Research Paper On Chris Mccandless

Christopher Johnson Mccandless, an intelligent young man, dies while trying to live in Alaska; by choice. The death of Mccandless was a controversial matter: people argued their thoughts on Mccandless’ story, and who's to blame for Mccandless' death. Some say it’s Mccandless’ own stupidity, or his honorable seek for thrill. Others say it’s his parents’ horrible way of raising him, or nature’s unforeseen acts. However, it is a mixture of all these, with Mccandless being the most at fault. Mccandless might have had choices, but there were things he couldn’t control, neither can anyone else.

Chris McCandless was a true adventurer. He went to his journeys mostly by foot and would not take any chance to cheat it. He bought an aluminum canoe at Arizona and paddled down the Colorado River, and nearly drowning in rough water in the Gulf of California. In his journal, he writes ."..It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found. God it's great to be alive! Thank you. Thank you" (pg37). His confession in his journal proved that he had no regrets of what he had done even though it almost cost him his life. He also turned down Wayne's offer to buy him an airplane ticket to

Chris then, after graduating from Emory University, donated most of his savings to charity. He then took a path to the vagabond lifestyle and worked when necessary as a restaurant food preparer and a helping hand for farming. A good contrast between McCandless and Shepard, is that McCandless was not interested in the knowledge of wanting “...to know what day it is, or where i am. None of it matters” (Death of an Innocent 1). Once McCandless was on his way to Alaska, he did not want to take part in knowing what time or day it was when on his voyage. McCandless is well-known for his stubborn personality, while also having a different to abnormal thought process when finding solutions for solving worldwide problems. Chris was only 24 years of age when he died out in the abandoned bus. His survival out in Alaska lasted 4 months, where he ate a very poisonous plant that forced the human body to starve, no matter how many calories you

Some may argue that Christopher McCandless’ story was not inspiring. Many believe McCandless was selfish, because he abandoned

Jon Krakauer wrote, “It is hardly unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders ... McCandless, in his fashion, merely took risk-taking to its logical extreme” (Krakauer 182). Chris did not think about dying much before he went to survive in Alaska. Many of Chris’s critics thought he was just a kid who overestimated himself and underestimated the difficulty of living in the Alaskan bush. McCandless went into the bush seeking answers and I believe he found his answers, but met fatality before he could leave. Chris McCandless was not ill-prepared for his odyssey and he was not a kook.

The story of Chris McCandless has become a pop culture phenomenon. Many are fascinated by his desire to abandon his family and society and “walk into the wild” (Krakauer 69). Newscasts, magazine articles, movies, and books have tried to define what motivated him to give up everything for his Alaskan odyssey; however, the answers died with McCandless. People make assumptions about him without knowing his entire story. McCandless chose to do the unconventional, making people think he was either foolish or brave and determined, but ultimately he was selfish for doing what he did.

Christopher McCandless was a unique individual, and the trials that he had went through in

Chris was a very stubborn individual and never wanted to compromise his morals to please others. Chris never listened to suggestions or advisement of others as he was on his journey. His incompetence and inability to take other people’s advisement into account was ultimately was caused his death. Gallien tried to warn McCandless of the rough conditions by telling him “the hunting wasn’t easy where he was going, that he could go days without killing any game” (Krakauer 5). Gallien is just one example of someone who tried to help McCandless realize that living alone in Alaska would be very gueling, but McCandless assumed that if he could survive for a month in the Gulf of California, he would also be able to thrive in Alaska. Of course Chris ignored Galliens advice and did things his own way because he’s stubborn. One of Chris’ flaws was that he had very strong opinions that were so different from the rest of society and was fiercely independent. Chris’ beliefs and points of view led to him going into the wild without anyone aware of his whereabouts. Chris never wanted help from anyone and he expressed this when he said, “I won’t run into anything I can’t deal with on my own”(Krakauer 6). Chris also “hadn’t spoken to his family in nearly two years”(Krakauer 6). Both of these quotes emphasize the fact that he felt the need to be utterly alone. If Chris had told someone his real name and his desired destination then he wouldn’t have died alone in Alaska. Chris would’ve been better off if he had listened to the advice he was given and if he had told people about his whereabouts.

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.

Christopher Scott “Chris” Kyle is renowned as the deadliest sniper in America’s Military history. When Chris was 8 he received his first rifle, a 30-06 bolt action rifle, along with a shotgun, that he used to hunt pheasant, quail, and deer hear his home in Odessa, Texas. On off nights from school, Chris got involved in the sport of rodeo. Chris’s passion for horses and riding turned him into a successful bronco rider. But his career was abruptly ended when Chris suffered a career ending injury to his arm. Looking to take the next step in his life, Chris decided to join the military. Chris originally planned to meet with the Army recruiter, but he was on break at the time. While waiting, Chris got pulled into a room by the Navy recruiter and

Chris McCandless got away from his materialistic parents. He went north to pursue a life of adventure and wanted to get disconnected with civilization. McCandless’s motivation for leaving was that he wanted to get away from the people, including his parents and pursue a life of adventure and not poisoned by civilization. So he

and he was born on the eighth of April, 1974. His Mother, Deby Lynn worked at a sunday school and his Father, Wayne Kyle was a Deacon. He had one brother, Jeff Kyle, that he had to look out for all the time so there was no risk of him getting beat up for how small he is. When he was about 7 years old, he loved to go out in his backyard with his dad and go hunting for quail and pheasants. As time flew by, for his 8th birthday his dad bought him his first hunting rifle. Then down the road, his dad bought him a 12 gauge shotgun. Chris and his brother grew up raising 150 cattle at a time. Chris attended a high school located in Midlothian, TX and became a professional bronco rodeo rider and also he became a ranch hand at different local ranches. He attended Tarleton State University and still was

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.

Christopher Johnson McCandless graduated from Emory University in 1990. The son of well-to-do parents, it appeared that Chris was prepared to embark on the next chapter of his life. He had been editor of the student newspaper, earned honors with a double major in history and anthropology, and seemed destined for law school. Determined to rewrite his story, Chris eschewed conventional expectations. He divested himself of money and possessions and immersed himself in a new identity: Alexander Supertramp, Alaskan Adventurer. Four months after beginning his trek into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley, Chris's decomposed body was found. When the details of his story emerged, many people thought Chris was mentally disturbed, calling him a "kook," a "nut," and "a half-cocked greenhorn," among other things (Krakauer, 1996, pp. 71-72). Had Chris's story had a happy ending, he would probably be described differently. He brought the tragic ending on himself, and people called him crazy. "Crazy" is a non-clinical word often used to describe someone with an underlying pathology. In this sense, there was nothing wrong with Chris McCandless. What he did suffer from was the enthusiasm and over-confidence of youth. Combined with poor planning and insufficient skills and experience in the outdoors, his "affliction" became fatal. McCandless made bad decisions, but he was not crazy.

Christopher Johnson McCandless walked alone into the Alaskan wilderness with very little equipment and food after traveling to various parts of North America during the course of two years. Regardless of living on his own with not many things for a couple of years, Chris died alone in a bus on the Stampede Trail in Alaska. Author Jon Krakauer wrote a 9,000 word article titled “Death of an Innocent” for the 1993 issue of the magazine Outside. Into the Wild is simply an extension of that article which explains what provoked Chris into living such a life, who he was, and how he died. The author proves to the reader that Chris was an intelligent man by explaining his research about edible plants and his ambition which builds up Chris’s