The book about Chris McCandless’s journey into the Alaskan bush, Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, received a lot of criticism about Chris being foolish for being unprepared. From the articles that I have read, most of the sources do believe that he was poorly prepared for his journey. But there are a few people who believe he was prepared mentally, and an even smaller amount believe he was fully prepared. I believe that Chris only knew what he was doing mentally. He did not have the correct tools or the developed skills to survive, for an extended period of time in the wild. But, he did know what he was about to get himself into. He planned out the trip and knew exactly what his risk factors were. Chris McCandless was either prepared mentally, both mentally and physically, or he was ill-prepared for his voyage.
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...
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...ng a fire, and purifying water. He may not have mastered the skills, but he was experienced enough to get by. In order to see that Chris was prepared, you have to look past the gear that he packed. You have to go through his mental process and you also have to look at what he learned in order to live off the land. Had he not been prepared, he would have most likely died after he ran out of rice.
Works Cited
Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997. Print.
Medred, Craig. "Into The Wild: The False Being Within —." Far North Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
Roberts, David. "Jon Krakauer + Sean Penn: Back Into The Wild." National Geographic. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
Would you give everything up to pursue a wild dream of living off the grid? Free from modern stresses and the ever haunting technological presents. That is what Christopher McCandless did in the book and film "Into The Wild". McCandless had just graduated top of his class as well as being a successful athlete. Instead of starting his life and career, he abandons his family and gives away his money to set off to Alaska, to escape from the pressures of his home and future. Shaun Callarmans, a book critic, commented on Chris McCandless: “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 arrogance. I don’t admire him at all for his courage nor his noble ideas. Really, I think he
After reading chapter 1 of Into the Wild, I have the impression that while he seems friendly, he possess a number of negative qualities. Chris seems to be very stubborn, and most of all overconfident. While Chris seems excited to go to Alaska, but is dangerously unprepared, and seems to overplay his experience, while refusing any help. “Im absolutely positive,” he assured Gallien, “I won’t run into anything I can’t deal with on my own” Page 6 Chapter 1. This example perfectly shows his arrogance. By saying this Chris shows how he believes he can take anything on, and is ready for the wilderness, he thinks he is invincible, and is incredibly confident in his survival skills. “Gallien
The first part to proving this point is to show that Chris wasn’t stupid or crazy. This can be proven by the quote, “Chris had instructed the post office to hold them until August 1, apparently so we wouldn’t know anything was up,” (pg. 22). This quote shows Chris had planned his journey out to an extent and if he were stupid or crazy, he wouldn’t have thought about holding the mail to avoid suspicion. Also, if Chris was crazy or dumb, he wouldn’t have survived nearly as long as he did. This is shown by the quote “Day 100! MADE IT!” (pg. 195). Lastly, and probably the most convincing point to this argument, is that Chris made many friends and also used these relationships to help his journey. Over the course of events, Chris was friends with, and was helped by Gallien, Franz, the Burres’, Gail Borah, and Westerberg. Chris was
According to the book Into The Wild and Chris’s parents “there was always a little wanderlust in the family, and it was clear early on that Chris had inherited it” (108). Billie’s dad Loren Johnson and Chris both loved the wildlife, Loren was charmed by Chris and Chris adored his grandfather When Chris was eight Walt took him on a mountain climbing trip where he carried his own backpack, hiking the mountains became a father-son tradition. While on his trip to Alaska many people that he meet offered him stuff so he could survive there but he would always deny their offer. One person that had offered him rice did not accept a “no” so Chris was forced to take it. The last person to see Chris on his journey was a union electrician called Jim Gallien. Jim was on his way to Anchorage, Jim thought Chris was crazy to think he could survive in the forests of Alaska, but Chris’s love for nature and his adventurous spirit were too strong to fear all the warnings people kept telling him. From just these few things that Chris was introduced to made him love the wild and he became
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...
Roberts, David. "Jon Krakauer + Sean Penn: Back Into the Wild." Into the Wild. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
In what could have been Chris McCandless’s last contact with humanity he tells his new comrade, Wayne Westerberg, “If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t hear from me again I want you to know you are a great man. I now walk into the wild” (Krakauer 3). For 112 days Chris lived off the harsh Alaskan land. For anyone who is brave enough to travel on the stampede trail and cross the treacherous Teklanika River you will come across the Fairbanks City Transit System Bus 142. Once a backcountry shelter for hunters, trappers, ranger patrols, and for a short time Chris McCandless, Bus 142 now serves as a memorial for Chris McCandless. Travelers will make the trip to witness the basic resources Chris had at hand and the courage it took to make it as far as he did into his journey. Chris was not unaware of the dangers of the Alaskan wilderness. He was fully informed of the challenges he would face and was confident, maybe even hubristic, that he could overcome them. Non Supporters would argue this makes Chris a fool, reckless, brash, or even border lined unintelligent while in fact it is quite the opposite. Chris was a hero because he knew his differences and embraced them, his ambition and strive for perfection took his life, and he followed his dreams no matter the cost.
