mccandless

1260 Words3 Pages

Christopher McCandless was a man shaped after his rough, sharp-edged, family life. He was born in El Segundo, California on February 12th, 1968. Chris grew up in a very unique situation. His father, Walt McCandless, was probably the closest thing to why Chris left in the first place. Walt lead a very dysfunctional family where he lived and worked with his wife, Billie, which created a nasty combination and left a bad taste in the mouths of each family member. Chris’s sister, Carine, was probably the only person he had to a legitimate connection to. Later on Chris found out his father had been living a double life with another woman and her family. This set Chris off and became a driving motive for his absence from the McCandless family. Jon Krakauer, in a sense, was very much like Chris McCandless. Jon was a man who enjoyed the feeling of escaping from humanity to attempt some of the worlds most daring obstacles and adventures. He found personal pleasure in doing things that were unthinkable. He was a climber that feared very little. He bonded to the story of Chris McCandless by relating his past experience of Everest to the failure of Chris’s expedition. Both Krakauer and McCandless were born with an adventurous nature. Their beings craved being different and pushing the limits. For Chris specifically, we see throughout the book his struggle to push away the mainstream life that he lived. He believed there was more to life then just the 20th century fads that everyone was supposed to live. Which is what made people love him, was also what decided his fate in the end.

One of the positive things Chris inherited from his father was his impressive level of intelligence. From elementary school to his graduation from Emory University ...

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...red along the way, his life went from bad to worse. And if there is anything to be taken away from his story, is that life is meant to be shared among those you do life with. Nothing should be left to chance when it comes to life or death either. Chris made mistakes, but because of the analysis of his errors, we can see just how one person who almost had it all, went to losing everything. When we look at the life lived by Chris McCandless, we see that his relationships with people are impeccably built. He had a way of mesmerizing people by his suave charm and his opinionated character. This part of his life is a vision of what doing life looks like, and successfully too. Overall, Chris McCandless’ life, as sad and depressing that it might be, is a gift to us all of how impactful high risks can be on one’s life. And without the necessary measures, life can be brutal.

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