The Character Of Christopher Mccandless In John Krakauer’s Into The Wild

Venturing off into nature can help find a sense of true meaning of who someone is and belonging in life. However, it is the environment nature that unfortunately takes his life. Towards the end of his life, McCandless Discovers what he never realized before. He realizes his purpose and need of other people. After the death of Chris McCandless in Alaska, Krakauer took it upon himself that he wanted to let the world know about who Chris McCanldess was and write a book of his life. Krakauer portrays McCandless with a variety of characteristics. He characterizes Chris as a young man who is arrogant, selfish, and reckless. But at the same time charismatic, determined, intelligent, and independent.

Although Chris McCandless was foolish and unprepared, but was also a good minded intellectual. Chris was intelligent but an impractical man. He was a unique young man, but he was also arrogant, which caused him to unfortunately be led to his death. Krakauer is accurate in describing Chris as selfish because he left his family behind without any communication on his departing. He left his family to go start a new one with a new alias and no track of his old life. He met other people along the way in his trio and introduced himself to them as Alex Supertramp. However, while Chris was on his trip to Alaska, he was unprepared which ultimately caused him to have his life taken away from him at a very young age of 24 years old. Christopher McCandless died August 1, 1992 in Stampede Trail.

“Because he lacked a good map, the cable spanning the river also remained incognito.”(174) John Krakauer describes how McCandless decisions had a major impact on his life. Some argue that his life depended on his determination, while others argue that McCandless was not prepared. Krakauer implies that Chris could have survived if he had made smarter decisions. John Krakauer's argument is important because it describes various factors that lead to the tragedy of Chris mcCandless. Krakauer gets the audience thinking if McCandless personality played a role in his death. They audience can also wonder if his stubbornness was enough to impact his decision making. Krakauer believes that McCandless just gave up and felt unmotivated to keep going. He lost his drive to keep on going with his journey and the loss of motivation led him to his death. It is pretty strange to say because Chris was not the type of person to give up on a task he’s been working on for so long. Chris was a hard working man who always finishes any task that was dealt to him. Especially with the trip on going to Alaska, which is what he wanted to do ever since he left his family behind. People can see Chris McCandless as a foolish young man who left his life behind.

Others can see Chris as being admirable. Chris lived his life the way he wanted, not what his parents set him out to be. He wanted to break free from society because he thought it was bland. He wanted to follow his dream of going into the wild and surviving. He portrayed a new life for himself and was able to sustain himself in the wild for two years. Unlike many people who sob about their classic 9-5 job, Chris lived his life the way he wanted to. He ultimately achieved the happiness and purpose that he was seeking during his lengthy quest. If it weren't for the toxic mold on the wild potato seeds he ate, Chris McCandless would live to tell his tales and would be admired. “Some readers admired the boy immensely for his courage and noble ideas. Others fulminated that he was a reckless idiot, a wacko, a narcissist, who perished out of arrogance and stupidity. He was under serving of the considerable media attention he received”(Authors Note).

Krakauer describes how many people shared different views on Chris’s death. Some people argue that McCandless had a good enough reason to go into the wild, while others have various reasons to be against McCandless. Krakauer implies that individuals have a distinct view on Chris’s death. Krakauer's argument is important because it implies how the audience has different views on McCandless. He suggests that Chris influenced some individuals positively and negatively. Krakauer also believes that McCandless changed many people’s perspective of life or attitude towards life. “Ron, I really hope that as soon as you can, you will get out of Salton City and put a little camper on the back of your pickup and start seeing some of the great work that god has done here in the American West. You will see things and meet people and there is much to learn from them”(58). Chris McCandless changed his name to Alexander Supertramp after the department fell his family. Chris/Alex dedicated a letter to Ron Franz recommending him to adventure and enjoy God's amazing creations. Chris wanted Ron to experience new things and meet new people to learn and gain knowledge from. His statement is important because it shared his reasoning for abandoning his past and introducing of a new one. Chris suggests that happiness is acquired through new experiences and things you enjoy doing. If people saw this side of Chris and understood what he was coming from, they would find him admirable because he influenced various individuals positively. “McCandless had been infatuated with London since he was a child. London’s ferunt commendation of a capitalist society, his glorification of the primordial world, his championing of the great unwashed-all of it mirrored McCandless’s passions”(44). Krakauer describes how every individual has someone or something that they admire. Some argue that intelligence, awards, accomplishments, and talents are the reasons to admire someone. Others can admire someone because of their appreciation towards life, it can be being positive all the time and being that bright light in the room. Krakauer suggests that a person can influence others and change their beliefs.

This is very true, especially if someone is persuasive with their actions or words. Krakauer’s argument is important because he implies that other individuals could impact/ affect others perspectives towards things. Krakauer suggests that London could have influenced Chris into exploring new areas and experiencing new events. Krakauer believes the literature of Thoreau and Jack London motivated McCandless into following his dreams of going into the wild. The idea that motivated Chris the most was the non-conformity. Jack London representation of the wilderness in Alaska is very much of what had inspired Chris to go to Alaska in the first place. It’s interesting how someone can be so influential that it can make a certain individual feel some type of way. A lot of the time actions speak louder than words in certain scenarios. And with Chris McCandless and what he did with his journey of going into the wild, a teen was influenced by him several years later. In the article posted by The Atlantic, it states that an Arizona teenager who was inspired by the wilderness adventure story of Into The Wild was unfortunately found dead near an Oregon forest on August 27th, 2013, he went missing earlier that month. The teen, Jonathon Croom, was 18 years of age and was found about one thousand feet from his car. Crooms father stated that he was actively interested in Into The Wild before going missing. To many people, Chris McCandless was a wilderness hero because of what he believed in and his journey to the Alaskan wilderness.

Chris McCandless’s journey could’ve been avoided, especially the death of him. The journey was extreme at least. He went unprepared and with only the clothes on his back. Any sane person would’ve thought that this task that Chris set out to do would be insane.. Chris’s journey was one of a kind because of all the events he experienced. From the disconnection from society to all the people he came in contact with along the way. I’m not saying take the same path that he took, but everyone should take some kind of adventure to find out who they truly are. 'If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then all possibility of life is destroyed' (Chris McCandless). Life has no limits, and he proved that on his journey into the wild. He seeked what he thought about the meaning of life meant to him. Maybe it was disconnecting from society as a whole and become one with the environment around him. Or maybe he even thought that this journey as a whole would help him seek his true happiness to life.

All in all Chris knew that the only way he could find happiness would be to take the journey into the wild. He needed to absorb what the earth had to offer, and being alone in the vast Alaska is what he envisioned as life. The wild allowed Chris to find out who really was, embrace the true meaning of life, and I believe that someday I will take the same out look on life as Chris did. Maybe Alaska wont be the place where I find true happiness, but I understand that traveling the states or even the world could only help me understand who I want to be and definitely assure that I embrace the true meaning of life. Unfortunately for Chris, he died shortly after finding happiness. I feel that I could find happiness and then return to what I consider home, and carry on with my new lifestyle.