How Does Chris Mccandless Have An Independent Society

Barbara Jordan once said, “Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o 'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap”. Would a better world like this take Chris’ life? In the novel Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer recounted a true story of Christopher McCandless’ Alaskan adventure. He stripped himself of most of his possessions, leaving his backpack as the only companion, then sets off into the wild to find reality. Chris McCandless, since young, was a determined man, acting mostly merely to his own will, almost to the point of self-absorption. Instructions, rules, along with others’ advice and opinion virtually never concerned Chris much. This kind of over independence …show more content…
The society’s rigidness cannot fulfill the wishes of someone like Chris, who seems to be pursuing something different in life than just money. Chris’ disapproval of material excess leads him to repel a society that elevates material to such a high ground. Chris’ notion is parallel with Thoreau’s, as Thoreau expressed in “Life without Principles”, “...there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself, than this incessant business” (Thoreau 1). Some things as hideous as crimes aren’t even as opposed to life, to humanity, as this place of business. The society doesn’t emphasize humanity itself. People who are not born with skills to be successful in competitive businesses but possess high potential talents on other moral matters, such as art, could be wasted because society only places its highest bet on people with power, which would be a false lifestyle, a life only to strive for power not passion. The value of material crescendos to the point where it seems the dignity and worthiness of a human being is placed solely on accomplishments, not on the love and passion about life. The people of the society lives accordingly to a set of unwritten rules, similar to the people of society in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Flaws always exists and are detected, however no one is making the effort to change the basis the society is established off of, not even Chris. …show more content…
Chris couldn’t bare society’s rigidness and the monotone life, but it was also his own fault not being fully prepared. If the society emphasized more on freedom and passion, wouldn’t it have been a better place? If Chris placed extra attention to the harsh conditions and obstacles he might encounter, and maybe somewhat suppress his hubris a bit, wouldn’t he have taken further precautions to ensure his life? I realized independence and self-reliance is important, but hubris should to be minimal, and that society could be improved, patience and effort is