How Did Chris Mccandless Get Into The Wild

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

Along with making the mistake of neglecting his family, Chris was very overconfident as well. Without doing his research about Alaska and its environment, he was convinced he would be able to survive in the wild. According to Jim Gallien, the man who transported Chris from Fairbanks to the Stampede Trail, McCandless’s equipment “seemed exceedingly minimal for the harsh conditions of the interior, which in April lay buried under the winter snowpack” (Krakauer 5). A ten-pound bag of rice, poor leather hiking boots, a .22 caliber rifle, and a shabby state map were Chris’s only possessions. Gallien did his best to convince Chris to not go into the wild, especially during that time, but nothing changed Chris’s mind. Keeping this in mind, Krakauer

Chris McCandless was a smart intelligent man, but he was also incompetent. Chris McCandless was book smart and was going to Harvard, but choose not to. Chris left his family to walk into the wild. He burned his cash, gave away money to charity, and went on his way towards Alaska.

In August 1992 the decomposing body of Chris McCandless was uncovered by a moose hunter, but since the body was unearthed there has been some mystery to it, who was he, why did he go into the Alaskan wild, was he an incompetent fool, or was he just unfortunate? Jon Krakauer's book Into The Wild helps to show who Chris McCandless really was and why he was not just some suicidal fool, but that he was a driven idealist who just wanted to test his own fortitude and made a mistake any well-experienced hunter can make that would cost him his life. I agree with Jon that Chris is not foolish and would have survived his Alaskan adventure, if not for a simple mistake and throughout the story you see just that as Jon follows Chris’s footsteps, where he went, who he talked to, to prove that Christopher J McCandless was not just some idiot kid.

In the summer of 1992 Christopher McCandless was found by a group of hikers dead on Stampede trail in Fairbanks 142. After college Chris had left society donating his life savings to charity, burning the remainder of his money, left all his belongings in his 1982 Datsun B210, and presented himself as Alex. This was the beginning of Chris’s journey into the wild. He has met a lot of people along the way and they all were devastated to hear that Chris had died in Alaska from starvation. Chris was a well liked person by the people that he spoke to. A troubled childhood fueled his fire and gave him every reason to dislike his parents for what they had done to his only sister and himself as children. In Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, he uses ethos and logos in order to compare and contrast others experiences to Chris McCandless so that

Chris didn’t even have boots going into Alaska until one of his friends gave him a pair of boots. Since Chris was unprepared that lead to his death. Sometimes Chris broke the law he didn’t harm no one but you just can’t break the law. In chapter Chris says “F*ck their stupid rules” (McCandless pg 6). This is not to be admire because Chris was not ready for the wild with no supplies or even a map he didn’t know what he was doing. If Chris had a map of Alaska maybe he would have lived and found himself a different route around the river.

Some believe Chris made too reckless of decisions throughout his journey surviving in the wild. Due to his use of emotional appeals, Krakauer’s account of Chris McCandless’s story was too biased to allow the reader to develop their own opinion of McCandless. Krakauer had

Into the Wild, by John Krakauer, was an authentic, inspirational story about a young man named Chris McCandless on a adventure to Alaska. From the beginning we as a reader know that Chris does not survive. Although in the beginning of his adventure, Chris seemed to be flourishing with excellent health until he reached the Alaskan wilderness. Meeting new people, having them house him, feed him, give him work, all this aided him on his journey to Alaska. Though Chris’s intelligence was surprisingly exceptional, it demonstrated weakness in the wilderness, moreover, his own common sense was not up to high status either. Chris McCandless knew what he needed to survive, but he also refused to take the supplies that was offered to him, he also enjoyed

Christopher McCandless was an adventurer no doubt. He spent the last few years of his life living purely off the land and exploring, doing what he felt called to do. However, to venture off on such an intense, dangerous, and wild journey, a person most likely has some deeply thought out reason as to why he or she is embarking on the mission. Chris himself seems to have had some reasons, besides his curiosity, as to why he explored. However, he made a decision to leave without truly thinking about just how dangerous his journey was going to be. Due to his rash actions, Chris eventually died in an abandoned bus out in the wild. Now, some folks today think that Chris was a hero for doing what interested him and for doing his own thing without worrying about the trivial things in life. However, I have reason to believe that Chris was indeed not a hero. Instead, I believe that Chris McCandless’s journey into the wild was rash, ludicrous and foolish.

     One of the chief reasons why Chris McCandles had died of starvation in Alaska was because he was reckless. He was reckless because he was so ill prepared for his journey, and arrogant because he refused to listen to the advice of natives, such as Alex. Chris was intelligent and he knew the conditions of Alaska, but he did not prepare for it. Even after Chris was warned he was determined in carrying out his plans. He was also reckless in thinking that he would be able to come out of Alaska alive. Krakuer writes that Gallien said, ‘I said hunting wasn’t easy that where he was going he could go days without killing any game’ (Krakuer 6). He adds that ‘Alex didn’t seem too worried and he wouldn’t give an inch. He had an answer for everything I threw at him’ (Krakuer 6). If Chris was properly prepared he may have made it out of Alaska alive, rather than dying of starvation. However, he traveled with cheap leather hiking boots, a .22 caliber that was

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

He didn’t take any shortcuts or cheat his way through; he paved every step himself and owned up to his mistakes. To repay Gallien for the ride, Chris “insisted on giving Gallien his watch, his comb, and what he said was all his money: eighty-five cents in loose change” (Krakauer 7). From an outside point of view, this act might have seemed extra and unnecessary, but to Chris’s conscience, he should give back what he received. He was aware of the chance that he would not come out of the Alaskan wild again so he didn’t want to leave any unpaid debts or favors. Rather than just accepting others’ gifts, or even asking for items, he wanted to earn his own way to Alaska. Throughout the journey, he worked diligently, “...doing dirty, tedious jobs that nobody else wanted to tackle…” (Krakauer 62) in order to achieve his dream. His moral compass might not have been what society considers “right”, but “It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right” (Thoreau). When “Gallien asked whether he had a hunting license” (Krakauer 6), Chris responded with “How I feed myself is none of the government’s business” (Krakauer 6). From a legal standpoint, yes, hunting without the license is illegal, but from Chris’s view, he is not hurting anyone by not having the license. He believed that society is corrupt and therefore he didn’t need the system

Jon Krakauer, the author of the book, Into the Wild only know about Chris McCandless is an explorer traveling to Alaska search for himself reborn. However he isn’t exactly what he really is, but an ignorant, foolish, selfish, and misunderstanding of the world in which he lives. These words that have been used to describe him are based on the idea that he went on a journey to the Alaskan wilderness to seek his own revelation, but not having a firm grasp of reality, he senselessly died a stubborn man, the people mention that he was unprepared to go into the wilderness, didn’t listen to a more experienced person, broken several of state laws, abandoned his family and loved ones, and followed a dream that never existed. Personally believed he is an ignorant fool, selfish, and misunderstand man that throws his life away for nothing but despair.

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.

Chris had many opportunities once he was on his own to survive and continue on with life “ he shot at a bear but missed. On August 10, he saw a caribou but didn’t get a shot off” (197). This is Chris’ fault for missing a shot on that bear, if he was better trained for the situation and better equipped he could have pulled it off. Chris also lacked the proper equipment to survive in the wild “By design McCandless came into the country with insufficient provisions, and he lacked certain pieces of equipment deemed essential by many Alaskans: a large-caliber rifle, map and compass, an ax.”(180). Chris could have taken the advice that many others had given him, and take the proper equipment.