Who Is Chris Mccandless's Identity In Into The Wild

Improved Essays
In a society heavily based on family values, Chris McCandless abandons the status quo and runs into the wilderness seeking solitude and self-discovery. In Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, the protagonist Chris McCandless escapes a privileged young adult life to pursue a better understanding of his self-identity, which he believes he can find in the Alaskan wilderness. Although intending to chase his sense of adventure and escape materialistic ideologies, McCandless was egotistical in his exploration. Before leaving for his adventure to Alaska, Chris McCandless told his sister Carine of his plans to leave his family behind, as he was tired of feeling controlled. McCandless was known to be apathetic towards his family, excluding his sister Carine; …show more content…
As Chris had abandoned his family, both had been left alone on the road. The two had met when McCandless was hitchhiking into town for food and water in the beginning of his voyage. Acting as a chauffeur to McCandless, Franz drives him to San Diego and then to Grand Junction, Colorado. Franz then proceeds to ask Chris if he could adopt him; he was concerned about his family line dying off after him, so he invited Chris into the family. However, this offer makes McCandless uncomfortable with which he hastily replies that they will discuss the matter when he returns. McCandless is made uncomfortable by this offer as he is opposed to being tied down, as evident when he abandoned his biological family. Parsimoniously, Chris McCandless proceeds to leave Franz behind and continue into the wilderness. Surprisingly, McCandless did send Franz a letter telling him to be adventurous and get out into the world, which inspires Franz to take residence at one of McCandless’s campsites. Unfortunately, Franz remains at the campsite until he is informed of Chris’s death by hitchhikers. The knowledge of McCandless’s death leads Franz to abandon his relationship with God and resume drinking. Correspondingly to the effects of Chris’s other self-centered acts, the effects on the outside party is horrendous. If instead McCandless were to have accepted Franz’s offer, he could have spared Franz from his downward spiral. Yet, McCandless once again sought isolation and left those who cared about him

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Heading into the Alaska ill-prepared would be considered a death wish in the eyes of many but for Chris McCandless this journey had a greater meaning. In the book “Into The Wild” by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer tells how a young man named Chris McCandless left everything he had and everyone that loved him behind to go live in the Alaskan wilderness. Krakauer also leaves it up to the reader to determine whether or not Chris McCandless was crazy, a sociopath, or an outcast for heading into Alaska the way he did. Chris McCandless wasn’t crazy, a sociopath, or an outcast, rather he was a young man who set out knowing what he wanted to do with his life, regardless of the circumstances. Chris McCandless in his journey was trying to find out who he truly was, what he wanted by heading into Alaska, and to accomplish his own personal goals.…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    McCandless went out into the wild with no backup plan or way to get out easily, should something go wrong, and that ultimately led to his death. When Gallien drops off Chris, he tries to give Gallien his watch: "I don't want to know what time it is, I Don't want to know what day it is or where I am. none of that matters (Krakauer 7). This statement is the first statement to fully explain that McCandless wants to wing it as much as he can and not care where he ends up. When McCandless comes across the river, he looks around and realizes he won't get across, as a result, he turned around and headed back to the bus.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chris Mccandless Quotes

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Chris McCandless was a person who wanted to escape civilization and the problems in the real world. He didn't want any communication with his family. Chris Mccandless…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He often met a lot of people across the United States. There were few he built relationships with that lasted a long time. “It was a very hard thing for me to do. I was sad to be leaving him,” page 53. This quote from Ronald Franz proves that Chris has an effect on Mr. Franz.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He wanted to be free from the mundane circumstances of his current life, so he cut off all ties with his family and friends to minimize association with mainstream civilization. McCandless is quoted saying, “ ‘I think I’m going to disappear for a while’ ” (Krakauer 21.) After saying this, he sent a brief letter to his parents which “was the last anyone in Chris’s family would ever hear from him” (Krakauer 22.) By doing this, McCandless began his streak of self-reliance.…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chris McCandless was a man who left lasting impressions on those who he met on his journey. Jan and her boyfriend Bob, and Ronald Franz were people who Chris made a lasting impression on. Chris wanted to go into the wild alone and not have any relationships when he did it, by doing so Chris made friends and left impressions by trying not to. Chris being the man who wanted to escape the world and those in it, made lasting relationships with others by wanting to escape and by reminding them of the families they don't get to be around. Ronald Fanz was very impressed by Chris McCandless.…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    They would have meals together and talk for long periods of time. Franz had become intensely attached toMcCandless very quickly. Franz took McCandless’s advice of living simpler seriously. He put most of his possessions in a storage locker and moved out into the desert. He lived like McCandless, and when Franz found out McCandless died, he bought whiskey and drank to alleviate the…

