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essay on mccandless
christopher mccandless character analysis
christopher mccandless character analysis
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Chris McCandless seemed to be an escape from his concrete life of his parents giving him no challenge and being aware that his life before he left, was on a set path like some sort of amusement park ride. The main problem being that he was prepared with himself knowledgeably but didn’t know what was in store with something that wasn’t in a city environment. In specific, Chris was basically half prepared for this spontaneous journey but perhaps he didn’t feel it was truly prepared unless he didn’t bring any significant belongings or as if having the necessities to survive is cheating for his journey. What Chris was searching for was most likely subconsciously discovered after his second significant interaction on his journey, he sort of started …show more content…
This passage is briefly after meeting Ron Franz, a character that provides lots of opportunities for Chris McCandless to start a functional and customary life much like a fair amount of other characters on his journey. The equivalent of abandonment of the troubled Ron Franz was the instance a reader can feel like this irresponsibility of the McCandless is a level of shellfish qualities noticeable in five year old kindergartners. The progression of McCandless trip allows the reader to more support this thought because he just seems to have this cycle of progressing down a different path then abandoning it for his inevitable demise in Alaska. And his personality may be thought of as irresponsible but the results of his irresponsibility is selfishness in the sense that he doesn’t allow people to go down there routes of more simple goals with Chris attached to him. This is because Chris McCandless is an individual denying all rights to a clearer or simpler route for his life to direct, but stepping into a greater obscurity with no
Chris McCandless, the young man that Jon Krakauer writes about in Into The Wild, made the decision to drop everything and walk out of civilization. That is one of the big question here, was Chris a reckless idiot For dropping everything and only relying on what nature offered. This is what a lot of people seem to talk about when they talk about Chris McCandless. There are many people who think that Chris McCandless was a reckless idiot who was mentally ill, or something else was wrong with Chris. It seems that almost everybody that met Chris thought maybe Chris was crazy or had problems. Here are just a few things that people said about Chris and his state of mind. “Zarza admits saying, "he was always going on about trees and nature and
"I think that Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant at the same time. He had no common sense, and he had no business going into Alaska with his Romantic silliness. He made a lot of mistakes based on ignorance. I don’t admire him at all for his courage nor his noble ideas. Really, I think he was just plain crazy”- Shaun Callarman. Feeling invincible is new for young adults, but Chris McCandless convinced himself that he knew he was immortal rather than just believing it. His adventure into the wild was mostly due to his rebellious spirit. Some would argue that his vacation wasn 't inspired by his irrational aspirations, but instead by his family. Some say that he skipped town to get away from the strict prison that he called
In the novel Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer can be described as an adventure to the end. One example of how Chris was a thrill seeker by being adventurous through the world is when he went out on his own to Alaska. This character can also be described as arrogant , especially when he wouldn’t let anyone help him. Finally, this character can also be considered courageous when he wants to go out and live his life to the fullest how he wants. In the biggest decisions in people's lives they have to think about it before acting or they will never succeed, not everyone can do it on their own and need at least some
One thing that most people struggle to do in this modern society is to blaze their own path, or to be a pioneer. This was in Chris’s nature, this isn’t something that was force upon him, he himself was born with this trait and this became a part of his legacy. His desire and will to explore the Alaskan wilderness with little gear and no communication with the outside world can only be defined as crazy. (On pg. 69), Chris states, “Please return all mail I receive to the sender. It might be a very long time before I return south. If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again, I want you...
In Into the Wild, Chris McCandless was a young man from Virginia who loved living his life on his own. On an adventure to Alaska, Chris ran into the some trouble and perished. While Chris’s death is a horrible event that will burn in the memory of his family and friends, it could have been easily prevented. If Chris was smarter he would have thought about his preparation, his motivation, and the possibility that he was mentally ill. He could have been able to live out in the Alaskan Wilderness and survive his adventure and return home safely.
Chris McCandless lived a life in which he disgusted by human civilization, and left it, eventually being led to his death in Alaska. McCandless entered the Alaskan wilderness severely unprepared, a brutal error that cost him his life. In the novel, Into the Wild by John Krakauer, Chris glances into his mindset by they way of his journal, history, and analysis of his life reveals that Chris McCandless as an arrogant and judgemental narcissist, while not mentally unstable, had a condescending attitude towards society and perished not only from his reckless stupidity but also from his unparalleled ego. Chris McCandless was immune to love and had an obsession with nature and society, him showing characteristics that created the appearance of McCandless
There, Chris discovers that his father lives a double life with his ex-stepmother, Marcia. Chris rages about, “ divorcing them as my parents once and for all and never speak to either of those idiots again as long as I live" (64). With an untrustworthy family, he feels outcast and useless. He then only can relate to other outcasts for the remainder of the novel. When he gets a chance at conversing with ‘everyday’ people Chris rants about how ‘fake’ they are. Maybe his trip was his final destination because he eventually realizes he has nothing to come back to. He never plans for the future, just the present scenarios, like sending away $24,000 to charity. When the trip was coming to an end, it overwhelmed him, remembering all the things he still angers him. The trip to El Segundo, California, also arose a very dark: “Two years after Chris’s birth, Walt McCandless fathered another child with Marcia” (64). Chris feels tremendous rage and hurt by this secret. He feels his life is a lie because unveiling this unpublished mystery brings skepticism to everything else surrounding his inner circle and family. Lastly, Chris is extremely heart-broken that his father wasn’t satisfied enough by him. Chris is the type of personality that will go over the edge of sanity if no one is there to stop him. When he leaves his family for good, he was out in the
Was he a reckless idiot? That is the big question. This is what people always seem to talk about when they talk about Chris McCandless. There are many people who think that Chris McCandless was a reckless idiot who was mentally ill, or something else was wrong with Chris. It seems that almost everybody that met Chris thought maybe Chris was crazy or had problems. Here are just a few things that people said about Chris and his state of mind. Pg 40 Zarza admits saying, "he was always going on about trees and nature and weird stuff like that. We all thought he was missing a few screws. Pg 42 Charlie said, "seemed like a kid who was looking for something." Pg 45 Burres said "I thought Alex had lost his mind when he told us about his 'great Alaskan odyssey, ' as he called it."
