If you have a passion for something in life that not many people think is worth pursuing, then you shouldn’t listen to those people. What is something that makes that person who they are? Everyone has goals and things they want to accomplish. Chris McCandless was a hiker and traveller who gave up everything he had to go and live off the land in the Alaskan Wilderness as well as western parts of America. McCandless had a need for adventure and saw that he didn’t want the materialistic things in life. Unfortunately, four months later: Chris was found dead and extremely emaciated. People who have read Into The Wild, often wonder why a person would do such a thing like McCandless did. Many say it was for the sheer thrill and fulfillment of a …show more content…
McCandless wanted to live off the land. Chris is putting himself at a disadvantage because he never told anyone where he was going and he didn’t bring enough resources to survive. McCandless also had little knowledge on the land, and was unprepared. I believe if someone goes into a dangerous situation, they are crazy.
In the beginning of his journey Chris met many people such as fellow adventurers, boaters, canal officials, and duck hunting guides who helped him before his journey. He didn’t take the advice that was given to him. For example, Jim Gallien, a man who gave Chris a ride on Stampede Trail, gave McCandless boots and tried to make him reconsider living off the land. Chris never reconsidered. There was a ranger cabin not far from where McCandless was staying, and he didn’t know because he didn’t listen. McCandless would have also been better off if he placed himself in a better location. He was near a river that flooded and he couldn’t escape because of the flooded water. If he placed himself more accordingly and listened to the people who knew what they were talking about, he would have been better off. Chris is crazy because he also had an idiosyncratic logical process, which means he only had one way of thinking and people who aren’t successful don’t listen to other options. An example of that is Chris had a map, he got rid of the map because he believed there to be
I think he just wanted to pursue life in a different way. Chris was not seeing life the way anyone else was so he decided to brush off into the wild and be free on his own. Though he did not survive he was still a very bright, arrogant human being. Shaun Callarman states, “He had no common sense, and he had no business going into Alaska with his Romantic silliness.” Chris knew going into the wild that he did not have much survival skills but that did not stop him from doing what he wanted to do because he did not care about society and was just completely over everything which was why he made the move to the wilderness. This clearly shows us that Chris did not have much common sense. If he had better survival skills and common sense he probably would have known not to eat that poisonous berry. It was his dream to be in the wild and he decided to pursue it. I respect his decisions and i personally believe it was a good decision other than the fact of him dying. He made the infinitive decision to do all of this so why stop
“Hey guys! This is the last communication you shall receive from me. I now walk out to live amongst the wild. Take care, it was great knowing you” (Qtd. In Krakauer 69). After graduating from Emory University, Christopher McCandless abandoned everything, gave his entire savings account to charity, and then hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wild. In the novel, Into the Wild, Was McCandless justified in shunning society? McCandless was justified in shunning society because he simply wanted to find himself and be independent without any distractions from his friends or family.
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.
Another one of the reasons Chris left was to pursue a life of adventure. Chris liked the wilderness he probably thought that it was peaceful and a spiritual enlightenment just a quiet place to reflect on life and think or not think at all. Life of adventure was where he can live life differently and explore the wilderness. This adventure made McCandless think about life in a different perspective and when he was in the woods he lived more traditionally, with no gadgets, no making his life simpler. “McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as
It is often noted that one can never truly understand the beauty of life until they go and experience it. This idea parallels with getting to know who they really are and figuring out what their purpose in life genuinely is, which not many people cannot comprehend. Everyone has different fears, desires, and feelings, but not until you live a life of new experiences do you harness your true self. Growing through experiences and connecting with nature allows someone to more deeply reflect on their individual purpose on Earth and discover their own definition of happiness. Henry David Thoreau comments on this even further by proposing that the disconnection from a society in which we are comfortable is the only way to cultivate an understanding of ourselves. Chris McCandless sets out on an adventure in a life absent of routine to push his boundaries and prove that he could make it on his own, finding the meaning of life in the process. Henry David Thoreau’s statement “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves”, is correct, as evidenced by Jon Krakauer’s novel Into the Wild.
