Chris Mccandless Impact On Society

Out of all the people Chris McCandless met on his trip, there were only three that he truly inspired and left a great impact on. Since Chris was always going to different places, he met different people everywhere he went. Jan Burres, Wayne Westerberg, and Ron Franz were among the few that Chris deeply affected. These were the people that Chris could confide in. He spent a great amount of time with them and they accepted Chris as their own. Jan Burres was quite a drifter herself. Jan met Chris when he arrived on the road tired and hungry. She and her boyfriend take care of Chris and take him in as their own. Jan Burres and her boyfriend travel across the country in their motorhome and attempt to mature Chris's desire to live free of society

He showed him that it's not always about being with family and the society but to live your own life and discover yourself. The solitude and total freedom of the wilderness created a perfect setting for either melancholy or exultation." p. 157 When Christopher McCandless's died in the Alaskan interior, people from all over the country reacted in different ways. Many wrote letters describing Chris as some ignorant kid who did not know what he was doing, but others, reacted in a more personal manner. These were random people who happened to pick the vagabond up on the side of some street. These were people who were affected by the unusual personality of Chris, aka Alexander Supertramp, as he introduced himself along his expedition. Three particular individuals picked Chris up along his adventure, Jan Burre, Wayne Westerberg, and Ronald Franz. All three were left with a strange feeling after they learned about his death. Westerberg had given Chris a job for a couple of days. He housed Chris fed him, and gave him a job. Westerberg thought Alex was the “hardest worker he had ever met.” p.18 Jan Burre and her boyfriend also picked Alex up. They took him back to Niland, where he helped Jan sell items at a flea market. Here, Jan really was allowed to see the personality of Chris McCandless. According to Jan, Chris was extremely social, and unusual quality for a boy who desires to drop human contact all together to live on his own. She was surprised at how enthralled he was about some literary books she was trying to sell, authors including Tolstoy, London and Wells. The next individual who gave a ride to Alex was and elderly man by the name of Ronald Franz. Franz and Chris became very close and spent a lot of time together, until Chris announced he was finally taking the ultimate adventure to the Alaskan wilderness. Before leaving, Franz asked if he could adopt Chris, but McCandless quickly