Into The Wild Chris Mccandless Analysis

Conor Large

Into the Wild Literary Analysis

Word Count: 1,248

The Story of Chris McCandless- As Told By John Muir and Donald Barthelme

Following an intensive crash-course of the history of Chris McCandless and the first part of Jon Krakauer’s harrowing ascent of the Devil’s Thumb, is a group of pages collectively known as Chapter 15. Detailing the second half of his journey in the Alaskan Wilderness, and at the same time describing how his relationship with his father aided in both his empathetic understanding and judgement of Chris McCandless Krakauer selected two particularly stimulating excerpts from other literary works. Borrowed from John Muir and Donald Barthelme, these passages allow for one to gain a broader appreciation of the

themes addressed by Krakauer in not just his own text, but in the views of other thinkers and life outside the world of words. In Chapter 15, the passages give insight into not only the connection between Krakauer’s and Chris McCandless’ histories, but how their backstories apply to greater statements about father-son relationships and the naïvety of misguided youthful ideologies.
Appropriately starting with a snippet from John Muir’s The Mountains of California, the “uncontrollable in us, urging us across glaciers and torrents, and up dangerous heights,”
effectively references the previous chapter, where Krakauer details the first part of his journey up the Devil’s Thumb in Alaska (145).

At the same time, however, it ties into both the second quote, from David Barthelme’s The Dead Father, and one of Chapter 15’s most prominent ideas: how people have natural tendencies to emulate their parents. Krakauer is outlining both his mountaineering escapades, as well as the story of he and his father, which in turn aids in explaining why Krakauer shared so much common ground with Chris McCandless. Because Chapters 14 and 15 serve as Krakauer’s testimony as to why he is biased the way he is, John Muir’s own (albeit short) testimony, as an outdoorsman in his own right, has the potential to make the material more relatable because of his great renown. John Muir’s example led many to follow in his path, and the utilization of the widespread comprehension of his motivations and deeds may have aided Krakauer in getting his audience to gain a broader perspective on some of the heaviest material in his own

book.
In addition, John Muir’s quote is “twisted” by Krakauer to fit the designs of the content presented in the chapter.

Whereas the original piece discusses the passions pushing humankind to achieve greatness, specifically in the realm of exploration and the appreciation for nature, Krakauer uses it for the purposes of the psychology of inherited behavioral patterns, because they are “uncontrollable” in all of us. He admits this influence on him when on his climb in Alaska when he states that, “it was this inherited, off-kilter ambition that kept me from admitting defeat on the Stikine Ice Cap after my initial attempt to climb the Thumb had failed, even after nearly burning the tent down”

(150).
While it could be argued, though, that the motivation of many people, especially Krakauer and McCandless, to be as different from their parents as possible comes from the “uncontrollable” nature of those personality traits, the real reason can, and often is, much different. This is clarified through the use of the second excerpt from The Dead Father, which needs no literary “twisting,” due to the content’s harsh, almost direct correlation with the subject matter. It discusses why so many people wish to beat their own paths, away from that of their parents. In the passage, the anger of a hypothetical son drives in the explanation through the vector of Barthelme’s prose, saying , “He is mad about being small when you were big, but no, that’s not it, he is mad about being helpless when you were powerful, but no, that’s not it either, he is mad about being contingent when you were necessary, not quite it, he is insane because when he loved you, you didn’t notice” (145). It is implied here, then, that the main cause for the inevitable part in ways between many parent-child units is suggested to be lack of attention and proper love. Admittedly, neither McCandless nor Krakauer were so markedly abused or neglected, but they did share fundamental, philosophical differences with their parents. When the issues went unresolved, they proceeded to spiral into seemingly irrational actions (such as tramping around the country for two years before dying in the middle of the Alaska bush). Here, of course, is one instance where Krakauer’s bias in favor of McCandless is especially potent. Knowing that the quote would be especially difficult for Walt McCandless to read, having lost his son, albeit indirectly, by his marital infidelity, Krakauer seems to have chosen it anyway, if for no other reason than dramatic effect. Or punishment. There are, after all, a myriad of other texts that deal with personal and moral discrepancies between parent and child that are not so intense. Krakauer’s choices, though, as the author, must be respected.
At the same time, flawed the thought the rationale may be, it is this quote that gives Chapter 15 so much of its soul. Reflecting on the Barthelme’s powerful words from the get-go, I saw the chapter through the lense of a child who has been let down by the one person he has looked up to and admired his entire life. A child whose one pillar of comfort, having been corrupted, then taints his world view with anger and disillusionment. These feelings were likely all too familiar to McCandless and Krakauer upon finding the truth, “that this deity who asked only for perfection, was himself less than perfect, that he was in fact not a deity at all...that he was merely human, and frightfully so…” (148).
Despite the element of bias that this second quote in particular adds, it was a good choice by Krakauer to include it. Besides, he gives away in the author’s note that his clear stance on McCandless would be prevalent and obvious over the course of the book, asserting, “I won’t claim to be an impartial biographer. McCandless’s tale struck a personal note that made the dispassionate rendering of the tragedy impossible” (ii). In addition, he would be allowed even more artistic license when it came to his own testimony anyway. Therefore, the inclusion of the second quote was enriching to the chapter’s content, especially when paired with the fact that anyone can choose their own opinion of Chris McCandless, no matter how Krakauer spins it.
Chapter 15 is one of the most emotionally intense sections of the book, and the beginning quotes, while they do aid in making the text more relatable (and thus adding to that intensity), also provide a framework for an explanation as to why the chapter was written the way it was. They give meaning to what would otherwise be an extended anecdote with little relevance to the rest of the book by providing transitions to the rest of the book, employing the voice of well known historical figures to explain premises, as well as putting more depth into the true meaning of the father-son relationships explored within the chapter. Now, having completed Krakauer’s historical and emotional walk-through, the next, and final phase of the story of Chris McCandless is his long, drawn-out death. A death, although revealed to his audience already, was not worth going into in detail until the workings behind the scene were understood. And the short, seemingly insignificant passages at the beginning of each chapter were imperative to that understanding. Rest in peace, Christopher J, McCandless.