In the book “Into The Wild” the main character Chris was foolish because, he did not know what he was doing, he was reckless, and he was stubborn. Chris is naive because he does not know what he is doing.” Alaskan hunters know that the easiest way to preserve meat in the bush is to slice it into thin strips and then air-dry it on a makeshift rack. But since McCandless, in his naivete, relied on advice of hunters he’d consulted in South Dakota, who advised him to smoke his meat, not any easy task under the circumstances”(Krakauer 114). This quote connects to the thesis because it shows Chris did not know what he was doing, and it made it even more unlikely that he would survive. Another example of Chris being foolish is when he is being reckless.”
He underestimates the terrain and climate, and, “…came into the country with insufficient provisions, and he lacked certain pieces of equipment deemed essential by many Alaskans…” (180 Krakauer). Chris lacked the necessities, so it made his survival rate drop. Information is key in the wilderness, which, “not only did McCandless die because he was stupid, one Alaskan correspondent observed, but ‘the scope of his self-styled adventure was so small as to a ring pathetic-squatting in a wrecked bus a few miles out of Healy, potting jays and squirrels, mistaking a caribou for a moose (pretty hard to do)…only one word for the guy: incompetent’” (177 Krakauer). Chris lacked the knowledge needed to survive the Alaskan frontier, which dropped his survival rate.
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
On page 177, the group of explorers that were with Krakauer were incompetent. When it came to telling whether or not the bones found at Chris’s camp site were either a caribou or a moose, the group said the bones were from a caribou. Therefore, Chris was in fact correct when he wrote in his journal that he killed a moose. The quote from the book is stating that Chris is not skilled enough to tell the difference from a caribou and a moose. Chris is not the one who is incompetent it is the group of people who incorrectly said that the moose was a caribou.
Chris is an Ignorant person for several reasons, such as the several poor misguided decision he made throughout his journey. In Chapter 8, Nick James an Alaskan native quotes, “Such willful Ignorant… amounts of disrespect for the land, and paradoxically demonstrates the same sort of arrogance that resulted in the Exxon Valdez Spill just another case of underprepared…”(72). This quote shows the Alaskan viewpoint of
Once deciding that he would not bring all the required equipment, it took many people scolding him before he even considered letting other people assist him. McCandless set out on the journey alone, and wanted to prove to himself that he could in fact make it alone in the wilderness. This is one of Chris’ critical faults. Too proud to admit defeat, Chris only lets others help him when in dire circumstances, eventually accepting clothes and other supplies from friends. At the end of his life, a very gaunt Chris finds it increasingly difficult to find game and records how butchering is “extremely difficult” (166). If Chris was adequately prepared for his trip, he would have taken th steps to learn these skills, and may not have resorted to the seeds that killed him. Another crucial mistake made by McCandless was not accounting for when he would not be able to get game. He went into the wild with a small bag of rice and the “heaviest item in his half-full backpack was his library” (162). While it is extremely difficult to read the last chapter of the book without feeling compassion and admiration for Chris, his death could have easily been prevented. His complacency towards “the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild” proved to be his biggest mistake (9).
(41) Though he possessed natural talent in many areas such as business, music, and sports, Chris had “little patience for learning the finer points” of any activity. This lack of patience applied to Chris’ survival skills as well. Before his Alaska adventure, Chris McCandless had spent the last two years after graduation traveling around and taking temporary jobs. On of his trips, Chris decided to take a canoe trip from America down into the Gulf of California and almost drowned when a storm came up.” (5) For nearly a month, McCandless subsisted on nothing but five pounds of rice and what marine life he could pull from the sea, an experience that would later convince him he could survive on similarly meager rations in the Alaska bush.” (36) Chris naively believed that the experience in Mexico and his travels in South Dakota and West Coast had taught him the “full repertoire of crucial skills”
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.
While Chris McCandless does make mistakes, I would not agree with Shaun Callarman that he was “plain crazy”. The plans and mistakes made may seem idiotic, but are actually the mistakes that are found in the youth. I would say Chris was searching for his own self.
Selfishness is being concerned for oneself or one’s advantage and welfare regardless of others. Selfness is demonstrated when a person leaves and does not tell anyone where they are going. In Into the Wild Jon Krakauer tells the story of Chris McCandless’s selfish quest for “ultimate Freedom”. Chris is selfish because he takes his privileged life for granted. Then, Chris decides to leave and he totally ignores and blocks out his family. Finally Chris builds relationships with people, then leaves when they are no longer needed. Chris taking his life for granted, his ignorance and the fact that he is an absentee is why Chris McCandless’s quest for “ultimate freedom” is selfish.
