Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild

What was Krakauer thinking when he was talking about Chris McCandless? In the Alaskan wilderness, Peter Christian has described numerous young men who acted and ventured there similar to McCandless. If there are people who had ventured and faced death in the Alaskan wilderness just like McCandless, would Krakauer’s “Into the Wild” be different in regards to quality and character if Krakauer had used any other individual as the main character of his book? Based on how Krakauer wrote his book, Chris McCandless had an interesting story of his travels as told by Krakauer. Despite being an enigmatic and intellectual, however, McCandless shows that he is merely another young adult who had made bad decisions.

First of all, the cause of Chris’s bad decisions falls on his character. For example, he refuses to accept help from others. Throughout Krakauer’s book, Chris refuses to accept any advice given from the people he met, especially those such as Westerberg and Jan Burres. His stubborn approach towards people shows his independent attitude throughout the story as he is determined to face obstacles independently. This is most evident in Chris’s time with Jan Burres. During the end of the fifth chapter, he displays his

stubbornness and independent nature towards Jan by refusing any material or help she offered before he left on his trip to Alaska. Chris’s attitude is shown as negative since he “accepted Burres offer to drive him there[post office in Salton City], but when she tried to give him a little money… she recalls ‘he acted very offended’” (Krakauer 46). This is an example of his stubborn and determined character Chris has shown in his entire life. When he was young, it was an admirable characteristic but became one of the causes of his death later on.
Another reason for being an ordinary character is through Krakauer’s use of emphasis throughout the book as Chris’s biography was told. As a result, Chris is not as an important character despite being perceived as one by Krakauer. Peter Christian has described in his article that Alaska contains people who have a similar behavior such as McCandless. Christian goes into detail saying that such people “challenge themselves against an unforgiving wilderness landscape” (Christian 1). This passage in the article explains that Chris is just another young, adventurous man who tries to take on challenges despite being prepared for the consequences, which relates to his bad decision skills.
Krakauer also shows emphasis towards Chris’s death.

In reality, Chris’s death was not really a big deal and was rather exaggerated by Krakauer than it needed to be. The main reason was Chris’s unpreparedness. Due to Chris’s inexperience in handling the challenges the wilderness had to offer, Chris was left vulnerable and, as a result looked foolish. Peter also criticized Chris’s approach to handling resources as “just stupid, tragic, and inconsiderate” (Christian 2). Krakauer describes Chris’s experience to be more important compared to the typical adventurer, and shows authorial bias in favor of Chris, making Chris’s adventures seem more innocent and accidental. However, Christian shows an impartial attitude towards Chris and criticizes Chris’s

actions.
It is possible for his death to be seen with sympathy rather than a tragedy. People can argue that Chris was unique in the fact that he was extremely intelligent, which sets him apart from many venturers. Chris’s character and skills have been admirable and, at first, seem to be the only resources necessary for survival in the wild, but it is because of his character and personality that makes him fade in with the rest of the young men who challenge themselves in high-risk activities. Chris’s reluctance to take advice from others and lack of any hands-on experience proves how similar he is to many others who had faced similar fates.
In the end, Chris might show unique characteristics throughout his adventure, but it still doesn’t separate him from many other people who had the same dream Chris had. There were other ways that Chris would’ve done or had done to show that he is capable of completing challenges parallel to living in Alaska. His adventures of hitchhiking in different states would be seen as a very challenging high-risk activity, which would be considered unique by many, but his fate, in the end, has caused him to fade with the typical young adventurer such as those before and after him.