Into the Wild: Character Analysis of McCandless

In the wilderness of Alaska, temperatures can drop down to thirty degrees below zero. Christopher McCandless lived in these conditions for four months after traveling through North America for almost two years. It can be seen in the novel, Into the Wild, that during his journey he had many brushes with death and burned bridges with people who deeply cared for him. For those reasons and many more, people assert Chris McCandless was unprepared, careless, and selfish on his personal journey across the United States, culminating in his death in Alaska.

The romantic notion of condemning society and leaving everything behind is one many have had, but next to none have carried out. While there are reasons for this, Christopher McCandless disregarded them and completed this surreal experience. John Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, chronicled this journey from Virginia to Alaska. On this expedition McCandless touched many people’s lives, working odd-jobs and hitching rides. He eventually met his end while on his Alaskan odyssey, his most ambitious campaign. Many people think that he deserved this fate because of his disregard for the dangers of the Alaskan wilderness. However, Chris McCandless was independent and he did not care for fitting in. His happiness with his life was uncommon. He was

Chris McCandless was just a victim of his own obsession. The novel "Into The Wild" written by John Krakauer revealed the life of a young bright man named Chris McCandless who turned up dead in Alaska in summer 1992. In the novel, John Krakauer approached carefully McCandless's life without putting too much authorial judgment to the readers. Although Chris McCandless remained an elusive figure throughout the novel, I can see Chris McCandless as a dreamy young idealist who tries to follow his dream but failed because of his innocent mistake which prove to be fatal and irreversible. Still, Chris McCandless's courage and passion was something that we should all be proud of.

Christopher Johnson McCandless is a respectable man in so many ways but, yet such a foolish man in many others. Chris McCandless possessed a seemingly ever-lasting bravery that constantly shined through his unique and matchless character. He was very righteous in himself to the point in which he kept himself from any sin or evil, committing his life to what seemed like an idea of celibacy, not just in refraining from any desire of flesh but also in all lusts of life with his diligent power of will that constantly shined through his exterior. Onto the contrary of his good characteristics, McCandless remained to be very foolish in his decisions and under takings, whether it be by his arrogance of sheer narrow mindedness.

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

In society, people tend to follow the people's footsteps and apply new characteristic or methods that they obtain from there person. In the story, Into the Wild, Chris McCandless was a boy who favors several literacy heroes. He was able to understand each hero and apply there knowledge that they obtain from other people. He was favoriting Henry David Thoreau, Jack London, Leo Tolstoy and much more. Henry David Thoreau was an American poet and an essayist and wrote numerous books based on his philosophy. However, in the book, he plays a crucial role in giving Chris McCandless life lesson throughout his journey. Jack London is a worldwide celebrity and a famous novelist and journalist. He also has some characteristics that Chris has also obtained from him. In addition, Leo Tolstoy was one of the greatest Russian authors of all times. He has inspired Chris with some of his quotes which reflects him during his journey. There are more heroes that Chris mentions in the story but these are three which he tends to reflect more on.

The book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, tells the story of a boy, called Chris McCandless, who was someone that created an impact on many different people as he journeyed around the West. “You could tell right away that Alex was intelligent.” Westerberg recalls “He read a lot” (18). Because Westerberg was the second person Chris used his fake name upon, it shows that Chris McCandless doesn't want people to know who he really is and he wanted to reinvent himself as he wanted to be not as society wanted him. Chris McCandless has quite a few literary heroes who have helped him shape his own opinion on life’s philosophy and were constantly quoted and listed in Chris McCandless’s story. “He gave Westerberg a treasured 1942 edition of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. On the title he inscribed, ‘Transferred to Wayne Westerberg from Alexander. October, 1990. Listen to Pierre’” (19). It’s interesting that Chris wrote “Listen to Pierre” (19), because Pierre is a character who is an alter ego like Chris McCandless, who goes by Alexander Supertramp.

