Into The Wild Argumentation

Into the Wild Argumentation Essay

As you may know, the intriguing story of Into the Wild is about a young man, Chris McCandless who ventures off into the everlasting pull of the Alaskan forest. He reached his destination from the Stampede trail, which is now visited regularly due to his incredible story. Now, with that being said, Chris McCandless has been viewed by thousands of people, all of whom generated their own opinions on his course of actions. Many believe that he was arrogant, stupid, and unaware of the danger he was putting himself into. Others conclude he was in search of something bigger than life, bigger than all of us possibly.

After reading Into the Wild, I have come to the conclusion that Chris decided to embark on his

journey that led to his death because he was aiming for self accomplishment. Krakauer even admits it himself that young men are drawn to reckless pursuits, which is why teens are so allured to driving fast or drinking too much. This sense of danger is common in our culture, Krakauer goes on, thus describing McCandless’ reasoning for his risky adventures.
But there is more to McCandless than risky business.

He had logic and brains, and a witty personality. He would rather spend money buying burgers to give to homeless people, rather than going to a high school party. He would make his cross country team get lost in the suburbs of his town, and then race them back to their starting point. Chris was always pushing himself, and others with him. This edge of ambition is what sent him on his Alaskan Odyssey. Krakauer writes “He had a need to test himself in ways, as he was fond of saying, ‘that mattered.’ He possessed grand--some would say grandiose-spiritual ambitions. According to the moral absolutism that characterizes Mccandless’s beliefs, a challenge in which a successful outcome is assured isn’t a challenge at

all.”(182)
People have been extremely judgemental of Chris because of his perilous experience. The media generated a conclusion that Chris was mentally disturbed, that he was a “nut”, and that he had left a good life behind for an ill-prepared treke. Yes, McCandless may have not taken the dire precautions that could have potentially changed his course of death. However, the cause of his death was not from hunger, rather from eating the poisonous sweet pea seeds, causing him to become dehydrated and starving. Starvation may have been his concluded cause of death, but unmistakably, it was ill-preparedness.
To call Chris arrogant and a narcissist is out of the question.

Not every young soul had the passion for justice and good-will that was seen in Chris McCandless. Also, Chris wasn’t crazily obsessed about himself, rather he strived to revise a better version of himself. He may have not have been aware of the severe factors of the harsh Alaskan environment, but he was smart in knowing many other practices that he could have survived off of, such as hunting and picking wild potatoes. Of course he made a few miscalculations along the way, so would any other fresh explorer. I believe that he was fearless and brave for pursuing his goals; not everyone has the audacity to do the same. One of Krakauer's friends, Roman agrees also ; “‘Sure he screwed up’, Roman answers, ‘but i admire what he was trying to do. Living completely off the land like that, month after month, is incredibly difficult...And I’d bet you that very few, if any, of the people who call McCandless incompetent have ever done it either, not for more than a week or two...And McCandless almost pulled it

off.’”(186)
McCandless’s opinions on life and how accomplish true happiness was surely different from the norm. However, he didn’t fail at trying to pursuing them, no matter the odds. I do believe that he accomplished what he was set out to do, even if it didn’t turn out for the best. The point that he was attempting to get across-- to find raw happiness by letting go of the demanding ties of society-- was received by many, but also criticized by many.