Analysis Of Chris Mccandless By Jon Krakauer

Death of an Innocent, a true story written by Jon Krakauer, is about the character Christopher McCandless also known as Alex Supertramp who estranged himself from his family and others who do not understand his desire to live deliberately. When Thoreau said “living deliberately,” he meant to live to the fullest by searching for what it means to be alive, to be part of nature. He meant trying to understand your place in the world, how you fit in it, and by understanding yourself. To Thoreau, where you live defines if you are in tune with yourself and the world. He felt you needed to live in harmony with nature, and live a simple life with no distractions. Chris McCandless went on his path to happiness, Chris explored the challenges of living

So he set off in his car to find himself and to rid himself of the expectations placed upon him by society. Even though he encountered many triumphs along the way to Alaska "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. He had fled the claustrophobic confines of his family. He’d successfully kept Jan Burres and Wayne Westerberg at arm’s length, flitting out of their lives before anything was expected of him. And now he’d slipped painlessly out of Ron Franz’s life as well" (Krakauer 55). As Krakauer significances McCandless’s deep problems with intimacy, which are very central in his two years search for determination. During these two years, McCandless ignores all of his responsibilities and bonds with family’s and friends by going into the wilderness, when he only accounts for himself. As he forgets the people who care intensely about him as he risks his safety and life. For instance, he didn’t contact his sister even though they are very close, and while he meets new people and becomes fond of them he makes sure to maintain a certain distance between them. As McCandless walked the earth for two years with “no phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose

It was easy for McCandless when he was “young, to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want something badly enough, it is your God-given right to have it. When I decided to go to Alaska that April, like Chris McCandless, I was a raw youth who mistook passion for insight and acted according to an obscure, gap-ridden logic. I thought climbing the Devils Thumb would fix all that was wrong with my life. In the end, of course, it changed almost nothing. But I came to appreciate that mountains make poor receptacles for dreams. And I lived to tell my tale” (Krakauer 155). When Krakauer stated this, he didn’t think McCandless was arrogant at all, especially when he was in Alaska. He had many misperceptions and claims that he was really his main flaw. If McCandless survived, he would likely have ended up maturing, learning to be close to people, to forgive flaws in those he loved, to interact with societ. Because he had died, he would never have that opportunity, and instead is blamed for his ignorance and