Into the Wild: Chris McCandless is a Tragic Hero Essay

To begin with, a tragic hero “must be a person of some stature or high position” and while Chris was no king or nobleman, he was born into a privileged family and came from an upper-class background. His father, Samuel Walter McCandless, had worked for NASA before starting a private consulting service that “aligned with remote sensor and satellite system design, and associated signal processing, data reduction and information extraction tasks” (Krakauer 104-105). Although money was tight at the start, eventually Chris’s family was able to take multiple vacations as Billie and Sam McCandless started making generous amounts of money and were successful in their business. However, money was not the only characteristic that established Chris as a

Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, describes the adventure of Christopher McCandless, a young man that ventured into the wilderness of Alaska hoping to find himself and the meaning of life. He undergoes his dangerous journey because he was persuade by of writers like Henry D. Thoreau, who believe it is was best to get farther away from the mainstreams of life. McCandless’ wild adventure was supposed to lead him towards personal growth but instead resulted in his death caused by his unpreparedness towards the atrocity nature.

McCandless lead a mostly enjoyable life; he was born into a considerably rich and high end family, and received outstanding grades through his years in school. He was well liked, and built up a motivated and optimistic persona, yet despite this, he decided to abandon his life and reach for “an endlessly changing horizon”(57). His life, while possibly seen as luxury by

This is what was at the core of McCandless' initiative to seek out a simpler life, one free of all of the burdening problems of society. Another key factor was certainly escaping his family, namely his parents, and their ways. Their materialistic ways—which strongly opposed his beliefs—and inability to see eye-to-eye with McCandless had always irked him (108-110). He was surely angry at his parents for being so attached to materialism and their stiff ways; it was no surprise that they had never understood their son. Evidence of his despise for society and cause of yearning to leave it shows when he told Ron: “Mr. Franz, I think careers are a 20th Century invention and I don't want one. You don’t need to worry about me; I have a college education. I’m not destitute. I'm living like this by choice (103).” With this statement one comes to understand

McCandless does not value any of the materialistic ways of society or the way his actions affect other people. Many people rely on their loved ones for emotional support but McCandless was different in that he was perfectly comfortable with leaving society behind: "McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well—relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it. He had fled the claustrophobic confines of

As McCandless’ life goes on his wanting to get away from society and his hatred for his parents grows ever stronger. By the time he graduates college he is ready to leave his family for many years and head out west. He gives away his money, abandons his yellow Datsun and leaves his family with no note or reason for his travels. This can further the opinion that McCandless is a fool, he wastes his prized possessions and leaves his loving parents with no reason and gives no post card or calls on his journeys. It seems he was rather spoiled and ungrateful for the life he was given. He could be easily described as rebellious by his parents. He even had the chance to go to Harvard Law school for free with his father paying for it. McCandless despised money and avoided it most of the time unless it was pivotal for him getting to a certain part of the United States. “Tramping is too easy with all this money. My days were easier when I was

There had never been and there would never be someone exactly like Chris McCandless. Chris has a middle class background and stands out from his peers because he believes that society restrains his independence. He leaves his past life and wanders America heading toward the lonely Alaskan wilderness to find who he really is. He discovers ways of moving to Alaska despite leaving behind all of his possessions and social status. Chris’s sincerity and integrity earn the respect of the people he meets. He inspires people leave behind their old life and explore the country by documenting his experiences. Chris loves to challenge himself and after succeeding academically he finds purpose through self deprivation. Chris chooses Alaska because its'

No individual had the same family background and early experiences in their lives. Each individual also had their own personalities. Chris McCandless was a young and successful college graduate with a job and had money. Oddly, he decided to disappear in response to his father’s misjudgment, giving away his money and overall, became homeless. McCandless could no longer

In the brighter spectrum of Mr. Chris McCandless, is his deep and intellectual personality, shining through on most every occasion with cynical value or an interesting opinion every now and then. In Chris’s deep scholarly thought he decides to give up many things for his own self righteousness in attemp to make himself free of any evil or distraction as well as anything that may hold him down. As a younger boy in high school he proved his good Samaritan self by spending weekends taking to the the streets, spending nights with prostitutes, the homeless, and the addicts, feeding them and experiencing a little of what they felt. As I mentioned before he gave up what he thought would ruin his dreams and soil his life, he rid his life of luxury and wealth along with long-term relationships with people. As one of the things that he had apparently given up was the desire of sex and all of it’s evils, and proclaimed that his need was much to great for something so petty. Truly I believe traveling as a child with his family engineered a mind set within Chris that made him feel as if familiarity was just a weight holding him down from the flight toward his dreams. He also thought that being lost in such a superficial and trivial society could help no one

