An obsession can begin with the smallest of events. Ideas, real or fancied, of what one’s life could be like without the ties that bind them, positive or negative, consume the mind and create visions of freedom from the demands of family, government, or even society as a whole. McCandless’s discovery of his parent’s indiscretions was the onset of his obsession; an obsession which grew exponentially over a short period of time that fettered him to the notion that to be truly happy and free, he must rid himself of everyone he had ever known and everything he had ever owned. McCandless became enslaved to his conception of real freedom. His notion of freedom was extreme, to say the least. It involved an elaborate plan to abandon his parents; separate himself from society; erase himself from the governmental grid; to ultimately arrive at the realization that to experience real freedom in happiness it, must be shared. The discovery of McCandless’s parent’s indiscretions set in motion the first step in his plan: freedom from them both.
McCandless’s utter repugnance for his parents caused something to snap within him resulting in his desire to remove them from his life, thus becoming free of their demands, judgments, and inquisitions. Krakauer explains; “Children can be harsh judges when it comes to their parents, disinclined to grant clemency, and this was especially true in Chris’s case" (122). The standards some parents set for their children are often unattainable and often come from a place of their own failures and shortcomings. In McCandless’s case, this is exactly what happened. Walt and Billie had demanded so much of Chris physically, academically, and morally, that when he was made aware of their i...
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... By the time he realized he, in fact, was able to forgive his parents and desired to have a family, it was too late. McCandless had become eternally fettered to his fancied freedom.
Works Cited
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Krakauer, Jon. "Author's Note." Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997. N. Print.
Krakauer, Jon. "Chapter 1/The Alaska Interior." Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997. 3. Print.
Krakauer, Jon. "Chapter 1/The Alaska Interior." Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997. 6. Print.
Krakauer, Jon. "Chapter 10/Fairbanks." Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997. 101. Print.
Krakauer, Jon. "Chapter 18/The Stampede Trail." Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997. 188. Print.
Krakauer, Jon. "Chapter 18/The Stampede Trail." Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997. 195. Print.
In chapter 12 of Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer uses two epigraphs to reflect on Chris McCandless’s poor relationship with his parents, Walt and Billie, and his sudden loss of innocence from learning of a dark family secret: his father had an affair with his first wife, Marcia. This revelation completely alters Chris’s opinion of his parents. For example, prior to the trip Chris tells his dad “... even though they’d had their differences over the years, he was grateful for all the things that [his] Dad had done for him,” (p. 82). This quote illustrates Chris’s fair relationship with his parents prior to the trip; however, afterwards “Chris’s relations with his parents... deteriorated significantly... He seemed more mad at [them] more often,
In the story “ Into The Wild “ the main character, Christopher Mccandless is shown to be a normal tennager ready to go into college and start his own life just like any of us. What we didn't know is that this would begin into world of emotions following up to what would lead to his death. In this story chris shows many feeling towards his parents but one of the biggest and strongest feelings would be anger. He always disliked his parents for having a certain point of view on our society and thinking about themselves before others, which to chris was one of the biggest factor in his view of
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Throughout the novel, Christopher McCandless’s character changed over time. Up to McCandless’s death, he wanted to live with the wild and to be away from civilization as far as possible. He changes his mind when he writes “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED” (189). His purpose of living in the wild is to live with freedom and do whatever he wishes to do. However, he realizes he was a “refuge in nature” (189) and intended to abandon his solitary life and rejoin the human community. It is assumed that McCandless died a preventable death because of his unpreparedness, but it is now undeniable that his adversity is what caused his mortality. “…McCandless simple had the misfortune to eat moldy seeds. An innocent mistake, it was nevertheless sufficient to end his life” (194). Had he not eaten the moldy seeds, he would have remained alive to tell the tale.
In the end of chapter ten, Krakauer explains how Sam McCandless is given the misfortune of telling his father and Billie that Chris is dead, but does not further explain their reactions to the news, giving an opportunity to infer their reactions. The first reaction Chris’s parents must have felt was shock and disbelief.
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Christopher McCandless’ stubborn personality causes him to leave a loving home in order to start a new beginning as “ Alexander Supertramp, master of his own destiny”(Krakauer 23). He refuses to further educate himself with a law degree, instead taking a journey into the wild, leaving behind his mother, father and caring sister. Chris grew up as an intelligent individual excelling in almost everything he did. His parents supported him and often encouraged him in his endeavors. Unfortunately, and for clear reasons, Chris did not reciprocate his parents’ love, instead he creates an illusion of normality, causing his parents to believe that everything was fine, while he slowly drifted away from them both physically and emotionally. Chris “let them think they were right”, so they would begin to think that he was beginning to see “their side of things”, when in truth, he was merely waiting for the right time to completely “ knock them out of [h...
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The settings in the story have impacts on the theme of young manhood. Chris leaves his family and decides to go on a journey to find a new life. Christopher felt affected in his family presence so he sends his final school report to his family: “McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well-relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it”(Krakauer,55). He believes that this is a way to find his true identity and peace of mind, which he thought could be achieved by fleeing into the wild. Chris seemed to have a bad relationship with his parents, especially with his father because Chris found out that he had a child with his first wife when Chris was born. This fact is revealed by his dad’s old neighbour, “Walt’s split from his first wife, Marcia, was not a clean or amicable parting. Long after falling in love with Billie, long after she gave birth to Chris, Walt continued his relationship with Marcia in secret” (Krakauer121). Chris knew about his father’s affair with another woman and this made it easier for Chris to not care about what his family has to say ...
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