If you attempted to talk him out of something, he wouldn’t argue. He would just nod politely and then do exactly what he wanted” (Krakauer 182). Chris did exactly as Carine stated he would when someone tried to stop his trip to Alaska. Chris understood what the trip to Alaska would entail but decided to continue anyway. He was confident in his abilities and constantly felt the need to challenge those abilities. According to Jon Krakauer, “He had a need to test himself in ways, as he was fond of saying ‘that mattered’. He possessed grand- some would say grandiose- spiritual ambitions” (Krakauer 182). Although Chris’s ambition is surely admirable it also could be credited as his tragic flaw. Chris strived for perfection in everything he set his mind to. He refused to listen to individuals who were trying to help him when saying he was ill prepared; instead he ignored their efforts and went into the wild. Chris’s unpreparedness could later be identified as the cause of his death but in his mind, his supporters would like to believe, it did not matter. Chris died doing what he loved, living in isolation with nature being his only companion.
Selfishness is the inability to be caring, show consideration for others, as well as be decent towards others. People who are selfish think very little of others, and focus more on themselves and their own needs. In Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, he shows how Chris McCandless is a selfish person, who only cares about himself. Chris demonstrates his selfishness by the way he treats his parents, such as when they try to reach out to him, but chooses to ignore them. He also thinks of only himself by the way he treats and ignores authority and the government. Chris acts selfishly in the way he treats poorly anybody who has ever showed him compassion towards him, such as him asking for the mail to be returned to the sender, showing no interest in
For someone to have plans to survive in the harsh wilderness of the Alaskan frontier many have said that McCandless was completely un prepared as recalled in the first chapter of the book by Jim Gallien who picked up McCandless outside of Fairbanks Alaska and drove him to the stampede trail, the beginning of Chris’s journey into the wild. “He wasn’t carrying anywhere near as much food and gear as you’d be expecting a guy to be carrying for that kind of trip.” (Krakauer 4) Through the research that Krakauer completed we know that Chris was carrying only a ten-pound bag of rice and some paperback books along with other camping supplies. Jim
Into The Wild was a tremendous story which Shaun Callarman did not have many positive things to say about Chris McCandless, the main character. He went on this adventure to find out what life is all about in his own eyes. He wanted to see how different living in the wild really was compared to society because he was not satisfied with his living arrangements and household. Shaun’s quote says that he thinks “Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant at the same time. He had no common sense, and he had no business going into Alaska with his Romantic silliness. He made a lot of mistakes based on arrogance. I don’t admire him at all for his courage nor his noble ideas. Really, I think he was just plain crazy,” shows that Shaun believes Chris had no common sense in his doing for leaving society for the wild. I agree with Callarman’s position for thinking “ he had no common sense” and that he
Many people believe Chris McCandless is nothing but a fool. Chris got a ride from a man named Gallien who tried to talk him out of going into the wild after noticing how unprepared Chris was. “Alex admitted that the only food in his pack was a ten-pound bag of rice. His gear seemed exceedingly minimal...Alex’s cheap leather hiking boots were neither waterproof nor well insulated. His rifle was only .22 caliber...he had no ax, no bug dope, no snowshoes, no compass. The only navigational aid in his possession was a tattered state road map he’d scrounged at a gas station.” (pg . 5). Any intelligent person would bring everything they needed for a long trip like the one McCandless has planned. It is quite foolish to not even bring enough food to last or the appropriate gear needed. Only a fool would go into the wild unprepared however McCandless went in knowing all of this. He did not like the idea of carrying anything but the bare minimum. To most at first glance this is foolish but he did what most people would not do and followed his dream and following your dream no matter how ridiculous is never
Christopher Johnson McCandless walked alone into the Alaskan wilderness with very little equipment and food after traveling to various parts of North America during the course of two years. Regardless of living on his own with not many things for a couple of years, Chris died alone in a bus on the Stampede Trail in Alaska. Author Jon Krakauer wrote a 9,000 word article titled “Death of an Innocent” for the 1993 issue of the magazine Outside. Into the Wild is simply an extension of that article which explains what provoked Chris into living such a life, who he was, and how he died. The author proves to the reader that Chris was an intelligent man by explaining his research about edible plants and his ambition which builds up Chris’s