Convictions is an act that can be made about any individual. Take a man who leaves civilization to go on an expedition through the Alaskan outback.The man takes a minimal amount of survival equipment and knowledge with him but deems that he can survive off the land for a month or two. Just when he was ready to end his expedition and return to civilization his path to civilization was block, thus, he died from starvation. This tragic incident conjured a lot of convictions about the man, whose name is Chris McCandless. Convictions, such as he was incompetent, selfish, narcissistic, and just plain out stupid is seen in the literary piece, written by Jon Krakauer, titled “Into the Wild”. However, McCandless was none of those things, he was …show more content…
McCandless was the definition of this word, “he never quit in the middle of something”(Krakauer 18). When McCandless got a job in Carthage, South Dakota from a man name Wayne Westerberg, he never took it for granted. It didn’t matter what work Westerberg threw at him, “hard physical labor, mucking rotten grain and dead rats out of the bottom of the hole” (Krakauer 18).There was a period when McCandless left Carthage to go on his mini expedition, however, when he came back to visit Carthage for four weeks, McCandless was exactly the same as he was when he left. “...worked hard, doing dirty, tedious jobs that nobody else wanted to tacked; mucking out warehouses, exterminating vermin, painting, scything weeds” (Krakauer 62). Westerberg admires McCandless for that because he wasn’t like the hitchhikers he had given a job to;“most of them weren’t much good” they “didn’t really want to work” (Krakauer …show more content…
When McCandless graduated from Emory University, “more than twenty-four thousand dollars remained at the time of” his “graduation”, he donated “all the money in his college fund to Oxfam America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger” and injustice of poverty. As a hero he couldn’t bear the thought of himself living lavish, when people in third world countries wasn’t -- McCandless mainly focused on Africa, which is seen in his final report card, he studied, “Apartheid and South African Society,” “History of Anthropological Thought” and “Contemporary African Politics and the Food Crisis in Africa”(Krakauer 21). At a young age McCandless showed heroic qualities, the way he “tackle a challenge was head-on, right now, applying the full brunt of his extraordinary energy”(Krakauer 111). When McCandless was twelve he climbed a mountain with his father and his half-brother. When they reached the “13,000- foot elevation… Walt decided to turn around” (Krakauer 109). McCandless refuted and wanted to keep going; because he was twelve at the time “all he could do was complain. If he’d been fourteen or fifteen” (Krakauer 109) he would have, without fear, gone without his father’s
McCandless’s relationship with his father, Walt McCandless is far from the ideal father-son relationship. Walt, a renowned NASA space engineer, seeks a certain path for his son’s future that McCandless is very stubborn to follow. After an excellent academic record throughout high school and college, his future looks quite promising. However, his want to not follow his path set before him by his parents are made very clear from his youth. In the third grade, when offered to join an accelerated program for gifted students, McCandless refused simply since it would mean that he had to do more schoolwork. Since then it has been clear that “Chris marches to a different drummer” (107), as one of his teachers recalled. The clash between his own desired path and the societally defined path pushed on him by his parents would have created a very significant internal conflict and it would be only made worse by finding out about his father’s affair. When visiting his childhood home of El Segundo, California, he discovers the double life that his father had lived as he was still in a relationship with his first wife, Marcia, even after he had Chris with Billie. At this point, his relationship with his entire family, including very close his sister, completely deteriorates. To McCandless, This serves to confirm his doubts in societally defined path and becomes a major turning point at which McCandless now is steadfast in his plans to escape society and travel into the Alaskan wilderness. Even in Fairbanks, Alaska, right before he makes the final act of journeying into the wild, McCandless still shows the profound influence father as he looks upon a satellite developed largely in part by Walt McCandless. Krakauer emphasizes the extent of McCandless’s disconnection to his family now as he states that “If the
He also did not have a typical childhood, he witness his parent’s fighting and he also developed a poor relationship with his father. Krakauer was able to find important connections that helped him find the roots of McCandless’ rational actions. “The boy could not pardon the mistakes his father had made as a young man, and he was even less willing to pardon the attempt at concealment… But he did not confront his parents with what he knew, then or ever. He chose instead to make a secret of his dark knowledge and express his rage obliquely, in silence and sullen withdrawal” (Krakauer 122). McCandless did not have a good relationship with his parents, which might have been the reason he decided to go into the wild. Krakauer was able to find clues that caused McCandless to make dangerous
“McCandless tramped around the West for the next two months, spellbound by the scale and power of the landscape, thrilled by minor brushes with the law, savoring the intermittent company of other vagabonds he met along the way” (Krakauer 29). Chris McCandless admired the landscape that he encountered throughout the west. He somewhat enjoyed the circumstances of the law that he may have been in violation of. Chris himself was a “vagabond” and during his venturing in the west, he met others just like
McCandless used the idea of escaping society from “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau and tried to mesh it together with the ideas of solitude and isolation to form his own beliefs. McCandless misinterpreted what Thoreau was saying. Thoreau states, “I had not lived there a week…It is true, I fear, that others may have fallen into it, and so helped to keep it open.” (Thoreau 3).Thoreau specifically states in this quote that he does not want others to follow or even go do what he did. He also did build the cabin a few miles away from a town because he knew he would go back one day. Thoreau was a sane person in doing this because crazy people stray too far away from society despite the consequences. He believed that he had other things to do with his life and not spending a minute more in that lifestyle. McCandless still went out into the wilderness away from society against Thoreau’s words. Chris was crazy to shun s...