    • 1576 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Into the Wild Summer Reading 1. Was Chris McCandless’ death a “foolish, pointless, death” (71)? Did he lack “the requisite humility” to go into the wild (72)? Explain. While it appears reasonable to throw McCandless into the “cliché” of people who wandered into the wilderness without a clue of what’s to come, it is at the same time harsh to say that his death is worth no more than a killing on the street.…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Foolish or Honorable? Chris McCandless’s journey outlined by the novel Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer supports that it is simple and indisputable to apprehend that McCandless was not a heroic figure, just one persuaded by inaccurate decisions. McCandless was not your average student, he had a very bright future ahead of him graduating with high honors from one of the country's most prestigious universities; Emory University, however, threw it all down the drain when he took an everlasting adventure hiking into the Alaskan bush unprepared and alone. Many perceive him to be a hero, leaving the social norms one is expected to carry out throughout life, but, many also view him as a fool who wasted all this god given talent, just to die a cold hearted death. What could persuade a human…

    • 1649 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He urges for the audience to look past what meets the eye with McCandless’ situation and instead seek to understand what was going on in McCandless’ complex mind. By viewing Chris as an intelligent individual, Krakauer’s positive position on Chris is…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As we jump “Into the Wild” story of Chris McCandless’s journey throughout the Alaskan wilderness, Jon Krakaur, the author uses rhetorical devices to further delve into the novel and the underlying points of McCandless’s adventure. In the novel, “Into the Wild”, Jon Krakaur uses pathos, imagery, and arrangement to solve the overarching questions related to motive, the effects of setting, and the mental state of Chris McCandless. These uses of rhetorical devices also help readers formulate opinions on McCandless and other Characters in the novel. The use of pathos in “Into the Wild” creates empathy for the people he affected in his lifetime and his family.…

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chris believes the only way his life would be meaningful is if he did exactly what he is after. His strong willed nature is also shown when Chris leaves without telling anyone about his plans. He believes that he doesn’t need to tell anyone because he “will not run into anything that he can’t deal with” ( Krakauer 6). McCandless has such a strong will that he doesn't really think about the negative aspects of…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Krakauer made the catastrophic error of writing the book from a very biased point of view, therefore clouding the overall message of the novel. Krakauer was very wrong with his opinion of Chris, because of his bias towards outdoorsmen like him. Chris McCandless is much more of an inconsiderate fool because even though he was following his “dreams,” in reality he was just a dumb kid who wanted to escape from a loving and caring family that he wanted nothing to do with. Peter Christian was right in saying that kids like Chris aren’t heroes by any means, but the rescue teams that save these kids are. Chris’ inner drive and stubbornness was his real problem.…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After going on many adventures, whether they be successful or not, he realized how much this experience brought him happiness. Chris enjoyed the feeling of always moving, having a new adventure around every corner, things which brought him joy. “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” (Krakauer 57). Chris was urging Franz to experience what he loved to experience, changing scenery and going on adventures. This change of scenery brought Chris happiness, so he wanted Franz to experience as well.…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    McCandless tells Franz that friends and relationships are not needed, and instead adventure is the secret to happiness. He mentions that God is the one that has placed all these possibilities of happiness around people, and that Franz must seize the moment in order to make his time on Earth worth it. McCandless shows this reverence in one of the last days of his life, when he writes his short goodbye to the world. “I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!”…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays