Chris Mccandless Struggles

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a biography about Chris McCandless and the conflicts he faces on his way to Alaska. McCandless was against the way society lived and decided to leave his life and his family to live off the land. His goal was to get to live in the Alaskan wild, but on his way there he faced many conflicts and struggles. Throughout his journey to Alaska, young Chris McCandless faces many conflicts with his family, society, and nature.
Chris McCandless’ family always wanted him to conform to society, causing them to have many conflicts before he left. His Father, Walt, always pressured McCandless into normality and wanted him to stay and live a normal life. As a way to try and get him to stay and be normal, his parents would offer to pay for …show more content…
Even before Chris left his home, he decided not to live like everyone else by burning or getting rid of important things to society. McCandless refused to conform to society by, “...arranging all his paper currency in a pile on the sand-a pathetic little stack of ones and fives and twenties-and put a match to it” (Krakauer 29). After traveling for a long time without money he decided to get a job at a local McDonald's, where he did not obey or accept their rules to please society. Everyday when he went to work, “He always wore shoes without socks...but Mcdonald's has a rule that employees have to wear appropriate footwear at all times… kinda like a statement, to let us know we didn’t own him, i guess” (Krakauer 40) The society that Chris lived in thought he was crazy and did not approve of his lifestyle or the way he would think. After McCandless’ death many people said things like, “Alex is a nut in my book...I see nothing positive at all about Chris McCandless’s lifestyle or wilderness doctrine,” (Krakauer 71) Society was a big conflict that McCandless faced, but his conflict with nature also had a great