The Mccandless Journey

586 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay a change lifestyle

he thought of leaving everything behind and starting over has crossed everyone’s mind at one point of time or another. For me, there were moments in my life where I felt that I was trapped by my own inaction and that to truly explore myself, I needed to free my mind from the chains of society, so in order to prevent a life of little purpose, I would have to take the first initiative to change my situation for the better. The change would not be one of comfort and safety, but it would be one of the main principles of a living spirit: the passion for adventure. From the words of John F. Kennedy, “We do things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” The adventures of Christopher McCandless, as told by Jon Krakauer in "Into The …show more content…

Reflecting on this novel, It made me realize that what genuinely counts in life is the great memories I have made, the influential people I have met, and the experiences I have faced, not the desire for materialism. From my childhood, I vividly remember the time I captured a horde of hermit-crabs from the beach to keep as pets only to realize that they required a special diet, so they unfortunately all starved to death. Also, I recall the time one of my friends kindly brought me burnt snickerdoodles after I caught the flu. These are the experiences that material possessions and physical comfort can’t hold a straw against. My sentiment is shared with Chris McCandless. He didn’t care about his material possession because he believed that they were just illusions of happiness, and the things that truly made him happy was his journey through the land of the free. In fact, he burned all of his money to take a nonconformist stance against society and materialism. Perhaps my true destiny lies in the new experiences that manifests itself in an endlessly changing

Show More
Related

  • Chris Mccandless Compare And Contrast Essay

    756 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chris McCandless was a young man who did everything in his power to try and represent that freedom he was searching for. McCandless had everything before we went out but he decided to go out and travel by choice. He was considered a selfish man because when someone offered him to help him he rejects it in a nice way since we wants to do things himself. In the book Into the wild he states that,"You don't need to worry about me. I have a college education. I'm not destitute. I'm living like this by choice."

    Read More

  • Christopher McCandless: An Admirable Man

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...elligence to help him last an extended period of time in the Alaskan wilderness. In truth, McCandless was someone who wanted to find himself. He wanted to get away from a life in which he could not find fulfilment, which is something many others would be able to relate to. Although most people would not go to such extremes to find fulfilment, everyone has a different way of finding happiness and going after what their heart truly desires. For McCandless, his desire was to live out in the wild. Unfortunately, this man of great character did not succeed in getting out alive. However, that does not change the fact that he tried. McCandless knew what he wanted for himself and he persisted, regardless of the obstacles he faced. He put an incredible amount of effort into accomplishing his goals and never gave up, and that is why Christopher McCandless is someone to admire.

    Read More

  • The Foolish Chris McCandless of Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people dream about leaving everything behind and starting a new life, but it’s not as easy as it seems. Learning how to adapt to a new environment may be a challenge. In the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Christopher McCandless has no knowledge of the conditions he’s going to face when he arrives in Alaska. I would classify Christopher McCandless as a fearless crazy guy, because he leaves his well-shaped life behind. McCandless is not prepared for his expedition to Alaska, because he’s not familiar with the different lifestyles. Making all of these changes to his life like, detaching himself from his family and changing his name to Alexander Supertramp was a bad idea; because losing all of his connections means that he has no help from the people who really know him.

    Read More

  • Into The Wild Rhetorical Analysis

    1626 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.

    Read More

  • Chris Mccandless Is A Transcendentalist In Chris Mccandless

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    He chose to live deliberately to find real happiness. While living in college, Chris lived off campus in a spartan like apartment, with a couple of crates, electricity and water. After graduating college, he left behind a middle class life full of education and materialistic items to set out on a adventure that would allow him to go into the wild to find his true self. What most people in society would call crazy. A quote from Henry David Thoreau says, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” (Walden) Thoreau is saying that people should live a simple life, with out the material possessions controlling their happiness. Chris understood that materialism doesn’t create real happiness and satisfaction. He gave up the comfort of his home to go out to the wild. He gives away his possessions, something society values too much . He gives his money to charity and burns the money he has left in his wallet. He began a simply life hitchhiking, finding food and shelter in the wild and being adventurous with the land and sights around him. In this way making a statement that he rejects the social views and values of property in the search of a higher purpose within

    Read More

  • Into the Wild: The Spiritual Journey of Chris McCandless

    1229 Words  | 3 Pages

    Christopher “Alexander Supertramp” McCandless was a dreamer. However, unlike most of us nowadays, Christopher turned his desire for adventure into reality. Similar to Buddha, he gave up his wealth, family, home, and most possessions except the ones he carried before embarking on his journey. He traveled by various methods, mostly on foot, to eventually reach his desired goal in the Alaskan wilderness. Unfortunately, due to various mistakes, Christopher ultimately passed and his body was found in a neglected Fairbank City Transit Bus. His motivation to achieve his goal was based on the many aspects of his life. Chris’s dysfunctional family weighed heavily on him, one prime reason for driving him onto the road of freedom.

    Read More

  • Christopher Mccaandless Admirable Analysis

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    Life is a form of progress- from one stage to another, from one responsibility to another. Studying, getting good grades, and starting the family are common expectations of human life. In the novel Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer introduced the tragic story of Christopher Johnson McCandless. After graduating from Emory University, McCandless sold of his possessions and ultimately became a wanderer. He hitchhiked to Alaska and walked into the wilderness for nearly 4 months. This journey to the 49th state proved fatal for him, and he lost his life while fulfilling his dream. After reading this novel, some readers admired the boy for his courage and noble ideas, while others fulminated that he was an idiot who perished out of arrogance and

    Read More

  • Individualism in "Anthem" by Ayn Rand

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    This book teaches the importance of self-expression and independence. If we did not have these necessities, then life would be like those in this novel. Empty, redundant, and fearful of what is going on. The quotes above show how different life can be without our basic freedoms. This novel was very interesting and it shows, no matter how dismal a situation is, there is always a way out if you never give up, even if you have to do it alone.