Jon Krakauer, fascinated by a young man in April 1992 who hitchhiked to Alaska and lived alone in the wild for four months before his decomposed body was discovered, writes the story of Christopher McCandless, in his national bestseller: Into the Wild. McCandless was always a unique and intelligent boy who saw the world differently. Into the Wild explores all aspects of McCandless’s life in order to better understand the reason why a smart, social boy, from an upper class family would put himself in extraordinary peril by living off the land in the Alaskan Bush. McCandless represents the true tragic hero that Aristotle defined. Krakauer depicts McCandless as a tragic hero by detailing his unique and perhaps flawed views on society,

Chris McCandless traveled to Alaska in April of 1992 for isolation from society, and unfortunately died in Fairbanks Bus 142 in August of 1992. His death is not what angers readers, but his lack of preparation and arrogance about the wilderness is what proves his “reckless narcissism”. His selfishness to not abide by his parent’s wishes for college and a decent job, his unpreparedness for wilderness survival, and his manipulation and lack of empathy for others is why readers believe he is a “reckless narcissist”. However, many people see him as a “noble idealist” for leaving society and all its amenities to live out his dream of in the wild.

2. A person like Chris McCandless would indeed like to hitchhike and reside out in the wilderness. “You could tell right away that Alex was intelligent” (Krakauer 18). Chris is very intelligent person because he is one that finds pleasure in seeking adventure. This unique quality in Chris shows how he is able to have a wide open mind to accept great adventure in his life. Krakauer would include this detail to try and persuade the reader that McCandless has the ability to survive in the wild.

Into the wild essay Nope, Alexander Supertramp is crazy. In John Krakauer's novel Into the Wild the main character Chris McCandless aka Alexander Supertramp leaves all he has behind including family and his promising future to wander across country, with little to no supplies, only to end up dead in the Alaskan wilderness, barely two years after he vanished to live out his fantasies about living of the land and being a transcendentalist for the rest of his life. Krakauer stated that he had a bias towards Chris and that he admired Chris for his undertaking and the courage Krakauer believed it took to go on this journey. The idea that wandering into the Alaskan wilderness with a bag of rice and a rifle and expect to survive there without anything prior training or knowledge of the land else is absurd. Chris Mccandless was not brave or courageous, he was a confused person that did not know what he wanted that let the stories of Jack London and Leo Tolstoy influence his decision to live off the land and completely disappear from society.

Chris McCandless: Ignorance Is Not Bliss Judith Kleinfeld (2001) defines a dumb jerk as: ”a person who is futilely questing for something meaningless or worthless. A person who is woefully unprepared for a trip, who clings to misguided, self-righteous principles, losing friends and hurting themselves and their family in the process"”. This accurately describes Chris McCandless, a 24-year-old man who set out on a journey to find himself as he travels across the country, only to end in the complete and harsh wilderness of Alaska. Another part of the definition that McCandless fits is losing his friends and hurting himself and his family; moreover, during this hiatus in his life, he meets many people and creates strong bonds with them, only to destroy them after ignoring their advice about the Alaskan Tundra.

Is difficulty forgiving a driving force in people’s lives? People tend to have trouble letting things go and moving on. Instead they will bury things within themselves and walk in day to day life holding on to negativity. Chris McCandless sister Carine said in The Truth About Chris McCandless: “Perhaps I cannot escape the irony that as children, throughout dads gin, induced rages, we were told that he himself, was God, so his actions could not be wrong.” The home when they were younger was fairly stable, it included dad, mom, Carine, Chris, Shelley and Shawna but there father was a drunk and he kept secrets Chris could've never imagined. In a new memoir The Wild Truth, Carine writes that she believes her brother's sudden disappearance and journey reflected his determination to separate

A trait simply described as the overestimation of oneself can be a quintessential element in understanding a character’s downfall. People such as Chris McCandless, Oedipus, and Tiger Woods are key examples when trying to relate, understand, and analyze what we know today as “Hubris”. Tiger Woods can be viewed as a modern day example of hubristic actions due to his history of fame and fortune leading to a public downfall on his image. Connections that can be made between each of these characters describe the very nature of how a hero will ultimately meet their bane as a result of being blinded by their own flaws.

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.