In all his adventures, McCandless possessed little to nothing in possessions and subsistence, but that didn’t stop him from doing achieving his goals. Likewise, the American dream or character stands on the same foundation of success where anyone can gain wealth and happiness even if they start from nothing. Though McCandless was privileged with a comfortable life, he intentionally threw everything away like his college money and car to prove he could continue without having a head start. With nothing but determination and a steadfast mentality, he embodies the American character to the extent that Americans hope for the best in all situations. Even in near death situations, McCandless survived and grew stronger as an individual, but his major flaw was that he believed too much in the American dream which lead to his downfall. Instead of falling short of being an American, I think he lived an extreme and irrational mode of an American where all his decisions were not prudent. On the other hand, The American lives with preparedness for the future which distinguishes McCandless from the ideal character. Some examples of his negligence for his own health were when he declined to take additional clothing, burned the last of his money, and threw away his ammunition. It was foolhardy for him to purposefully hurt himself and his surrounding like his loved ones. But he isn’t the only one, and only when someone dies from his mistake does people begin to realize the flaws

The gripping tale of a young man who leaves all that he has and goes to live amidst the natural world, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer showcases the two years Christopher McCandless had spent journeying throughout the United States before his unfortunate death. After graduating from Emory University in 1990, McCandless disconnected with all of his past relations and abandoned the majority of his possessions. McCandless’ decisions either seem extremely unwise or extremely courageous. He had a comfortable life with few worries yet he still chose to toss it all away and venture into unknown territories. What many wonder is why he would do such an irrational thing. Maybe, McCandless’ was simply trying to run away from his perception of reality.

With his parents planning out his future, there is no opportunity for McCandless to achieve freedom. He finds that he is constrained under society’s norm; which is to get a degree, a high salary job, then get married. McCandless envisions his ultimate freedom as a world of isolation along with the essence of nature and land; being unrestricted of laws and certain standards. For instance, McCandless had gone out several times to explore and discover the nature of the country throughout his adolescence, as if it were an escape from his discontent life. McCandless had come to terms that this was the freedom he’d desired and to go to such extremes of isolating himself would ultimately bring him happiness. After successfully graduating university, McCandless selfishly demolishes all of his identification documents and credit cards and then proceeds to go off to this self discovery into the wilderness. Due to his oppressed freedom, McCandless had resorted to this selfish decision of running away from his conventional life without telling anyone for the sake of ultimate happiness. Oftentimes, in order to find the ultimate freedom in life a person would have to put their own self interest above people as a means to achieve this

In what could have been Chris McCandless’s last contact with humanity he tells his new comrade, Wayne Westerberg, “If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t hear from me again I want you to know you are a great man. I now walk into the wild” (Krakauer 3). For 112 days Chris lived off the harsh Alaskan land. For anyone who is brave enough to travel on the stampede trail and cross the treacherous Teklanika River you will come across the Fairbanks City Transit System Bus 142. Once a backcountry shelter for hunters, trappers, ranger patrols, and for a short time Chris McCandless, Bus 142 now serves as a memorial for Chris McCandless. Travelers will make the trip to witness the basic resources Chris had at hand and the courage it took to

The story of Chris McCandless has become a pop culture phenomenon. Many are fascinated by his desire to abandon his family and society and “walk into the wild” (Krakauer 69). Newscasts, magazine articles, movies, and books have tried to define what motivated him to give up everything for his Alaskan odyssey; however, the answers died with McCandless. People make assumptions about him without knowing his entire story. McCandless chose to do the unconventional, making people think he was either foolish or brave and determined, but ultimately he was selfish for doing what he did.

In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer explores the human fascination with the purpose of life and nature. Krakauer documents the life and death of Chris McCandless, a young man that embarked on an Odyssey in the Alaskan wilderness. Like many people, McCandless believed that he could give his life meaning by pursuing a relationship with nature. He also believed that rejecting human relationships, abandoning his materialistic ways, and purchasing a book about wildlife would strengthen his relationship with nature. However, after spending several months enduring the extreme conditions of the Alaskan wilderness, McCandless’ beliefs begin to work against him. He then accepts that he needs humans, cannot escape materialism, and can