Adversity In Into The Wild

“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” This is what Roman poet Horace believed to be true but if this was true then Chris McCandless would have been able to go on his journey and stay alive. He ran into obstacles like starvation, malnourishment, and he got lost and he was not able to overcome these problems or bring out the talents that could have saved his life. John Krakauer wrote a book about Chris called Into the Wild. In this story, Chris McCandless goes on a long, never ending journey to reinvent himself. He gave his college money to charity, burned the money in his wallet, abandoned his car, and buried his possessions in hopes of being able to be fully in touch with nature. He spent two years hiking through North America and Mexico, where he got lost …show more content…
He chooses to go on a long journey to reinvent his life. He burns his money, abandons his car and possessions, and even changes his name to Alexander Supertramp. His story is one of tragedy and curiosity. He began traveling all over North America and Mexico and ended his journey in Alaska’s wilderness. McCandless went through adversities like starvation and malnourishment. Horace’s quote “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant” is disqualified by this book. Chris’ environment made his journey very hard, his bad mentality did not keep him alive, and his strength was obselete at the end of his journey. None of these things brought out talents in Chris that would have helped his situation. Chris McCandless’ story touched many people, especially the people he met along the way. These people remember Chris and how hardworking he was and what an intelligent and nice person he was. In the words of Chris himself, “ If you want something in this life, reach out and grab it” and that is exactly what he