...irrefutably suggest that he was selfish and unwilling to put any effort into emotional healing with his family, friends and society in general. He was a giver, as shown by his donation to charities, but he could have been much more effective in social justice if he had the maturity and selflessness to pursue it and stick to it. Chris could have been a lasting friend to many people around the country, but he got scared off too easily when facing emotional connections. And most painfully for his family, he could have saved his own life and saved them a lifetime of pain and sorrow if he could have sat down with his parents and siblings to discuss what was bothering him and find ways to work through it. But he ran into the wild, laid his life on the line, and took the coward’s way out.
Pg 71 "why would anyone intending to 'live off the land for a few months, ' forget Boy Scout rule number one, be prepared. Why would any son cause his parents and family such permanent and perplexing pain?" There were many more people that thought Chris was a reckless idiot, but there were also many people that didn 't think Chris was a reckless idiot, and instead thought that Chris was very smart and brave for what Chris did. There were many people that Chris met during his travels and was able to truly touch their hearts and change their lives forever. Jim Gallien, Wayne Westerberg, Jon Krakauer, Walt McCandless, Billie McCandless, Carine McCandless, Charlie, Ronald Franz, and Jan Burres were some of them. Chris knew these people in life or met them during Chris travels. Chris definitely made an impact in all these people 's lives and these people probably wouldn 't call Chris a reckless idiot, but instead would call Chris intelligent and courageous. One of the people that Chris met during the travels that really stuck out was Ronald Franz. Franz was an eighty year old veteran who lived in Salton City,
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
Chris McCandless was still just a young man when he decided to drastically alter his life through the form of a child’s foolishness. However, Chris had not known at the time just how powerful his testimony against his father’s authority, society, or maybe even his own lifestyle was going to be revolutionary throughout not only Alaska,not even the lower 48, but the world. The story of Chris McCandless is a much talked about debate on topics of safety and preparedness in the wild, these things forever associated with the boy who was a little too eager for a death wish. Today, Chris is remember as a fool or a hero. The fool, a boy who allowed himself to be drowned in a fictional world inspired by his readings,dying because he ignored he was just a normal human being or the hero who set out to become something more.
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
Chris was not prepared for Alaska, whereas Cheryl Strayed was overprepared for her hike. Chris made some mistakes such as, not bringing enough food, equipment to survive in Alaska, and if he were to have the map he could successfully crossed the Teklanika River. Cheryl brought many items to her hike and some were unnecessary to the hike. For instance, she brought the wrong gas for her stove, and she could not cook her food. The weight of her backpack caused her to have a tough time to hike, and she was wearing shoes that were not in her right size caused her feet to hurt.
Living in the wilderness is difficult, but understanding the meaning of such lifestyle is even more difficult. One of the Christopher’s admirable qualities was that he was well aware of what he was doing. He knew about the difficulties and dangers that he would face into the wilderness, and was mentally prepared for that. Author Jon Krakauer says that “McCandless was green, and he overestimated his resilience, but he was sufficiently skilled to last for sixteen weeks on little more than his wits and ten pounds of rice. And he was fully aware when he entered the bush that he had given himself a perilously slim margin for error. He knew precisely what was at stake” (182). McCandless was an educated youth, who loved nature and dreamed of living in the Alaskan wilderness. Although he ignored to take many necessary things with him on this
...e wilderness.” Krakauer stats this in the book to explain what Chris was up against walking into the wilderness. No ordinary man would do this to survive out on his own facing the wilderness. Kleinfeld made an extraordinary remark in her article “McCandless: Hero or Dumb Jerk” “Jon Krakauer's best seller "Into the Wild" immortalizes this young man, who walked into the wilderness with no map, no ax, no mosquito repellent and no first aid equipment.” She makes a good statement about his bravery because not many men would go out with no supplies to make them survive. He went out by himself, no supplies and try to pull off to live in the wild.