s back was finding out about his father's actions during the early part of his marriage to Chris’s mother.The real question is not what his breaking point was,but it is why he went on his journey in the first place.What did he hope to find when he stuck out his thumb and hit the road? In the end only him and god will know why he left. There are a few theories as to why he left. Chris mccandless could have left to find spiritual peace, get a grip on his mental state, or to live a free life.
Chris McCandless found solace in nature. Eden was the untapped wilds of Alaska to Chris. As krakauer said at the end of into the wild " he was a monk with god." A monk is defined as a member of a religious community of men typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience . This was chris. he gave up all of his possessions to people he barely knew. His only temptation seemed to be the call of the alaskan wild, and he kept to his own strict moral code. He didn't need a church or a priest to be with god. He just need a bus in Alaska with a bear skull to find his happiness, His inner peace, his oneness..
As Chris ventures into the Alaskan wild he was able to find the happiness he was longing for. It was a type of happiness that he could only experience when he was with nature as seen throughout his life. As he laid in his death bed, he never spoke about any regrets he had,
Lastly, Chris Mccandless got to fulfill his dream, live his own life, and now he even got to find his inner self, find out who he truly is. Chris was the kind of person that lived dangerously unlike most people, he was different “It is hardly unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders...Danger has always held a certain allure. McCandless, in his fashion, merely took risk-taking to its logical extreme” (Krakauer, 182). Chris’s true self-was one that was riskful and daring until he could finish the task. Furthermore, he was different from others and throughout his journey, others could see that. In the end that was the kind of person Chris Mccandless was, and this is the person he became after fulfilling his dream and living his own life. In contrast, others did
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
Most people go into the wilderness to go camping for a week or less and then leave. Some people stay for more than a week. Chris McCandless was in the wild for at least one hundred days.“ I’ve decided to live this life for some time to come. The freedom and the beauty of it is too good to pass up.”(pg.92) He went into the wilderness to experience adventure and to find things he was searching for nature, the path to happiness and freedom. Chris’ determination, self will, pursuit of happiness and the urge to break free are all explored. He did everything he could to make so people would be able to find him. Changing his name to Alex Supertramp, eliminating everything
Chris Mccandless’s motivation was for staying in the woods was for the excitement and rush. Chris is known for many of his specific traits as a person. His stubborn nature or arrogant personality but, one of his very apparent attributes were his self-reliance and his love for nature. He found nature to be an unknown. An unknown that he would turn into a familiar territory. According to Chris, “Tramping is too easy with all of this money. When I was penniless and had to forage around for my next meal.” (Into The Wild 33). Christopher enjoyed the wild because you had to take risks and you always had an adventure every day. Christopher Mccandless stayed in the woods for the excitement and the daily adventure of the woods
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
After reading the book "Into the wild" it was pretty amazing and the way Mcacandless got to live with life the way you wanted and got to explore different things was amazing to read. McCandless is a very outgoing, smart, funny kid who loves to explore and travel on his own and didn't depend on anyone. He lived who's life with freedom.
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
McCandless led what many consider a great life for a student. Matthew Power describes Chris as a “...24-year-old honors graduate, star athlete, and beloved brother and son ... cut all ties with his family, gave his trust fund to charity, and embarked on a two-year odyssey that brought him to Alaska... where he could test the limits of his wits and endurance.” Based off of Power’s quote, McCandless seems like he led the best life that he could have led an almost perfect life. He also gives the impression that McCandless did not have an apparent reason to abandon his life and live in the wild. Peter Christian, an Alaska park ranger, brings another idea into view when he says, “The tragedy is that McCandless more than likely was suffering from mental illness and didn't have to end his life the way he did.” He brings another perspective into the mix because he suggests that Chris actually had a mental disease that caused him to feel drawn to the wild rather than his
The book about Chris McCandless’s journey into the Alaskan bush, Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, received a lot of criticism about Chris being foolish for being unprepared. From the articles that I have read, most of the sources do believe that he was poorly prepared for his journey. But there are a few people who believe he was prepared mentally, and an even smaller amount believe he was fully prepared. I believe that Chris only knew what he was doing mentally. He did not have the correct tools or the developed skills to survive, for an extended period of time in the wild. But, he did know what he was about to get himself into. He planned out the trip and knew exactly what his risk factors were. Chris McCandless was either prepared
Chris MccCandless was an American adventurer who traveled across the united states he believed in living life to the fullest and living life without the need for money and wanted to live off the land he went from Virginia to Alaska where he lived in the wild the reason why he directed to live in the wild was to get away from society but maybe he wanted to experience the wonder of nature to live in the now instead of being shut off and into the modern world most people are so attached to their phones and computers that we don't take the time to actually live in the present we don't even think about what we are looking at or how to share their experience with people online, we spend most of our time rushing to get to future achievement that
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.
The tale of McCandless is read over high schools everywhere. Classes discuss who he really was. Most critics state that he was ignorant, by not being properly equipped with knowledge and tools. However, this shouldn’t make him innocent. Personally, I believe McCandless was arrogant, but not selfish.
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