Chris Mccandless Journey Into The Wild

Improved Essays
Chris McCandless was tired with society and seeked an escape from it. He did this by heading into the wild to become more in tune with himself and find the meaning of happiness. I agree with the author that Chris was not a crazy sociopath, or an outcast, as he always seemed to be around company on his journey to Alaska, but he was not as competent as the author, Jon Krakauer, believed he is. Chris was not happy with the way life was going so he set out on a journey from Georgia all the way to Alaska to find the meaning of happiness. Chris felt the world was one of “abstraction and security and material excess” and left on a “journey that would change everything” (22). This shows how he was tired with the society he was born into and just wanted an escape so he could change his ways. Chris also hoped to “invent an utterly new life for himself’ (22,23). Once again he shows how he is tired of the life he has been forced to live and wants to shed that part of himself and become anew and discover what truly brings him happiness. Once Chris had finally made it to Alaska he may not have expected to learn that “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED” (189). Chris had finally discovered what he went into the wild to find, but once he discovered it he was “extremely weak” and “staring” and was unable to act upon it (189). Although Chris found out what true happiness was for him, it was all in vain as he ended up dying alone in the wild trying to find it. Chris was not an outcast, because he was on good terms with most of the people he met on his odyssey, and many were heartbroken to learn …show more content…
Chris was unhappy with life and set out to find the meaning of happiness, driving him out of his home leading him to Alaska, where we found out his incompetence leading to his death in the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Jon Krakauer Reflection

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The author, Jon Krakauer portrays this story by having many interviews with people that encountered Chris McCandless’s presence along his journey to Alaska. By interviewing these people Jon Krakauer is giving the readers real life evidence of what these people thought about Chris and his journey. The way he structured this book really interested me and gave me the feeling that I was actually reliving Chris’s journey. The passages in italics at the beginning of each chapter set the tone for the whole chapter and really had me wondering what the chapter would be about. It really confused to me as to why Jon Krakauer did not start the book off in chronological order, but instead somewhere near the end of Chris’s journey.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • 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

    Although the wilderness taught him that happiness is better shared, he threw everything he had out to find that out including anyone to share his findings with. Overall, Chris may have found what he was looking for but at what cost, all his money, his family and friends, his future, and his life. Don’t waste time on anything when you are going to throw it away in the end anyways. Chris McCandless made an ignorant decision based on his current feelings and how he was treated in the past. McCandless said, “No longer to be…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Many people have different opinions of why Jon Krakauer wrote a book about a man that he has no relation to. In the book, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wild after giving up all his belongings to start his new life. Krakauer’s purpose for writing this book is to further explain Chris McCandless’s motive for his adventures in a way that the readers will understand it. Krakauer wants his readers to understand Chris’s motives as if he was not insane and had a reason for doing what he did. He gives stories from others who have gone into the wild, epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter, eyewitness testimony, letters from Chris and many other things to help understand Chris’s motive,…

    • 1474 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Where he ended up can be traced to an unstable childhood and homelife which influenced him to be more of an outsider who turned to books and adventure. Chris wasn’t a hero, but he also wasn’t foolish for doing what he wanted. Jon Krakauer’s view of Chris as a hero comes from a similar bad father relationship while growing up. He has empathy for Chris and knows what he went through. He also went on his own adventure climbing a mountain in Alaska and makes the point that the only difference between their outcomes was “a matter of chance” (155).…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Analysis Of Into The Wild By Jon Krakauer

    • 1147 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited

    He determined that he would travel to Alaska, get further away from it all, and face nature at its finest. He traveled exceptionally light. He didn?t take much, a parka, a small rifle, some boots, a few clothes, a ten pound bag of rice, books, and little else. ? The heaviest item in McCandless?s half-full backpack was his library: nine or ten paperbound books.…

