Is Chris Mccandless A Hero

In Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, Chris McCandless entered the wild with little more than a .22 caliber rifle, ten pounds of rice, and a book on edible plants. Some critics consider his death to be a result of his ignorance and lack of preparation to face the brutal elements. Yet despite Chris McCandless’s small pack of supplies and lack of experience, he has a clear set of goals guiding his adventure and was expecting to test the boundaries of death. McCandless wanted to live purely off the land as nature intended. Chris McCandless died a hero who survived the brutal Alaskan wilderness by living off of what the land provided and never straying from his moral values.

Chris McCandless did not set out on his Alaskan adventure expecting an easy trip. He knew that would be pushing his body to the edge, both physically and mentally: “He entertained no illusions that he was trekking into a land of milk and honey; peril, adversity,

Chris possessed a strong determination to abide by his values and survive off the land on his own. The views and opinions of others were of no importance to Chris. He objected with the luxurious lifestyle of his parents and instead, “Chris was very much of the school that you should own nothing except what you can carry on your back at a dead run” (chap. 4, p. 32). Chris also tried to impose his values on others, like Ron Franz. In his letter to Ron Franz, Chris persuaded Ron to radically change his lifestyle and adopt his views of adhering little value to human relationships and physical belongings (chap. 6, pg. 57). Although Chris grew up in a well-off family, he felt ashamed by his physical belongings, which is likely what drove him to donate all his money and live only out of what he could carry on his back (chap. 11, p. 115). Chris’s dedication to his morals and values is admirable: “He measured himself and those around him by an impossibly rigorous moral code” (chap. 12, p.