Chris Mccandless's Discovery In Into The Wild

The father and son conflict is a crucial theme in the nonfiction book Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer. In Jon Krakauer’s book, the main character, Chris McCandless exhibits a lifelong conflict with his father, Walt McCandless. Chris is an erudite, talented, yet stubborn young man. He yearns to leave the typical lifestyle of the upper middle class American family, and after graduating college at Emory, he mysteriously disappears. Walt is a controlling man with a morally unstable past, and his career and money is of more value to him than his family. The theme often appears in the background of the book, representing one of the major motivations for Chris McCandless’ absence. This theme is evident

In Jon Krakauer's novel Into the Wild, the main character, Chris McCandless, seeks nature so that he can find a sense of belonging and the true meaning of who he is. However, it is the essence of nature that eventually takes his life away from him. At the end of his life, he is discovers his purpose and need of other people. After Chris McCandless death in Alaska, Krakauer wrote Into the Wild to reflect on the journey that McCandless makes. Krakauer protrays McCandless as a young man who is reckless, selfish, and arrogant, but at the same time, intelligent, determined, independent, and charismatic. Along with the irony that occurs in nature, these characteristics are the several factors that contribute to McCandless death.

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.

Into the Wild, written by John Krakauer tells of a young man named Chris McCandless who 1deserted his college degree and all his worldly possessions in favor of a primitive transient life in the wilderness. Krakauer first told the story of Chris in an article in Outside Magazine, but went on to write a thorough book, which encompasses his life in the hopes to explain what caused him to venture off alone into the wild. McCandless’ story soon became a national phenomenon, and had many people questioning why a “young man from a well-to-do East Coast family [would] hitchhike to Alaska” (Krakauer i). Chris comes from an affluent household and has parents that strived to create a desirable life for him and his sister. As Chris grows up, he

Chris McCandless is a young man who feels lost because of family troubles regarding Chris’ father, Walt and a possible affair. Chris was a firm believer in transcendentalism and felt as though he needed to divorce his parents and live a nomadic life… and going to Alaska to live off the land for a while. Jon krakauer, author of Into the Wild, wrote about Chris home life, as well as his adventures and travelers he met on his way. Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer characterizes Christopher McCandless as Determined and spontaneous.

Krakauer also states, “At long last he was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his parents and peers, world of abstraction and security and material excess, a world in which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence”, (22). Going into the wilderness all Chris wanted was to be cut off from the world, completely isolated from everyone and everything. The independence Chris had was unbelievable, he traveled many different places and learned how to survive, depending on no one by himself, a trait few people possess. Chris also showed the persistence he had in the book through the struggles he faced in the wilderness. A man he met while on his journey names Walt talked about him as “...he was supremely overconfident.

He has graduated from college, excelled in his classes, and was an athlete. However, he was not satisfied with what he has achieved in his life. He desired something more, adventure. As a result, McCandless started a new life with a new identity, no car, no house, and no money. McCandless lived with the alias “Alex” which he used to introduce himself to new people. Through this treacherous journey, he faced many challenges. For example, his transportation was not stable, he was constantly hitchhiking to the point where he received a ticket. In addition, his source of food had no certainty because he did not have the money to purchase himself food. McCandless relied on nature to provide that necessity for him but nature wasn’t always so giving especially during the winter. All that aside, Chris McCandless serves as an inspiration to younger generations that true happiness is found when you follow what your heart

At the end of the book when Chris comes across the uncrossable river and knows he probably won’t return to society he reflects on his journey and realizes that he can function properly in society and thrive with the right kind of people surrounding him. Before venturing off into the wilderness of Alaska, he had thought of it as a amazing place to experience nature and find your inner self away from society and judgment because it was romanticized that way. In “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman he writes about the beautiful sun and nature, but then realizes he doesn’t need all that and says “Give me the streets of Manhattan” and “ People, endless, streaming, with strong voices, passions, pageants;” (Whitman). This is similar to when Chris realized he didn’t need Alaska or nature and could live in society. Chris knew in the end that he really could have happiness around others in land filled with brutal and negative

Into the Wild (1996), a novel by Jon Krakauer, explores the life of Christopher McCandless and the events leading up to his death. In an effort to prove his independence, Chris makes a tragic journey to Alaska that killed him at 24 years old. Along the way, he encounters many people who have been impacted by his mature, unique personality. Wayne Westerberg, Jan Burress, and Ronald Franz are a few people who were affected by his wise character.

There comes a point in Chris McCandless’ life when he unveils so much hidden hope from experiencing a life changing thrill in the wild, the one moment that he has been building up to his entire life, but this soon becomes way too much to possibly handle. It has come to the point in Chris’ life where death is preferable over living and possibly coming out of the wilderness alive. He has come to the conclusion that his dream adventure is quickly coming to an end, and there is no stopping it. It’s forever lost in oblivion, and this could of easily motivated Chris into easily accepting death. If someone lives an ordinary existence then they will fail to experience this extreme defeat, or in some cases, satisfaction. By pursuing his adventure into

Chris was ready to seek for freedom out in the wilderness nothing else mattered to him, but being out there alone. “I don’t want to know what time it is, I don’t want to know what day it is or where I am. None of that matters.” (pg.5) Chris shows that nothing is important to him as much as being alone out in the wild. He wanted to be in the wild with no way to contact anybody, and have no idea what is going on with society.

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.

He chose instead to make a secret of his dark knowledge and express his rage obliquely, in silence and sullen withdrawal “ (Krakauer 123). This withdraw from both his family and society is ultimately what motivates Chris to go on his journey. Sadness encapsulates his experience as a member of his family and a student at Emory and the concept of escape is what allows him to discover his purpose - not the other way around as Said claims. He decides to reject all notions of belonging to a family; he becomes a ghost, wandering and trying to find meaning through solitude.

But one of the most important themes is forgiveness because it is substantial throughout the whole film. Chris is having a hard time forgiving his parents for their cruelties and punishes them by leaving them, and everything they believe in. The two-year-long journey is filled with anger and resentment, which is clearly reflected in the deliberate lack of contact with the family. Throughout the journey Chris does not show signs of missing the parents. Instead Chris blames his father for his own lack of capabilities for example when Chris shoots the moose, and he struggles with the fire, he thinks back to the time where his father would not let him help with the barbecue. However, the end is ambiguous. When Chris realizes that happiness is only true when shared, he decides to go back to civilization. To the audience, it seems unclear whether he wants to go back to his family because he has forgiven them or he wants to go back to the people he has met along the

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is about Chris McCandless who was a child born into a well-off family who fit into American society extremely well. After traveling south and receiving his college degree at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, Chris had the sudden urge to leave everything behind and go on the adventure of a lifetime. Following in the ideologies and footsteps of his idols Thoreau, Jack London, and several others; Chris donated all of money to a charity that helps hungry children, changed his name to Alex Supertramp, and headed West in his old yellow Datsun to escape the hassle and expectations of society as it is today. He traveled to many places including Colorado, Mexico, The Grand Canyon, Arizona, California, and South Dakota where he made a lasting impression on Wayne Westerberg. Chris made huge impacts on several peoples’ lives along his journey, but always kept them at arm’s length and left before there was an unbreakable connection established. Instead he replaced the joy that most people get from human interaction and replaced it with feelings of wonder and exhilaration that pristine nature brought. He lived happily by never staying in one place for too long and always having something new to explore, going against the modern-day norms. Chris’s ultimate journey is to escape to the Alaska wilderness, where he eventually meets his demise by eating poisonous seeds. It is thought that perhaps he had a change of heart towards modern day society in the end