Callarman tends to believe that Chris is crazy, although I know he’s not. Rachel states “McCandless travels throughout North America, following three main Transcendentalist ideals: a minimalist lifestyle, the disconnection of society, and a reverence for both God and nature.” (Lin, R. n.d.) , by that statement, it shows that from that point in his life he’s going to be disconnected from society. I believe that when he was making his choice to go to Alaska he wanted to be with nature and try for himself with god too. Rachel comments on the part where Chris lights his money on fire by saying,
Into the Wild is a novel about Chris McCandless who left everything, and everyone he knew after college and essentially disappeared into the wild. A commonly asked question at the end of Into The wild is why did Chris McCandless do this, why did he abandon his college education and everyone he knew. Many have tried to figure out just this question but with the help of the memoir Walden, a book that heavily inspired McCandless, it is easy to see why McCandless left his conventional life. These reasons are that He wanted to be more like nature, to go with the flow and not let every little thing throw him off, Chris took this to the extreme and literally joined nature to get a better understand of it. He also wanted to live a simpler life, Chris again took this to the extreme by leaving everything that was extra or unneeded in his life. The final reason is that he wanted to see what reality and real life must offer, he didn’t want to see and live with the reality that other people imposed on things.
First things first, Chris Mccandless followed his dream to escape society and live in nature. Once he got out of society and was on the road he delighted, "McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well—relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy” (Krakauer, 55). Chris had the capability of escaping the society where he could go off on a journey to find himself. Chris is one of the few people out there that has the mindset of doing whatever it is to achieve his dream. Not many people in this world are able to do that especially if it is going out into the wild to fulfill your dream, maybe they will swim 50 miles in an ocean
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.
“Into the Wild” written Jon Krakauer is a book about a character name Christopher McCandless who decides to find this self worth by ditching his family and his name to do so. What McCandless had was - money, friends, family and a car. Which most Americans would do anything for that. But for McCandless all of that meant nothing to him, because he felt like he needed to live up to his name. Being able to deal with the expectation of others, we always felt the need to be perfect and well fitted to our social class. This may have been a reason why McCandless decided to give it all up. “My point is that you do not need me or anyone else around to bring this new light into your life.”(Krakauer 58) This quote help support my claim because this shows that in order to be happy, a person must be happy even if they were stripped of everything. McCandless always felt the need to be perfect, coming from a prestigious school, his father was an engineer for NASA, he did not have to pay for his college tuition because everything was paid for him. Something in life are more important than being happy , like being there to think for yourself, and in this quote it proves that.
This is one reason why he decided to leave home; he wanted to experience the life of not having anything to his name, this is also shown through out the book during his journeys, however this not the only reason why he left home. The ultimate reason why he left home was because of what his father had done. A cab driver name Stuckey whom helped McCandless reach Alaska elaborated that McCandless said that he found out that his father was living a bigamist life and that it went against Chris’s beliefs (159). This was ultimately one of the reasons why Chris left home and had no feelings towards his parents. This exhibits the hatred and no remorseful attitude McCandless had through out the book towards his parents, especially his father. However, this attitude towards his father and civilization is justified completely when he decided to leave home and take on the wilderness.
Wild horses are something that most people know about, at least to an extent. To many they are the embodiment of the word “freedom”, they are creatures that have been around for centuries roaming free in the mountains and wilderness, pretty much left unchecked except by their natural predators. Gorgeous, majestic, and full of spirit are words that can all be used to describe wild horses and pictures of them make great desktop backgrounds and calendars that show a peaceful and wonderful view of nature. What, then, is the issue with the wild horses and why are there arguements over what needs to be done with them? As a brief explanation wild horses are becoming a nuisance for everyone around them – the ecosystem and humans alike. When left unchecked, as they had been before, what happens, and why is it such a big deal?
It has been very perplexing reading this novel and trying to truly understand the motives one would have to have to make the decisions McCandless made. I am questioning Chris’ motives for cutting ties with his family and travelling all around the country. I think that he truly had a deep love and spiritual connection with nature. It began as a young child when Walt McCandless (Chris’ father) took Chris on many excursions in the outdoors, such as hiking in the mountains. Chris immediately fell in love with nature and all of the pleasures it had to offer. Also, Chris was motivated by his withering relationship with his family. Early in his life his parents worked tirelessly and it was difficult for Chris to spend time and build a solid relationship with them. Throughout his young life he had disagreed with his parents about many aspects of life. It was said that he
Habitat loss is a very real and very serious problem that goes on in our world today in every country.
Humans and nature will forever have a connection, but as time goes on the connection weakens. Innocent animals are being hunted, killed, and murdered. The price to pay for a missing species is more than we can bare. This is severely damaging our environment and not only hurting the animals, but ourselves as well. The human race is capable of change; but it will take time, which is something these poor animals do not have. If we want to protect our world, we will have to move and fast. Extinction of these species can be prevented and our future generations can enjoy this wonderful planet as it once was.