Was Chris as Dumb as people thought he was?

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In Into the Wild, Chris McCandless was a young man from Virginia who loved living his life on his own. On an adventure to Alaska, Chris ran into the some trouble and perished. While Chris’s death is a horrible event that will burn in the memory of his family and friends, it could have been easily prevented. If Chris was smarter he would have thought about his preparation, his motivation, and the possibility that he was mentally ill. He could have been able to live out in the Alaskan Wilderness and survive his adventure and return home safely.
If Chris was better prepared, he may have been able to survive and a live the life he wanted to in the Alaskan wild. “His rifle was only .22 caliber, a bore too small to rely on if he expected to kill large animals like moose and caribou, which he would have to eat if he hoped to remain very long in the country. He had no ax, no bug dope, no snowshoes, no compass.” (Krakauer 5) Seeing that within the first couple of pages, Jim Gallien had pointed out that his supplies were not enough to sustain a long period of time in the wild, this should have been a red flag for Chris even before he went into the wilderness. In Roberts article called “Jon Krakauer + Sean Penn: Back Into the Wild”, Roberts quotes Krakauer’s original magazine article that talks to the hunters that found Chris’s body. "The kid didn't know what the hell he was doing up here” The hunters did not personally know Chris and did not meet him in person and they could tell by evidence only that Chris McCandless was not suited to live in the Alaskan Wilderness.
Seeing that Chris did not have a sturdy relationship with his father, he was driven by anger to go out to the Alaskan wilderness, he may have survived this adventure, or ev...

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...s was smarter he would have thought about his preparation, his motivation, and the possibility that he was mentally ill. I do not fully blame Chris because his friends and family could have prevented him from going. If they saw that he could possibly have a mental illness, then they could have forbidden him to go and would have saved his life.

Works Cited
Kleinfeld, Judith. "¨McCandless: Hero or Dumb Jerk¨." N.p., 20 July 2001. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997. Print.

Roberts, David. "Jon Krakauer + Sean Penn: Back Into the Wild." Into the Wild. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.

Christian, Peter. "Chris McCandless from an Alaskan Park Ranger's Perspective."Http://nmge.gmu.edu. N.p., n.d. Web.

Medred, Craig. "Far North Science." Into The Wild: The False Being Within —. N.p., 13 Oct. 2007. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.

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