    Read More

  • Into the Wild: Chris McCandless is a Tragic Hero

    1654 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...fe for oneself. McCandless primary tragic flaw being his unwillingness to form long-term relations brought him both to the happiest moment of his life, but also to his demise. McCandless never had a problem with people, but rather with the status quo of society, the idea that a man or a woman has to live inside of a coordinate plane. McCandless left home and went on his adventure simply for his own well being, he achieved both what he wanted to accomplish while learning a valuable lesson along the way. He learned that happiness must be shared, and while everyone has his or her flaws, it is important to let these go. Christopher McCandless should teach people the importance of following your dreams, and the importance of enjoying the natural serenity of life.

    Read More

  • Mccandless Essay: Chris Mccandless

    1094 Words  | 3 Pages

    Was he a reckless idiot? That is the big question. This is what people always seem to talk about when they talk about Chris McCandless. There are many people who think that Chris McCandless was a reckless idiot who was mentally ill, or something else was wrong with Chris. It seems that almost everybody that met Chris thought maybe Chris was crazy or had problems. Here are just a few things that people said about Chris and his state of mind. Pg 40 Zarza admits saying, "he was always going on about trees and nature and weird stuff like that. We all thought he was missing a few screws. Pg 42 Charlie said, "seemed like a kid who was looking for something." Pg 45 Burres said "I thought Alex had lost his mind when he told us about his 'great Alaskan odyssey, ' as he called it."

    Read More

  • Chris McCandless: A True Hero

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chris McCandless was still just a young man when he decided to drastically alter his life through the form of a child’s foolishness. However, Chris had not known at the time just how powerful his testimony against his father’s authority, society, or maybe even his own lifestyle was going to be revolutionary throughout not only Alaska,not even the lower 48, but the world. The story of Chris McCandless is a much talked about debate on topics of safety and preparedness in the wild, these things forever associated with the boy who was a little too eager for a death wish. Today, Chris is remember as a fool or a hero. The fool, a boy who allowed himself to be drowned in a fictional world inspired by his readings,dying because he ignored he was just a normal human being or the hero who set out to become something more.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Into The Wild By Jon Krakauer

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to what McCandless was trying to say, “It is easy, when you are 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” (Krakauer 155). Similarly, Krakauer stated that, “When I decided to go to Alaska that April, like Chris McCandless, I was a raw youth who mistook passion for an insight and acted according to an obscure, gap-ridden logic” (155). He presumed that if he climbed the Devils Thumb, then it would fix everything that was wrong with his life. Krakauer said that, “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” (155). However, McCandless did not come to that realization and unfortunately did not live to tell his

    Read More

  • How Did Leo Tolstoy Influence Chris McCandless?

    974 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” (Chris McCandless) This was said by McCandless because he could not find happiness from his family so he went out to go find happiness. The book Into the Wild, by John Krakauer, was a book about a person named Chris McCandless, who could not find happiness from his family because they always provided him with all the materials he needed. This caused him to go out for an adventure or to the wild in Alaska. While on his journey, he had read books finding self- definition and so he used the authors from the book as literary heroes to get him past the journey. He was really inspired by the writers. With the inspiration he was set out to find happiness, and so he went into the wild. It is where he spent the rest of his days until he died because of poisoning. Many of his literary heroes inspired him to do what he did, but one stands out the most. Leo Tolstoy, who is considered to be one of the best novelists, Leo really inspired Chris because they had a life that they could relate. He also appreciated him because he had realistic views of the life. Chris McCandless needed inspiration for his adventure, so he looked up to the literary heroes as his guidance to the wild.

    Read More

  • Our Relationship With Nature Explored in Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild

    1104 Words  | 3 Pages

    When McCandless first embarked on his journey, he believed that he needed to get rid of all his material possessions to get the most out of life. For example, in one of his first journal entries, McCandless wrote that he was better off experiencing the wild without camera because memories and experiences gave life meaning. From a Platonic perspective, cameras can only capture a fraction of reality and pictures are simply representations of a real event. By refusing to bring a camera, McCandless made a powerful and Platonic statement about materialism. Although materialism can often obscure the human perception ...

    Read More

  • fight club

    645 Words  | 2 Pages

    At first, the narrator conforms to the uneventful and dull capitalist society. He fines success in his work at an automobile manufacture, has obtained a large portion of his Ikea catalog, and has an expansive wardrobe. He is defined by his possessions and has no identity outside his furniture, which he remarks, “I wasn’t the only slave of my nesting instincts” (Palahniuk, 43) and “I am stupid, and all I do is want and need things.” (Palahniuk, 146) For the narrator, there is no fine line between the consumer [narrator] and the product. His life at the moment is a cycle of earning a wage, purchasing products, and representing himself through his purchases. “When objects and persons exist as equivalent to the same system, one loses the idea of other, and with it, any conception of self or privacy.” (Article, 2) The narrator loses sight of his own identity; he has all these material goods, but lacks the qu...

    Read More

More about The Mccandless Journey

Open Document