    • 1147 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When thinking about Chris McCandless people tend to think differently of him. A majority would call him crazy and stupid for not supplying himself with more items to bring along to the Alaskan wilderness. There were others who think he was sane and was just trying to prove himself or to the world who he was and what he can do. Even Jon Krakauer mentions in his book that he didn’t know who Chris Mccandless really was, that it was hard to put a finger on it, but he knew he was sane to say the least and not an outcast. To me, I think that Chris was just a guy who had “radical” ideas-- an idealist with very progressive ideas-- and instead of pushing his thoughts to the side like most people.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chris was unhappy when everything was provided for him which led to his journey into the wild. He knew that in the wild he had to provide for himself. While he went on the journey, he needed inspiration, so that he could achieve his self-definition. He looked up to Leo as an inspiration also, because he had writing in which was about self-definition. The inspiration from Leo made the journey for Chris lasting.…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    • 4 Works Cited
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In conclusion, even though Chris had positive aspirations about the future in Alaska his outlook on life was all wrong. Not agreeing with society is fine but choosing to leave it completely is madness. There was no way anyone could have believed he would make it. If he was more prepared and used the money he had he could have had all he wanted but…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chris’s family and friends gave him a lot, but Chris left them and made very little contact with them even though they did a lot for him and he wanted to go to Alaska and did not tell his parents till later what or where he was going. Chris sent letters to all his friends and family member about how it was gonna be the last time you see me and he said where he was gonna be(Krakauer 68-69). Chris’s sister,Carine McCandless, was very close the Chris and was a big impact in his life. Carine and Chris were both high achievers and they both had fun competing with each other and were good friends(Krakauer 127-131).…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In countless instances, Chris expressed his distaste for the conformity of a society, as he saw with his own family, in which one’s life is a routine that consists of waking up, going to work, coming home to family, going to sleep, and repeating it for the rest of one’s life. McCandless set out into the world after college not to appreciate nature specifically, but the experiences of the world, as he described, “’It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found.’” (27) Chris strived for a daily sense of adventure, an escape from the limitations of community, as Andy, a high school friend of McCandless, explained, “[Chris] was born into the wrong century. He was looking for more adventure and freedom than today’s society gives people.” (119) Another aspect that was unpractical of Chris, that led to his unfortunate death in Alaska, was his seclusion and his desire to be alone.…

    • 1349 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the book, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, the main character, Chris McCandless disappears into what it seems to be thin air, and nobody, not even people he met along the way of his journey and the people he was close with his whole life, knew where he went or why he did it. The author, Jon Krakauer interviews several people that have had a close interaction with Chris-- or as those who’ve met him along the way knew him as, Alexander Supertramp-- to try to figure out the reasoning behind Chris’s disappearance. Although, from reading the book, it seems that one of the reason that Chris McCandless went into the wild was because he wanted to prove to himself that he ,could be self-reliant or independent, and live completely opposite of how…

    • 1063 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Christopher Mccandless Hero Analysis

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    • 4 Works Cited

    Instead of following social norms and living how society, his parents, and those around him told him to, Chris ventured out into the world on his own to live his life by his own rules. Chris did not care what other people thought of him and he did not want to live the way society taught him to. By rejecting money, cars, maps, and other things that could have kept him alive, he proved himself to be an independent and adventurous young man. “I can almost understand why he rejected maps, common sense, conventional wisdom and local knowledge before embarking on his venture. Occasionally when I hear others make fun of Christopher McCandless, I fall quiet” (Sherry Simpson).…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    • 4 Works Cited
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    All Chris wanted to do was create a meaningful life and venture on to another place and test his knowledge. Chris was full of himself and wanted a challenge going into the wild was exactly that. He was left with his own thoughts and had to realize he wasn’t as smart as he thought. Krakauer writes about how excited he was to hear from Jan Bures, one of the wonderful people Chris met on his was to Alaska, “McCandless was thrilled to hear from Jan. ‘I am so glad to find you both alive and sound,’ he exclaimed in a letter dated December 9, 1991.” Alex met many friend and one man Franz who actually wanted to adopt him.…

    • 1658 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the days he was alone in the wild, the absence of human contact began to take a toll on him. Similarly to how Jon had an epiphany, Chris realized that he had abandoned the happiness that he was looking for. He also realized that the only way to experience true happiness is to share it with…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays