Into The Wild Chris Mccandless Character Analysis

The last known words of Chris McCandless are brief and meaningful: “On the other side of the page, which was blank, McCandless penned a brief adios: ‘I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!’ Then he crawled into the sleeping bag his mother had sewn for him and slipped into unconsciousness” (Krakauer 199). Having travelled the continent in pursuit of his greatest adventure, one could say that McCandless lived a far more interesting life than the average person. He meets several companions that not only give him a place to stay when times are tough, but they also represent great memories that made McCandless the person he was and what his legacy will always stand for. Upon reaching Alaska, McCandless, through his own arrogance, realizes the importance of family and friends. He dies thanking the lord with no regrets

Chris McCandless was a young adventurer who went to extreme lengths to finish what he

Chris McCandless was a hero to many people throughout his life and he was often considered a hero to most. But, a lot of people criticized his errors along the journey. When Chris died, his impact on society was mostly positive, and the people who he met remembered his accomplishments that he has made in their life. His passing let people remember him for what he has done to help others along the way. His mistakes and flaws added up from the first day he started this path of life. Throughout the story, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless is claimed to be a hero by many of the few he met across his journey to Alaska. However, a

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

In what could have been Chris McCandless’s last contact with humanity he tells his new comrade, Wayne Westerberg, “If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t hear from me again I want you to know you are a great man. I now walk into the wild” (Krakauer 3). For 112 days Chris lived off the harsh Alaskan land. For anyone who is brave enough to travel on the stampede trail and cross the treacherous Teklanika River you will come across the Fairbanks City Transit System Bus 142. Once a backcountry shelter for hunters, trappers, ranger patrols, and for a short time Chris McCandless, Bus 142 now serves as a memorial for Chris McCandless. Travelers will make the trip to witness the basic resources Chris had at hand and the courage it took to

McCandless did not prepare well enough for his long journey in the backcountry of Alaska. When Christopher McCandless came across Jim Gallien, who is an accomplished hunter, saw McCandless

Christopher McCandless, A nutcase to some, but a hero to others. But what exactly was he? I personally see Chris as a Hero. Christopher Mccandless a small town kid born into an east coast rich family, who graduated from one of the best universities in america and had a bright future ahead, yet wasn't satisfied. He didn't know the truth to his own existence, Therefore, He abandoned everything and just left. He was ready to give up everything he had worked for, every opportunity he had in life. He sacrificed everything to find his true being within. Chris went on a 2 year long journey all throughout the west coast town hopping, meeting new people. Inspiring them to change. All to which was leading up for his final test of Man vs. Self. He

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.

The novel Into the Wild written by Jon Krakauer revealed the true identity of Chris McCandless, or as one might say, Alex Supertramp who was his alter ego when he left home to start a new adventure. Chris did not know his long journey to Alaska would end up taking his life. There are many different opinions about Chris, but the question is “Is Chris McCandless a hero?” While Chris, by definition is a Romantic Hero, he was not a hero using the traditional definition because he hurt everyone that loved him.

One of the most admirable characteristics about Chris was his determination to do whatever he wanted to. He didn’t believe in the government or their rules, logically influencing his new life in the wild where he could be alone and do as he wanted, not taking advice from anyone who tried talking him out of it. Until the last day of his life, Chris had worked the hardest he could to survive in the wild and continued living the life that he had desired. Also, Chris was a very social man and enjoyed conversing with others that he had met along the way to Alaska. “He was intensely private but could be convivial and gregarious in the extreme” (pg. 115).

He was very self-reliant. “When she tried to give him a little money for helping out at the swap meet,’ she recalls,’he acted real offended.”(46) Burres was a women who treated Chris as her own child. But when she tried to give Chris some money for helping her out, he declined. McCandless did not need anything from anyone even if he might have earned it. He did a lot of things just for the enjoyment and the face to face interaction to others. Christopher really didn't want anything from his parents. “I’m going to have to be real careful not to accept an gifts from them in the future.”(21) Chris and his parents had a weak relationship because of events that happen to him in his childhood. So Chris was on his own and away from others. From the time he was able to drive. Chris ws self-reliant and even bought his own care. Being self-reliant help Christopher in the past but ultimately led to his

Donating $25,000 to charity, which was meant to be used for college, and burning all his identification and cash, he creates the new identity for himself which he can explore the country with, especially Alaska. Though it takes a while, he eventually makes it to Alaska, however a couple of months after entering the bush he is found deadly hunters and tourists. Jon Krakauer, author of Chris’s story Into the Wild, write an article in Outside Magazine speaking of Chris’s death. Chris alarmingly gains fame very quickly even though there had been people who had ventured to Alaska before him in order “to find themselves”. Around the country, people wondered what Chris’s purpose was, how did he die, who or what was Chris McCandless?

Many people in this world feel like they are in a constant pattern of their unfulfilled lives and feel like they need to get away. People like this may want to go out into the incredible world to find themselves. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a inspirational story about a man named Chris McCandless and his adventure across the country to find himself. He leaves his materialistic lifestyle behind and journeys to Alaska to live out the life he wanted. Christopher McCandless stands out because he wasn't afraid to go and take a huge risk to find peace within himself. This character can be described as many different things such as intelligent, self efficient, and courageous.

Chris McCandless comes off as a different person to every reader. Some see Chris as crazy, and some see him as naive. Shaun Callarman saw Chris as crazy. Shaun states, "I think that 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 ignorance. I don’t admire him at all for his courage nor his noble ideas. Really, I think he was just plain crazy”. All the aspects of “crazy”, which Shaun listed about Chris, are not things that make people crazy, they are things that make people naive. Chris was naive because he had a passion that blinded him so much that it caused him to be cocky, ill prepared, discrete, and lack expertise and experience for this type of adventure.

In the book “Into the Wild”, Chris McCandless is a character who is very hard to read. He’s unpredictable in the sense that the readers never know his next move. He moves from place to place, trying to find peace in his life after leaving his friends and family. He wants to isolate himself from society and live with nature. By doing this, he is known by many as either a noble man by attempting to do so, or is crazy for trying to do so.