Chris Persuasive Essay

Shaun Callarman says “I don’t admire him at all for his courage nor his noble ideas.” (Krakauer, 1997) While he is entitled to his own opinion, so am I. I do admire Chris for doing something that many of us want to do but are too afraid. We may not all want to go into the wild but just about everyone has a wild, nonconformist, grand thing that we want to do but are too scared too. Chris was brave enough to follow his heart, and to me, that’s something that should be admired by

for himself. Chris had been through a bunch of family issues that totally tore him apart because

Chris was close to Chris’s sister Carine. It is almost as if Chris felt that Chris only had Carine, so Chris had nothing else to stay for.

First of all, as a child, Chris never felt a connection to other people, which made him feel left out and different. In the book, Krakauer stated, “At long last, he was unencumbered, emancipated, from the stifling world of his parents and peers, a world of abstraction and security and material excess, a world in which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence,” which proves that Chris felt like he didn’t belong in society, he was an outcast. Unlike most people, Chris didn’t find joy in buying or receiving things, he wasn’t a materialistic person. Instead, he enjoyed going outside, getting away from society, and being free in nature. He felt like he didn’t belong and that he didn’t have a place in this lifestyle, so he became determined to leave and go to Alaska. Wanting to go to Alaska, and actually going to Alaska, does not make a person a

Chris was selfish because he broke many bonds with friends. He stopped taking the time to communicate with his friends that he met along the way. Quote postcard stop. In addition, he unkindly

Chris has had experiences as a kid and that impact him now. He was the youngest child. He had no one to play with him. He was the youngest of the 3. He worked on the family land.

He didn’t have any regrets, he was learning things about himself and having a great time while doing it. I admire the fact that he followed his transcendentalist beliefs. In school he was very closed off and didn’t talk to anyone, but on this trip he made countless friends. Once he started his unforgettable trip he opened up and became happy with what he was doing. Taking this trip across the country is the best thing Chris did.

If not for the reasons above, he was clearly selfish due to the fact that he made relationships with people only to leave when they were no longer necessary for him. On Chris’s selfish quest for “ultimate freedom” he had a tendency to form bonds with people and allow them to provide for him. A few examples are, Wayne Westerberg. Chris meet Wayne and Wayne offered Chris a job. Chris kept intact, even when he was not working for Wayne. When the time came for Chris to go to Alaska he knew he had a job so that he could buy supplies and leave. Another example was when Chris went to the trailer park. After just a week “a seventeen-year-old named Tracy, fell in love with McCandless” (44) Another example of how Chris selfishly formed relationships to leave was with Ron Franz. Ron had formed a strong bond with Chris. The first time Chris left Ron, Ron felt great sadness but when Chris called Ron for help, Ron could not help but be relieved of some of the sadness. When Ron heard Chris’s voice, “it was like sunshine after a month of rain” (53). Chris, did not feel this kind of bond though. Chris only needed Ron for a place to stay and a friend until it was time to go to Alaska. Ron felt such a strong bond that he asked Chris if he could adopt him. Then without a solid answer Chris “slipped painlessly, out of Ron Franz’s life as well… Franz became so attached to McCandless so quickly, but the affection he felt was genuine, intense, and

Immediately after reading the book it is quite obvious that Chris was an introvert. Whenever someone tied to control his independent nature he would “rage inwardly” (p. 64) and take out all

It is impossible to fully apprehend what was going through Chris’s mind and how it worked. But we can grasp that his resentment towards his father was deep. He was predetermined to become someone so different from his father because Chris didn’t care for or look up to the kind of person he was. Although he respected how he came up from nothing and made something of himself.

Until, when he finally decided that it was time to escape society, and start living independently, to find out exactly who he was. “Hey, Guys! This is the last communication you shall receive from me. I now walk out to live amongst the wild. Take care, it was great knowing you. ALEXANDER” (Krakauer, 69). The day Chris said those words he was finally living his own life, instead of the life his parents gave him. He was proud to walk out of the life he didn’t want anymore and live the life that he always wanted to live. Besides Chris living his own life instead of his parents, he also lived to find his inner self.

Chris was loved and cared for by many people such as Ronald Franz, a friend he met on his journey across the country and a man he will remember for years to come. The internal mind has the power to make anything happen and to steer you in ways never imagined. Judging others is human nature, but that does not define someone. “ So I asked Alex if I could adopt him, if he would be my grandson” (Krakauer 55). Chris had multiple changes and opportunities to stay out of the wild and create a new life.

“Wilderness appealed to those bored or disgusted with man and his works” (Roderick Nash). Chris McCandless, a modern transcendentalist, sent out on an adventure to find his true self in the wilderness of the North American continent. In the two years he was away, he met many individuals he called his friends and explored the extent of the American West. However, Chris was found dead in an abandoned bus on the Stampede Trail in the deep wilderness of Alaska in early September 1992. Chris believed he could live his life without the disruption of others. Henry David Thoreau believed that individuals can strive for themselves without government interruption. Chris McCandless, in Jon Krakauer’s documentary Into the Wild, believes that living off the land and life to its fullest without help from others compares to Henry David Thoreau’s beliefs in his writing “Civil Disobedience.”

“Your assignment is to write a persuasive essay and present it to the class in a week. You will be graded based on how convincing it is. Today we will be choosing topics,” announced Mr. Bowerbank, my 7th grade English teacher and ruler of classroom 110. My class simultaneously groaned at the prospect of work. I simply lifted my head with intrigue as it was already May and about time we had our first essay. He then proceeded to give examples of topics we could choose and gave us some time to think before we had to tell him our topic. My classmates were already rushing to tell the teacher their idea lest someone else steal it. That meant the usual abortion, death penalty, or drug use topics were out. I really couldn't think of anything and the teacher was slowly making his way through the remaining students like an executioner beheading criminals in a line. I have always thought that he would make a marvelous supervillain if he had a curly mustache, a tophat, and a cape. Eventually my name was called. I slowly dragged myself over to his desk. Even sitting down, he still seemed to tower over me. “What is your topic Cindy?” As usual in such desperate times, my mind turned to food. “Waffles are better than pancakes.” I figured that a waffle was just a differently shaped pancake with a nicer texture. “Hmm. Excellent topic. I look forward to your essay!” I survived to live yet another day.

Source: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Health, United States, 2002. Flegal et. al. JAMA. 2002;288:1723-7. NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, 1998.