Into The Wild Chris Mccandless Analysis

The young, Chris McCandless brought to life in Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild is admired immensely for his courage and noble ideas carried out his dream of living in Alaska for as long as he could. Some would say that he was a reckless idiot, a wacko, or a narcissist who perished out of arrogance and stupidity, others would say that he was an admirable hero. The truth lies in his motives which were to face the raw challenges of life on his own. Chris McCandless was a brave soul who chose to challenge life in real terms in order to test his personal boundaries against nature.

In his novel, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer establishes young Christopher McCandless as a heroic and brave figure. Krakauer supports his portrayal of Chris by utilizing a narrative form and focusing on the relatable, human aspects of Chris, and by contrasting his story with the cautionary tales that are scattered throughout the history of the Alaskan wilderness. The author’s purpose is to promote his own theories and opinions on the boy’s life and death in order to establish what he believes to be the truth. The author writes in a fond tone for aspiring wilderness explorers and their critics.

Some people find happiness in the things we would not consider. Jon Krakauer’s “Into The Wild” tells a story about a young man, Chris McCandless, who rids himself of all materialistic things and goes off to live in the wilderness. McCandless was different from other individuals. He wanted to isolate himself from society in the pursuit of happiness. Although many defined Chris McCandless as “a nutcase”, “a sociopath”, and even “an outcast”, Krakauer characterized McCandless’s true identity as a pilgrim. I believe that McCandless can be identified as a pilgrim because he went on his journey for the reason of passion, simplicity, and in search for truth.

Surviving in Alaska is no simple task. You are constantly putting your life in danger. Living of the and is no vacation. Christopher McCandless was not an exception to these facts. In the book Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, the protagonist Christopher McCandless dies due to his inexperience surviving in climates like Alaska. What happened to him could have been prevented. First of all, Chris would have had a better chance at survival if he was more prepared to live in Alaska. Secondly, Chris made many mistakes that led to his death that could have be less severe if he knew what to do. Finally, Chris was not the only one that made mistakes that cost them their lives.

In his novel, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer recounts the true tale of Chris McCandless, a recent college graduate who decided against a professional career and instead opted for a life of adventuring and self-reliance. Readers of Into the Wild have shared differing opinions of McCandless. Some view him as passionate, courageous, and admirable while others view him as reckless, arrogant, and “unworthy of the considerable media attention he received.” (Author’s Note) Though McCandless’ courage and steadfast dedication to his beliefs are admirable, I believe that his hubris, naivete, and his inadequate preparation should be the most important points in any discussion of his trips and subsequent death.

The plot line of a tragic story is one that enthralls a reader with the rise and fall of a tragic hero. After the death of Christopher McCandless in Alaska over 20 years ago, not only is there still discussion of what was the true cause of his death, but also the widespread debate of a much larger question: was McCandless a tragic hero? Some argue that Christopher McCandless is a selfish coward and ended up giving his whole life and education away due to his lack of knowledge of the wilderness, while others argue that he lived his life through pushing beyond the limits of a normal human being and seeking what is limited to most of society. In the novel Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer describes the travels of McCandless and writes about how past

The desire to be at one with nature sometimes becomes apparent within some of us. Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer highlights the fact that Chris McCandless is a reckless fool and a narcissist due to his carelessness, ignorance, and incompetence.

Chris McCandless was a loner, a fierce believer in the spiritual revolution, and a hopeless dreamer, traits that, combined with his dislike of society, ultimately led to his “climactic battle to kill the false being within” in the harsh Alaskan wilderness. Until his “great adventure,” Chris increasingly compared himself and the society around him according to a strict moral code. As a result, he was disheartened by the realization that the majority of people he encountered were not taking initiative to improve the quality of life for themselves and for others. Along with his own efforts to rid himself of the pretenses and prejudices of society, McCandless continually encouraged