He went through many obstacles that could have proved fatal. From canoeing in the Colorado River to picking the right berries, he was testing his intelligence. Chris had a true confidence in the land and in himself to set out on a mission so dangerous. “Wilderness appealed to those bored or disgusted with man and his works. It not only offered an escape from society but also was an ideal stage for the Romantic individual to exercise the cult that he frequently made of his own soul. The solitude and total freedom of the wilderness created a perfect setting for either melancholy or exaltation” (Nash; Krakauer 157). Chris longed to escape from society and rely on only mother nature. An innumerable amount of people desire to withdraw from society as Chris did; but they are so comfortable and secure with a normal life they do not dare take such a gutsy
As stated before, Chris’s main reason for going into the woods was so he could live independently and find himself. What he brought with him reflected that. Going into the woods, he had a backpack worth of stuff, and the only food was a ten pound bag of rice, two sandwiches, and a bag of corn chips. If he didn’t catch a ride with Gallien, he wouldn’t even have the sandwiches and the bag of chips. From the beginning, he knew he was going to rely on nature to survive. Instead of observing nature and getting food from outside the woods like Thoreau, he was only surviving off of the nature around him. If he didn’t catch any game, he would have little to no food. As his dad had said, “ Chris was very much of the school that you should own nothing except what you can carry on your back at a dead run” (Krakaeur 32). Before even going on this trip, he was a minimalist. He only took what he needed. So before going on this trip, he only took what he thought he would need, which was a very little amount of items. He was the kind of person that had to live out his beliefs, so in doing that, he went to the woods to find himself with almost nothing except for one bag on his
He took everything in his life to the extreme. As stated earlier, “It is hardly unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders; engaging in risky behavior is a rite of passage in our culture no less than in most others. Danger has always held a certain allure….”(Krakauer 182). People want to live while their young, therefore they take risks. However, what McCandless did was more than just risk taking. He contained something along the lines of an excessive hubris. ‘“He didn’t think the odds applied to him. We were always trying to pull him back from the edge,” vocalizes Walt McCandless (Krakauer 109). Trudging into the vast Alaskan wilderness without proper provisions is taking the extreme too far. As Krakauer states, “...[Chris] was fully aware when he entered the brush that he he had given himself a perilously slim margin for error” (182). Only someone with an extensive hubris would commit an act so dangerous and be confident in their survival. Although he lent himself to a handful of stupid mistakes, McCandless was far from an idiot. Even though the extreme he took his Alaska adventure to was ill-advised, there is something about Chris that is almost admirable. Many people have dreams and passions that get shoved into an old chest and are never to be visited again. In today’s society it seems as though everyone is
“I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!”(199), these were the last words of Chris McCandless in a picture with him smiling and waving good-bye. Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer is an extension of an article first published in Outside magazine. In the book, Krakauer further explains the journey of Chris McCandless, while providing his own insight to provide the reader a better understanding of the McCandless reasoning. McCandless lived a nomadic life after he graduated from college, traveling from South Dakota to Mexico. However, his two year journey proved fatal when he took a trip to Alaska, his greatest undertaking. Among his remains several books were discovered, including a copy of Walden by Henry D. Thoreau
A young man, in his twenties, sets off into the wild completely disregarding his family and his past life and takes on a whole new personality. This perfectly explains Chris McCandless and the journey that he initially set out on. He was a young man seeking self-acceptance and peace, and he looked for it in all of the different places that he visited. Visiting these places made Chis more and more hungry for a challenge. He planned on leaving the comfort of a home and setting out into the Alaskan wilderness, where he would eventually die. Many wonder what lead McCandless to his death and there are many different theories. Chris McCandless was motivated by guilt to go to Alaska, and although he died of starvation, his father’s abusive nature
Many people thought that Chris had no idea what he was doing and that he was very unprepared. In an article, written by Peter Christian, an Alaska Park Ranger, he talks about how Chris was unprepared for his trip: “First off, he spent very little time learning how to actually live in the wild. He arrived at the Stampede Trail without even a map of the area. If he had a good map he could have walked out of his predicament using one of several routes that could have been successful. …A bag of rice and a sleeping bag do not constitute adequate gear and provisions for a long stay in the wilderness.” Christian believed that Chris was very unprepared and if he would have had a map, he could have made it out of the wild alive. No one really knows if Chris could have, indeed, made it out using the map. But it could have helped him find one of three cabins located within a few miles of the bus. Christian also points out that a bag o...
Who influenced the other party more? Chris or the people he met along his journey? Without any money, or material objects Chris was able to leave a lasting impact on the people he met on his journey to Alaska. In Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless is able to leave a greater influence on the people he met along his journey to Alaska rather than the impact they made on him.