There are many ways that young adults can be misunderstood by people older than them such as parents, teachers, mentors, etc. The ways of misunderstanding can vary depending on the type of young adult and who the older person is. In some ways young adults can make stupid decisions that don't make sense to an older person. This can be because adults have more experience in life and may consider the consequences more. What that adult may not understand is how important what the young adult is doing, to them. There are many examples of this in the book with Chris, his parents, and people he meets along his jouney. For example in Into the Wild Chris leaves home to go and travel the United States and then go to Alaska. His parents do not understand how he could just get up and leave them and put his life at risk, it says on pages 101-102, “‘How is it,’ he wonders aloud as he gazes blankly across Chesapeake Bay, ‘that a kid with so much compassion could cause his parents so much pain?’”(Into the Wild). This quote shows the lack of understanding of why Chris would leave them without considering their feelings. In Chris’s eyes he knew that that was something he had to do in his life. It was a dream of his to …show more content…
Franz was one of the guys he met while he was moving from place to place. After getting to know Chris (as he knew, Alex) Franz thought that Alex(Chris) was very intelligent. It says on page 31, “ After attending church that Sunday, Franz decided to talk to Alex “about how he was living. Somebody needed to convince him to get an education and a job and make something of his life.”( Into The Wild). This example shows that Franz does not understand that Chris does not want to settle down. He does not realize that Chris is not going to change his mind. Chris is way too set on his idea of moving to Alaska and being free from everyone. There are many more examples of adults not understanding Chris throughout the
The McCandless family all loved and cared about Chris deeply. The McCandless family was constantly distressed over Chris and the choices he made I life, as they knew they could not change his mind on any decision no matter how much they resented said decision. As shown in the book, “And then he left on his trip. . . We had our hearts in our mouths the whole time he was gone, but there was no way to stop him.” Page 118 Chapter 12. These quotes showed the constant worry they had over Chris fully knowing they could not change him. Chris’s feeling about his family weren’t as strong in return. Chris was more distant from his parents, Chris eventually grew a distaste for his parents when he discovered that his father never told him about his previous marriage. “He seemed mad at us more often, but he wouldn’t tell us what was on his mind and spent more time by himself.” Page 121 Chapter 12. Thoreau’s quote is similar to Chris’s viewpoint as Thoreau’s quote talks about lack of truth, which is why Chris is upset with Walt, lack of truth from his previous
Chris refused to confront his mother and father and instead repressed his emotions. Krakauer shows his influence with this comment, “Children can be harsh judges when it comes to their parents, disinclined to grant clemency, and this was especially true in Chris’s case” (Krakauer 122). He makes it very clear that Chris is really just a kid, and therefore, liable to make decisions that are rash or immature. Krakauer makes it clear that he thinks Chris’ opinions on his parents might have changed over time, had he lived. Chris was simply a kid who had been wronged by those who were supposed to protect him. All of Chris’ repressed emotions eventually came to the surface, “Chris kept careful score. And over time he worked himself into a choler of self-righteous indignation that was impossible to keep bottles up” (Krakauer 122). Chris eventually lashed out in the way that lots of children do, he ran away. His options were limited, he could either talk to his parents or a therapist about it or flee. His choice of fleeing shows that he really was working through something. By running away Chris broadcasts his youth and also makes the reader curious as to if he might have come back and worked out his issues eventually. The contradictions in Chris’ severe opinions of those around him show his youth, and inspire’s readers to be more
“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, it’s what’s inside counts” This quote reminds people about how they should not judge other people from the outside but look deep into their true personalities. Looking from the appearance and how Chris lives, everyone would assume that Chris is a crazy, foolish person and does everything without thinking. If people try to know more about Chris, they would have different perspective. Chris is intelligent, determined, independent and follows what he believes. He went into the wilderness to escape from the society that tries to suppress him and look for the meaning of life.
Although living this life is not always easy for Chris, he embarks on this adventure to achieve what truly matters to him in life.
