I am so sorry about what has happened to your son. I can only imagine the pain you must be going through. I offer my deepest sympathy to you and your family. I have put together all of the information I have found on Chris through recovered journals, mail he sent, and people I have talked to. I hope the information provided will offer you some closure. In this letter I have included a summary of where he has gone and what he has done, my opinion on why he has done all of this, why he was drawn to older people as friends, and finally why the works of some writers were so important to Chris and how the influenced them. Feel free to write me back with any questions you may have and I will do my best to find the answer.
When Chris sent you his …show more content…
He sent mail to Westerberg and Burres after arriving in Fairbanks. These letters are alarming and lead me to believe that he either knew that he would never return from Alaska or that he didn’t care whether or not he would. These letters are also enclosed. He gets a ride from Jim Galleon to the Stampede Trail. He arrives three days later at the abandoned bus in good spirits. Chris hunted for six weeks and had good luck. He found that the trail was too difficult to keep going on and stayed in the bus. He shot a moose but was unable to preserve the meat so it rotted. Two months after he began the trail, Chris decided to turn back. He would have left but found that the once knee-deep river he had crossed in summer had turned into fast moving rapids too strong to cross. He went back to the bus to wait until the water calmed down. Chris kept going and hunting. He ate seeds that were coated in alkaloid that prevented him from gaining nourishment from food. Had Chris not eaten these, he may have survived. He left a note (a copy can be found in here) to anyone that may come to the bus while he was out collecting berries. Chris McCandless died on August 18th, 1992 on his 112th day on the trail. He left behind a note reading, “I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!” 19 days later a group of people discovered his body in the …show more content…
I found this odd because he had always been friends with people inside his age group before he left. I believe he sought out people older than him because he was frustrated when no one in his age group thought the same way as him. Most people in their early 20’s want to have fun and party, not make discoveries and camp out under bridges. Chris would have made friends with people his age had he found people like Jan Burres that shared his ideologies. I also think his intelligence had something to do with it. Chris was an extremely smart young man, not only in school but in life. He made decisions and thought things out. Not a lot of kids his age are doing the same things, which made him feel alone until he found others like him that were
When Chris sent you his …show more content…
He sent mail to Westerberg and Burres after arriving in Fairbanks. These letters are alarming and lead me to believe that he either knew that he would never return from Alaska or that he didn’t care whether or not he would. These letters are also enclosed. He gets a ride from Jim Galleon to the Stampede Trail. He arrives three days later at the abandoned bus in good spirits. Chris hunted for six weeks and had good luck. He found that the trail was too difficult to keep going on and stayed in the bus. He shot a moose but was unable to preserve the meat so it rotted. Two months after he began the trail, Chris decided to turn back. He would have left but found that the once knee-deep river he had crossed in summer had turned into fast moving rapids too strong to cross. He went back to the bus to wait until the water calmed down. Chris kept going and hunting. He ate seeds that were coated in alkaloid that prevented him from gaining nourishment from food. Had Chris not eaten these, he may have survived. He left a note (a copy can be found in here) to anyone that may come to the bus while he was out collecting berries. Chris McCandless died on August 18th, 1992 on his 112th day on the trail. He left behind a note reading, “I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!” 19 days later a group of people discovered his body in the …show more content…
I found this odd because he had always been friends with people inside his age group before he left. I believe he sought out people older than him because he was frustrated when no one in his age group thought the same way as him. Most people in their early 20’s want to have fun and party, not make discoveries and camp out under bridges. Chris would have made friends with people his age had he found people like Jan Burres that shared his ideologies. I also think his intelligence had something to do with it. Chris was an extremely smart young man, not only in school but in life. He made decisions and thought things out. Not a lot of kids his age are doing the same things, which made him feel alone until he found others like him that were