Into The Wild: Chris Mccandless

582 Words2 Pages

Chris McCandless was someone who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. Because of this, he died sometime in August 1992. McCandless, who graduated college in 1990, spent the better part of two years traveling the country in preparation for his ultimate goal, surviving in the Alaskan Bush. Now, however, he is the main character in Into the Wild, where he merely represents overconfidence and ignorance. Chris McCandless was ignoble because he continuously ignored the advice given from others, and was too overzealous in achieving his goal, leaving him unprepared for the harsh conditions of the Alaskan Bush. Chris McCandless, like many young people, thought that nothing could stop him. On his journey, he constantly rejected the advice given from …show more content…

His goals are well summarized by Henry David Thoreau, “... to live the life which he has imagined,” and to “meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” These dreams hindered reality for McCandless, as he found himself vulnerable to the conditions of the Alaskan Bush. McCandless had only brought with him: a ten-pound bag of rice, exceedingly minimal gear, cheap leather hiking boots, and a .22 caliber rifle, a strikingly inefficient amount of gear according to almost every accomplished hunter and resident Alaskan. While some could argue that McCandless’ previous two-year long road trip on minimal resources prepared him for the circumstances of the Alaskan Bush, they oversee the fact that the conditions were considerably different than those of the places McCandless previously inhabited. So one could say that McCandless’ under preparedness for the Alaskan Bush could be attributed to his overzealous dreams obstructing reality.
Chris McCandless was dishonorable because he neglected the advice given from others, and because he let his dreams impede his preparation for his Alaska adventure. His ignorance, and his outrageous disrespect for the people he encountered, as well as for the wild, lead to his negligence in packing a sufficient amount of equipment and should deter others from following in his footsteps. Overall, Chris McCandless was ignoble

