The Character of Chris McCandless in Jon Krakauer’s, Into the Wild

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.

In Jon Krakauer's novel Into the Wild, the main character, Chris McCandless, seeks nature so that he can find a sense of belonging and the true meaning of who he is. However, it is the essence of nature that eventually takes his life away from him. At the end of his life, he is discovers his purpose and need of other people. After Chris McCandless death in Alaska, Krakauer wrote Into the Wild to reflect on the journey that McCandless makes. Krakauer protrays McCandless as a young man who is reckless, selfish, and arrogant, but at the same time, intelligent, determined, independent, and charismatic. Along with the irony that occurs in nature, these characteristics are the several factors that contribute to McCandless death.

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.

​Throughout his adventure, McCandless proves his bravery by supplying himself with an insufficient amount of supplies and making treacherous decisions. McCandless embarks on his route alone with no money or car, only the items that mean the most to him. In order to focus mainly on the nature and his surroundings, McCandless “put a match to” (Krakauer, 29) all his money and “wasn’t carrying anywhere

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 gripping tale of a young man who leaves all that he has and goes to live amidst the natural world, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer showcases the two years Christopher McCandless had spent journeying throughout the United States before his unfortunate death. After graduating from Emory University in 1990, McCandless disconnected with all of his past relations and abandoned the majority of his possessions. McCandless’ decisions either seem extremely unwise or extremely courageous. He had a comfortable life with few worries yet he still chose to toss it all away and venture into unknown territories. What many wonder is why he would do such an irrational thing. Maybe, McCandless’ was simply trying to run away from his perception of reality.

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.

Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, describes the adventure of Christopher McCandless, a young man that ventured into the wilderness of Alaska hoping to find himself and the meaning of life. He undergoes his dangerous journey because he was persuade by of writers like Henry D. Thoreau, who believe it is was best to get farther away from the mainstreams of life. McCandless’ wild adventure was supposed to lead him towards personal growth but instead resulted in his death caused by his unpreparedness towards the atrocity nature.

Throughout history, people encounter a stage in their lives where they feel the necessity to assert their independence and challenge their abilities and self-worth. In the book, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, the author shares his understanding and kinship with the main character, Chris McCandless, a young man who thrusts himself into a life of solitude and a harsh environment during his search for meaning to his life. Krakauer depicts himself and McCandless as modern day transcendentalists with an abundance of competency, resourcefulness and skills as naturalists. Although McCandless chose to experience a life of solitude and face the hazards that nature presents, his lack of preparedness prevented him from completing his endeavor successfully.

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,

McCandless once again misunderstood what Thoreau said in “Walden” about leaving society. As stated in Into The Wild, “Near the end of his trip, it turned out, Chris had gotten lost in the Mojave Desert and had nearly succumbed to dehydration” (Krakauer 118). Chris had been too stubborn to believe he could not achieve something since he had proven to be good at everything he tried. Chris’ hubris would have to be his arrogance in believing he could do anything he wanted to. By McCandless going into the Mojave Desert was absurd because it was too far from society. Being too far from society can have consequences especially if you need help. Chris’ mind was too clouded to see or think that throughout his entire life. Chris McCandless misinterpreted Thoreau’s writing and he was crazy to shun society, which also help build on the idea that McCandless misunderstood “Self Reliance” and he made actions that ended up being hypocritical later on in his life.

In Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction book, Into the Wild, we follow how humans love the wilderness, the strain of father son relationships, and for the majority of the book a young adult named Chris McCandless. We see mostly through Chris’ eyes just how much the wilderness can entice young adults as well as how important crushing news of one’s father can change your life. McCandless was an angry pseudo adult who couldn’t handle a sizeable change in his life. He was too stuck on it being his way that he rarely could bring himself to accept help and improve his ability to actually survive. However, there was some good about McCandless. His search for himself and the truth were great intentions despite the flawed approach.

While in an old family cabin, Chris McCandless finds out about his father’s previous relationship with another woman at the same time as his relationship with McCandless’ mother. Although this problem is painfully resolved without McCandless knowing, his discovery drives him to an irrational and immature reaction. Jon Krakauer said “he indicated that he was planning another extended trip”(95) after McCandless’s senior year in Emory. He then donated all of his money and disappeared, entirely out of contact with any, and all, family. McCandless reacts in a rash and immature fashion when he leaves. McCandless never spoke to his family about what he knew, nor did he try to find a way to cope with this information, he simply let it grow

In conclusion, in my opinion I feel like McCandless would not have gone off if his relations with his parents were closer, and they would have stopped him from going. Also, if he wasn't so determined. McCandless was a young free man who wouldn't let anything get in the way of stopping him. Many of us may live to be 100, but did we live? McCandless died at the age of 24 and lived more than any of us will ever be able to say. And that is the true meaning of live. If we all read this book we can learn a

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.