His exclamations against those who don't change their live to find all the “marrow,” hidden in society, shows his passion for “sucking,” the positive features which enable him to ensure he has spent his time effectively. Lastly, this related to “living deliberately(…),” expressed by Thoreau. This philosophical idea distinguished the difference between simply who simply are alive in comparison to one who lives a life that they know that they “truly live(…),” instead of later realising they haven’t done what they as individuals wanted to do. This contrast is symbolised by the comparison of McCandless and the social norm. The fact that McCandless felt implied to not take short cuts through modern day advancements suggested by the “plane,” and instead wanted to complete his trip in the way he desired leads to him exemplifying the meaning of living deliberately by Thoreau. Nonetheless whilst they are both different individuals, McCandless lifestyle and actions portray the life based on the philosophical ideas of
The author wrote this story in response to a magazine company, and eventually published it into a book. He used many styles and techniques to describe the life and death of McCandless. The mood throughout the novel constantly varies with the excitement of McCandless’s adventures and the emotions caused by his disappearance. Krakauer’s ability to engage multiple senses of a reader truly makes his novel special.
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
First, in today’s society, an individual faces many expectations from the society, which results in an individual following these expectations or shaping their identity to go against it. Krakauer talks about McCandless, who escaped from the society in order to find his own-self. He writes, “ 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 ...
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 ...
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
McCandless set out for this adventure because of his anger, therefore he did not actually sit and rationalize his plan. He did not have food, water, hunting supplies, clothing to keep him warm. His death was an accident of not being prepared for nature’s harshness. Krakauer also explains that McCandless’s death was an unplanned accident. Krakauer compared his young adulthood story to McCandless stating what his suspicions were of his death, his theory is based off of the letters McCandless left behind. Their adventure stories are very similar, they both were caught in a life or death situation, the tragedy is that McCandless’s did not have as happy of an ending as Jon Krakauer. Krakauer explains that it was a matter of chance that McCandless did not survive. He also explains that they were similarly affected by their relationships with their fathers. Their stories are also very similar with their father, they were both
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...
...emselves. They endure mosquitoes and rain and tough walking and bad river crossings and the possibility of bears. The burden the pilgrims carry to the bus is so heavy, laden with their frailties and hopes and desires, with their lives that don’t quite satisfy. Well, so many of them are young, and they’re lost, somehow, just as he was.” What makes Chris McCandless such a hero to young men is that he is easily relatable to those young men. As Neal Karlinsky writes of Chris McCandless,“McCandless tramped his way across North America determined to live completely free of the trappings of modern society. He was intoxicated by nature and the idea of a great Alaskan adventure — to survive in the bush totally on his own. In his last postcard to a friend, he wrote: "I now walk into the wild."
...opher McCandless is a unique and talented young man, but his selfish and ultimately complacent attitude towards life and his successes led to his demise. Chris possesses monumental ambitions that had the potential to be harvested into something great, but were not taken advantage of in the correct way. Through the book Krakauer paints a chilling picture of how detrimental choices can be. Had Chris been better prepared for his trip there is a good chance he would have walked out alive. Had Chris lived, he would not be famous, merely criticized for his poor choices and selfish behavior that deeply impacted those close to him. Chris is not a hero, nor should he be regarded as one. His actions were admired by others but spontaneous naive actions do not constitute a hero.
Some believe that Walter, McCandless’ dad, affair is what drove McCandless to his journey to the wild but during his journey he met a man who represented a father figure but was the opposite of his actual father. This man was Wayne Westerberg, grain elevator operator. Westerberg gave McCa...