Comparing Chris McCandless, Jon Krakauer and Everett Ruess
1082 Words | 3 Pages
Many individuals decide to live their life in solitary; though, only a few choose to live in the wild. The book, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer vividly paints the adventurous trek Chris McCandless went on. From the friends he made, to the hardships he went through, McCandless is portrayed as a friendly, sociable person despite the fact that he was a vagabond. Other than McCandless, there are even more individuals that have taken the risks to live in the wilderness such as, Jon Krakauer and Everett Ruess. All three of them had both similarities and differences between their own qualities as a person and their journey.
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Book Analysis: Chris Mccandless
1372 Words | 3 Pages
"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
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Chris Mccandless Compare And Contrast
580 Words | 2 Pages
Chris McCandless was a man who paved his own path in society. He didn't wait for
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Mccandless In Charlie Krakauer's Into The Wild
1403 Words | 3 Pages
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
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Into the Wild: Chris McCandless is a Tragic Hero
1654 Words | 4 Pages
Jon Krakauer, fascinated by a young man in April 1992 who hitchhiked to Alaska and lived alone in the wild for four months before his decomposed body was discovered, writes the story of Christopher McCandless, in his national bestseller: Into the Wild. McCandless was always a unique and intelligent boy who saw the world differently. Into the Wild explores all aspects of McCandless’s life in order to better understand the reason why a smart, social boy, from an upper class family would put himself in extraordinary peril by living off the land in the Alaskan Bush. McCandless represents the true tragic hero that Aristotle defined. Krakauer depicts McCandless as a tragic hero by detailing his unique and perhaps flawed views on society, his final demise in the Alaskan Bush, and his recognition of the truth, to reveal that pure happiness requires sharing it with others.
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Examples Of Stupidity And Recklessness In Christopher Mccandless
1024 Words | 3 Pages
Since time immemorial, society has become increasingly complex, leading otherwise successful people to retreat to their origins. This is often due to an inability to adapt and find true happiness in mainstream civilization. The case of Christopher McCandless from the film Into the Wild is no exception to this rule. Mr. McCandless divests himself of his identity and retreats to the wilderness of Alaska. This journey was what eventually led to his ultimate demise. While it is clear that he was courageous in embarking on this quest, it was unfounded in logic and born of arrogance, stupidity and recklessness. Mr. McCandless knowingly demonstrated a lack of regard for his own life and safety by making several poor decisions. Moreover, he carelessly and selfishly gave up a life of privilege that many covet. Furthermore, Mr. McCandless showed regret for his decisions, further proving his initial recklessness. Based on this, it is clear that Christopher McCandless’ reckless actions that led to his death were founded in arrogance and stupidity. For this reason, he must take responsibility for the ultimate outcome.
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Was Chris Mccandless Crazy
907 Words | 2 Pages
“McCandless was something else – although precisely what is hard to say.” (pg. 85). Chris was a very different person, but not crazy. He was emotionally motivated at the time and had his mind set on Alaska. In the end, Chris was nowhere near prepared for this journey, but was too caught up in what he was trying to do to realize this. I agree with Krakauer that Chris wasn’t crazy or insane, but in his attempts to survive in Alaska he made several mistakes and ultimately, led an ill-prepared journey to Alaska that killed him.
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Chris McCandless: Brave, Independent, and Courageous
617 Words | 2 Pages
McCandless is a very independent person, a person with high hopes, that has a lot of courage, and is a very brave man for going out by himself in the wild of Alaska of the Stampede Trail. Chris McCandless had a lot of courage on going to Alaska by himself at a young age. While Chris was at any city or anybody’s house, he was ready to go to Alaska. But while he was there, close to the end of his life, he left a note on the back of the bus saying, “S.O.S I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here i am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of god, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return by evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August?” Chris McCandless was by himself at the time. He shows his courage because while by himself, he went back out even though he was near death. He went out for food. Food for his health. That shows how much courage he had for his trip. Chris McCandless encouraged many young men to ...
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Chris Mccandless Compare And Contrast Essay
756 Words | 2 Pages
Chris McCandless was a young man who did everything in his power to try and represent that freedom he was searching for. McCandless had everything before we went out but he decided to go out and travel by choice. He was considered a selfish man because when someone offered him to help him he rejects it in a nice way since we wants to do things himself. In the book Into the wild he states that,"You don't need to worry about me. I have a college education. I'm not destitute. I'm living like this by choice."
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Jon Mccandless: An Analysis Of Chris Mccandless
1120 Words | 3 Pages
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
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Christopher McCandless: An Admirable Man
976 Words | 2 Pages
To start with, McCandless was not someone who gave up. Despite others trying to scare him out of continuing with his journey into the Alaskan wilderness, nothing deterred McCandless. He anxiously awaited to experience life off the land. The people McCandless encountered on his way to Alaska often commented on his determination. Jim Gallien, a man who drove McCandless into the Alaska interior, described McCandless as “real gung-ho”. McCandless's attempt to undertake such a risky endeavour is something to admire in itself. To travel two years, mostly on foot, is certainly not an easy task. However, McCandless still persevered through the hardships he faced throughout his journey. McCandles...
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Chris McCandless is a Tragic Hero
1014 Words | 3 Pages
Chris McCandless had a reputation for being overly ambitious since grade school. His teachers noticed at young age he was abnormally strong-willed which he coupled with intense idealism and strong physical endurance. In high school, Chris served as the captain of his cross country team asking them to treat each race as a spiritual experience. After graduating high school Chris continued on to college where he would graduate with a bachelor’s degree, doub...
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Chris McCandless: A True Hero
920 Words | 2 Pages
Chris McCandless is regarded as being something as a spiritual figure almost as a cult hero, some call him a disillusioned fool, some call him a great adventurer, and the debate still continues. As Matthew Power calls in his article, an article where he tells the story of McCandless,“The debate falls into two camps: Krakauer's visionary seeker, the tragic hero who dared to live the unmediated life he had dreamed of and died trying; or, as many Alaskans see it, the unprepared fool, a greenhorn who had fundamentally misjudged the wilderness he'd wanted so desperately to commune with.” Like so many stories covering Christopher McCandless’ death, both ends of the argument are discussed in an unfavored manner in the hopes to help develop an opinion on the McCandless story. This open ended question can only be answered open-endedly based on what the readers base for themselves as covered stories intend. Like Power has done, ...
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Chris McCandless is NOT a Hero
1228 Words | 3 Pages
Into the Wild, written by John Krakauer tells of a young man named Chris McCandless who 1deserted his college degree and all his worldly possessions in favor of a primitive transient life in the wilderness. Krakauer first told the story of Chris in an article in Outside Magazine, but went on to write a thorough book, which encompasses his life in the hopes to explain what caused him to venture off alone into the wild. McCandless’ story soon became a national phenomenon, and had many people questioning why a “young man from a well-to-do East Coast family [would] hitchhike to Alaska” (Krakauer i). Chris comes from an affluent household and has parents that strived to create a desirable life for him and his sister. As Chris grows up, he becomes more and more disturbed by society’s ideals and the control they have on everyday life. He made a point of spiting his parents and the lifestyle they lived. This sense of unhappiness continues to build until after Chris has graduated college and decided to leave everything behind for the Alaskan wilderness. Knowing very little about how to survive in the wild, Chris ventures off on his adventure in a state of naïveté. It is obvious that he possessed monumental potential that was wasted on romanticized ideals and a lack of wisdom. Christopher McCandless is a unique and talented young man, but his selfish and ultimately complacent attitude towards life and his successes led to his demise.
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Into the Wild by Christopher Johnson McCandless
1175 Words | 3 Pages
The book, Into the wild, takes us into the world of a young man named Christopher Johnson McCandless. He travelled across the western United States from 1990 to 1992, and on April 28, 1992, he started his last adventure and walked into the wilds of Alaska. About 112 days later, he died of starvation. Unsurprisingly, public opinion polarized on his behavior. Some may admire his courage and noble ideals, though some regard him as an idiotic and arrogant narcissist. Although he died on his way to find the truth and back to nature, I believe that Chris McCandless should be considered as a hero, but I cannot completely approve of all his behaviors.
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Into The Wild: Chris Mccandless

Comparing Chris McCandless, Jon Krakauer and Everett Ruess

Book Analysis: Chris Mccandless

Chris Mccandless Compare And Contrast

Mccandless In Charlie Krakauer's Into The Wild