Into The Wild, By Chris Mccandless

The book ‘Into the Wild’ is based on a true story of Christopher J McCandless, a well educated and able young man who chased after his dreams and ambitions. Soon after graduating from Emory University, Chris gave up the balance of his education savings account to OXFAM and disappeared from society to live the life of isolation and venture into the Alaskan Wilderness, This wild adventure ultimately led to his death. According to Mark Laurence, a wilderness journalist, he states that, “It is surprising to look at the leading causes of most deaths in the wilderness--all of these are caused by personal error in judgment.” This quote fits perfectly towards Chris McCandless. He didn't die due to the wilderness. He died from his own misconstrue which

was being extemporaneous and indisposed to learn about the environment he was living off. The actions of Chris McCandless were nothing special. Many individuals have endeavored the same journey. Chris was just too adamant and disinclined to take obligatory time to equip himself with the skills that would enable him to survive. Along his journey Chris made many mistakes that led him to his demise. What are these mistakes?

Chris McCandless’s first mistake was not having the proper equipment or clothing that would assist him in surviving out in the Alaskan terrain. Jim Gallien was driving four miles out of the Fairbanks when he descried a hitchhiker standing in the snow. The hitchhiker was Chris McCandless.Chris told Gallien that he was headed up to Denali National Park. Gallien and Chris commenced discussing where Chris would like to be dropped off. While engaging in the conversation Gallien describes Chris's backpack as being a little light for an accomplished hunter and woodsman.Gallien became even more concern when Chris told him all he had was a ten-pound bag of rice. “ He wasn’t carrying anywhere near as much food and gear as you’d expect a guy to be carrying for that kind of journey,”Gallien recalls(Krauckuer 4). Right from the get go this is where Chris first messed up. If he had authentically carried the right amount of supplies he wouldn't have died from starvation later on in the story. This just shows how over confident he was believing that he only needed a ten-pound bag of rice and some mere boots that weren't good for Alaskan conditions.

To add to that, another mistake Chris made was letting the moose meat rot away and not preserving it correctly.

On June 5th Chris had spotted a moose. He killed it and attempted to preserve its meat..Rather than using the prefered method to preserving the meat, which air drying, Chris relied on the advice given to him by hunters he consulted with in South Dakota. This is no easy task. The butchering of the meat is extremely difficult and did not go according to plan as noted in his journal entries, “ Maggot already! Smoking appears in effective. Don’t know, looks like a disaster”(Krauckuer 167). This is a sign of Chris’s stubbornness that he showed throughout his life. When it came to his adventure to the wilderness he felt whatever he was doing was correct and nothing else

mattered.
Conclusively, the last tragic mistake Chris made that was far worse than the others was when he the wild potato for a similar species H.alpinum was poisonous.

Chris commenced to starve on July 30th, two days after reading Doctor Zhivago, book that showed which plant life were edible. Weeks before that Chris had commenced to accumulate seeds and consume immense quantities of wild potato seeds. One time when amassing it rained, so Chris put the seeds in unclean zip lock bags. That was impeccable conditions for the mold to grow. This mold transpired to be called swainsonine. Swainsome aftereffects are despondence, slow staggering gait, dull ocular perceivers, and the worst effect is that it makes the body always feel as if it's in a stage of starvation. Even if you consume insane amounts of food , you'll always feel hungry. Chris writes in his journal, “ EXTREMELY WEAK, FAULT OF POT SEED MUCH TROUBLE JUST TO STAND UP. STARVING.GREAT JEOPARDY” (Krauckuer 189). Although this wasn’t entirely Chris’s fault. The book in which he had carried with all the species of plant around Alaska did not specifically say whether the plant he was consuming would be toxic. This still shows how Chris still was unwilling to take the proper time to learn about the various plants. had always been that way, when his father tried to teach him more about sports Chris just ignored him and relied on his natural talent. This ties into his unwillingness to learn more and rather rely on the knowledge he has

now.

The basis of this essay was not to trash poor Chris McCandless, rather it was to show Rather it was intended to show how flawed his journey from the very beginning. Chris was such an astute individual yet he made so many mistakes when in his quest. Why? That question seems to be sempiternally unanswered. The fact that out of all the places he could have run off to and culls Alaska during one of the most rigorous seasons verbalizes for itself. McCandless was far from heroic. He was more mundane than he was written out to be.
Many others have attempted the same journey as Chris. They died as well, so why does he get all the fame?