To the average person, going off and living off the land is far fetched from the ideal “perfect life” or “American Dream”. To Christopher McCandless, it’s another story, he isn’t the type of person to “stick to the status quo”, he follows the things that he believes could benefit himself. To some people, it may be narcissistic because it’s selfish to only think about what is good for yourself, but to others it could be heroic to have courage to be able to stand out from and break conformity. Chris McCandless, who was well liked and very educated man, left the life that many people desire to have behind and he went off to “live off the land, to survive off of the resources that nature offered he immersed himself in nature to find himself. It takes a lot of courage and guts to go out and “live off the land” with limited supplies but it also takes a lot of skills to do it well, and he underestimated what Mother Nature could do, leading to his death.

Multiple accounts assumed McCandless was “entering the wilderness purposely ill-prepared…” and “hardly unique…almost a collective cliché” (Krakauer 71). Krakauer refutes this claim by displaying evidence supporting his argument while also acknowledging counter claims that McCandless was rash, foolhardy, but stressing he was definitely competent (85). Krakauer compares and contrasts the journeys of Rosellini, Waterman, and McCunn to that of McCandless defending that McCandless was not incapable or oblivious to survive in Alaska. Later parallels between McCandless and Ruess demonstrate their desires to become connected to nature and strong determination.

Trekking along the cold dark trails of the Alaskan interior famished from society, family, and food the average person could not help but ponder why they are in that situation. Chris McCandless however, would say otherwise and probably give you a list why that is his, ideal lifestyle. McCandless’s death in 1992 has baffled the world in numerous ways and has received very mixed reactions. Many questions have been asked about Chris McCandless’s ideology. In the novel, “Into the Wild” John Krakauer has presented his own ideas on what may have been McCandless’s motivation to leave everything behind.

It has been said that some find life after death. This stands true for Christopher McCandless, the main protagonist in Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Into the Wild is journalist Jon Krakauer’s narration of McCandless ditching his life of privilege and hitch hiking around America, until he would eventually trek into the Alaskan Wilderness and lose his life due to starvation. After McCandless is found dead, news of his death sweeps across the nation as his untimely departure faces criticism for being deserved, as McCandless went into the wilderness extremely underprepared. Through this novel, Krakauer brings McCandless’s spirit back to life again as he uses anecdotes, ethos, and aphorisms to convince readers that McCandless’s expedition was not an act of craziness, but an act of a free spirit that many can relate to.

To most people, Chris McCandless is a brave and courageous man who went into the wilderness at his own will. Jon Krakauer is one of these people. In his book called Into the Wild, Krakauer writes about the case of Chris McCandless. It has multiple findings and interviews from people and objects that Chris McCandless had. While reading his book, Krakauer shows multiple signs of supporting McCandless’s actions. His reasoning comes from the fact that McCandless reminds him of himself. Krakauer feels that he understands the reasoning behind Chris McCandless’s sudden disappearance, making him biased towards the thought Chris McCandless being a noble and inspirational person. This isn’t a bad thing, it just makes Krakauer’s opinion turn more to Chris McCandless’s side. It gives him a different point of view

" Into The Wild", created by Jon Krakauer talked about how Chris McCandless was rash, " but wasn't a nutcase, he wasn't a sociopath, he wasn't an outcast." Chris wasn't none of those; he was something else. It was hard to detect what Chris really was, but truthfully he was precisley better than that. McCandless was honeslty a intelligent human being; graduated from Emory University in Atlanta with a 3.72 grade-point average. He distinguished himself to have a history and anthropolgy major.

Chris McCandless died doing what he loved, but was it worth all of the pain and uncertainty he caused his family? Chris embarked on a journey through the Alaskan wilderness, which resulted in his demise. He cut ties with his family due to personal differences in opinion and travelled all around the country living off of the land for the most part. People have formed many different opinions of Chris McCandless, but its up to you to decide whether his actions were selfish or purposeful. In this Journal, I will be questioning the motives of McCandless, connecting with him, as well as evaluating the author.