While he stays at Shallow Creek, his conversation with Vanessa about his views of God shows his perception of the life: he questions how such a brutal God could exist, because Chris has a lot of pain and the world in his mind is not as bright as he appears. As his responses to adversities shape his perceptions, he no longer sees the world as a place full of hopes and he cannot hide his feeling of helplessness anymore, but although he shows his emotions to Vanessa, a thirteen-year-old girl like her cannot give him much help. Chris once again tries to solve his adversities with an unreal solution because he has no one else to talk with. Later in the story he joins the war to seek for other opportunities, however this time he does not only try to escape from the reality, but he also escapes from his nature, because his nature is never a solider: as he reveals on his letter, “[He does not] live inside [his body] anymore”. One day he is sent home from the battlefield because of a mental breakdown; this event marks his total lose of perceptions: insane people do not have perceptions. Since Chris always tries to escape from the reality and never really looks for a real solution to the problems, his perception becomes irreparably
At an early age, the selfishness that Chris showed set himself up for failure. It all started when he was with Walt hiking at Long Peak in Colorado. At the point where Walt wanted to head back, Chris insisted to keep on going despite the condition of others. However, a good point is to say that children are hyperactive, which leads them to make irrational decisions, but keep in mind that they were at high altitude and the Walt was more fit to handle the conditions rather than an untrained eight year old, Chris. Even Walt stated that, “Chris was fearless even when he was little… He didn’t think the odds applied to him. We were always trying to pull him back from the edge.”(Krakauer) The article titled “Why the Teen Brain Is Drawn to Risk” by Maia Szalavitz demonstrates the negative impact of bad decisions. Maia proves that “Unlike teens, adults tend to
Prior to abandoning life, Chris had discovered that his father wasn’t as perfect as he once thought he was. Chris had discovered that his father had been living a double life as he had another lover and family elsewhere. In fact, it was Chris’ mother who Walt was having an affair with, making Chris an illegitimate child. Essentially, Chris’ entire perception of reality had shattered before his eyes and his sister, Carine, can attest to a similar feeling when she mentions something to the effect of how she felt that their childhood felt like fiction. Not only that but, Krakauer also adds that, “ Danger has always held a certain allure” (182). It was not entirely uncharacteristic for a young man to partake in dangerous activities and Krakauer goes on to say that Chris, “merely took risk-taking to its logical extreme” (182). This expected recklessness that comes with adolescence paired with the mistakes of his father are what caused Chris to take action and leave on his endeavour. Chris was essentially running away from his past. He was running away from the reality that his childhood was purely
When Chris left for his journey he wasn’t crazy or stupid as many would say. “McCandless went into the wilderness not primarily to ponder nature or the world at large, but rather to explore the inner country of his own soul” pg. 183. The fact that Chris never bother to discuss his Alaskan walk about with his anyone especially his parents wasn’t intentional. However throughout the whole book it was made very clear that he was at odds with his parents in some way to go off on his journey but he didn’t want to hurt them, which I think Walt and Billie finally realized visiting the bus where Chris had passed. I think Chris just wanted to get away from his everyday life, clear his mind, a mind that didn’t involve the worries of expectations and the thoughts of his parents hanging on his shoulders.
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...
Chris’s mother and Walt’s second wife, Billie really took McCandless’s departure to heart. On page 125, Krakauer has stated how Billie would never leave “the house without leaving a note for Chris posted on the door.” She was probably worried she would not be there when he would return, that is, if he were even alive. His sister, Carine, claims that although she knew Chris was not going to write to anyone, she was just as “worried when we didn’t hear from them” (Krakauer 123). Even Walt, the most temperamental of them all, stated that if had even the slightest idea, he would have “gotten a lock on his whereabouts” and brought his son home. Chris’s family members probably feel guilty; they believe as if they could have saved him from
He left and “walked into the wild”, as he said, to escape his problems (Krakauer, 69). He never confronted his dad about his feelings. Carine McCandless talks about this personality trait in Chris saying, “Chris was the sort of person who brooded on things. If something bothered him; he wouldn’t come right out and say it” (Krakauer, 122). He changed his name, He wasn’t trying to take pride in his “adventure”. It was an extra and unnecessary precaution to ensure that his problems would not affect his escape. Chris McCandless changed his name and then continued his life ignoring all of the problems he had ever
According to others, Chris McCandless was inherently selfish. Please, let’s beg to differ, for goodness sake, he was a grown man! It was his life and he was living it the way he wanted to. Chris gave his sister fair warning. He bid to her, “Since they won’t ever take me seriously, for a few months after graduation I’m going to let them think they are right, I’m going to let them think that I’m “coming around to see their sides of things” and that our relationship is stabilizing. And then, once the time is right, with one abrupt, swift action I’m going to completely knock them out of my life...” (Krakauer 64) He knew what he had to do. He had to show his parents how they had made him feel his whole life. As a graduation present they offered him a new car, his old Datsun apparently was to their standards. Chris became infuriated. That was his pride and joy, how dare them try and take that away! They ignored what he was saying, as he did many times before, he o...
was and found happiness in his life. In general, Chris knew that the only way he could
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 ...
Firstly, everyone has gone or will go through the teenage rebellion phase. No matter how good of a person you think you are, you have probably rebelled against an elder person at least once. Once hormones have revealed it-self, children turn into confused young adults that think they can do everything by themselves and that there will be no longer any need of nurture from adults. The word “young” from “Young adults” are what teenagers completely ignore, when actually they should do the opposite and ignore the “adults” part.