Mccandless Dialectical Journal

Many people have different opinions on McCandless’ journey. There are some that believe that he was inspiring and adventurous, while there were others that believed he was foolish and selfish. Personally, I believe McCandless did the journey due to a mental illness and family problems. According to the book, McCandless had difficulties getting along with his parents and just wanted to disappear from Carthage, South Dakota. In the book “Into the WIld”, Krakauer quotes McCandless saying,”I think I’m going to be disappearing for a while” (21). This is what McCandless told his parents about him going away after he graduates. Krakauer also listed the different letters that McCandless sent to his sister and parents. In his letter to his sister, Carine, McCandless

From this, it can be inferred that Chris’s anger was the driving force behind his decision to leave. The lies of Walt McCandless sparked a fire in his son that was still burning two years later, and Chris’s only escape from that fire was to rebel from his parents. Walt McCandless, however, is not a major character in Chris’s journey. Jon Krakauer quotes Walt thrice in the first two thirds of the book regarding his son, but uses canned responses such as “that scared us” to describe the events he was inquired about, (Krakauer 31). Consequently, it can be deduced that Walt is a minor character. At second glance, however, a reader can discern that he provides ancillary support to the plot development. Walt’s lies and secret life compel the unforgettable journey Chris underwent. It is clear Chris was motivated to leave his house from Walt’s mistakes, so from this a reader can derive these mistakes were crucial to advancing the

After Chris passed away society and people who knew him personally describe him as a multitalented person that could have great in sports if he had put more time dedicated to improving himself. Walt said that McCandless resisted instructions of any kind, this gives me a little insight of McCandless’s character, that throughout the book we might see him resist a lot or quite often.(came back to add a little more after gotten further), fast forward to McCandless working at Mcdonalds he did not necessarily restrict to the employee laws but he would always take off his socks after his shift even though he was to keep his socks on, around the facility. I noticed that the people of the society likes and favored McCandless, wherever he went he was loved and adored by all(i believe). If you go back a few chapter you will find that almost if not everybody that McCandless had encountered with they all liked and said nothing but good about him. All in all the employees wanted to hang out with McCandless and take him back home but McCandless always came up with an excuse in order to prevent them from doing so. Also the old guy that let McCandless stay at his

Chris often thought so deeply, that he may have lost himself in his search for answers. His actions and feelings were not that of a lunatic, but that of a complex man. Westerberg, “tried to tell him it was a mistake to get too deep into that kind of stuff [making sense of the world], but Alex got stuck on things. He always had to know the absolute right answer before he could go on the next thing,” (18). Chris McCandless’ personality

Chris was very intelligent receiving a degree from Emory University, graduating with a double major in history and anthropology. Chris had high honors and was on course to get into Harvard. After graduating he decided to move travel across the country and up into Alaska. Many people are stuck thinking he was not prepared for this journey but it is widely believed that “he was sufficiently skilled to last for sixteen weeks on little more than his wits and ten pounds of rice. And he was fully aware when he entered the bush that he had given himself do previously slim margin for error. He knew precisely what was at stake.” (182) Chris lasted a very long time with very little. He did what many people couldn't and that is to survive in

The tale of McCandless is read over high schools everywhere. Classes discuss who he really was. Most critics state that he was ignorant, by not being properly equipped with knowledge and tools. However, this shouldn’t make him innocent. Personally, I believe McCandless was arrogant, but not selfish.

Chris has had experiences as a kid and that impact him now. He was the youngest child. He had no one to play with him. He was the youngest of the 3. He worked on the family land.

McCandless found out that his father maintained a relationship with his ex-wife and child while still in a relationship with Chris McCandless' mother. As Krakauer states, "Children can be harsh judges when it comes to their parents, disinclined to grant clemency and this was especially true in Chris's case" (122). Chris McCandless had a reason for his decision to distance himself from his family after having found out the corrupt lifestyle that he grew up under. For him to be put into a situation in which their sole caretaker and role model is turned out to be the opposite of what is their view in their eyes, it leaves a scar. Especially for Chris to see the corrupt values his father had while in comparison to his set of high moral standards, it was unforgivable. He may seem to be stubborn for being unforgiving to his father but it is expected for him to have hatred to his dad after his idealistic views are crushed. Chris's parents expected the best from him and pushed him to be the very best that he could by providing him with many opportunities yet his father was an authoritative parent. Chris McCandless lived with parents who pushed him to what they believed for him to be the most successful, against his own dreams. To be put in a situation where one's parents dictate one's every action and pursuits and to find out that their own parents are not perfect, creates a break

Lastly, Chris Mccandless got to fulfill his dream, live his own life, and now he even got to find his inner self, find out who he truly is. Chris was the kind of person that lived dangerously unlike most people, he was different “It is hardly unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders...Danger has always held a certain allure. McCandless, in his fashion, merely took risk-taking to its logical extreme” (Krakauer, 182). Chris’s true self-was one that was riskful and daring until he could finish the task. Furthermore, he was different from others and throughout his journey, others could see that. In the end that was the kind of person Chris Mccandless was, and this is the person he became after fulfilling his dream and living his own life. In contrast, others did

Chris was loved and cared for by many people such as Ronald Franz, a friend he met on his journey across the country and a man he will remember for years to come. The internal mind has the power to make anything happen and to steer you in ways never imagined. Judging others is human nature, but that does not define someone. “ So I asked Alex if I could adopt him, if he would be my grandson” (Krakauer 55). Chris had multiple changes and opportunities to stay out of the wild and create a new life.

Chris’s desideratum was showed throughout the book through his actions/personal experiences. “And thus was he drawn north, to Alaska. McCandless assured both Westerberg and Borah that when his northern sojourn was over, he would return to South Dakota, at least for the fall. After that, it would depend” (Krakauer 66). “” (Krakauer #). Furthermore, Chris was a very interesting guy that did things that he wanted and needed to continue his journey which was his guided until his dead.

Walt McCandless remembers that when hiking Longs Peak in Colorado “Chris wanted to keep going to the top... If he’d been fourteen or fifteen, he would have simply gone on without me (Krakauer, 109).” McCandless knew what he wanted to achieve, regardless of whether it meant disobeying orders. If Chris wanted something, he would work to get it. This rationale only grew until he was almost unstoppable in his teenage years, which is why “It’s somewhat surprising that Chris ceded to pressure from Walt and Billie about attending college when he refused to listen to them about so many other things (Krakauer, 114).” Through his teenage years, Chris consistently disobeyed his parents orders and suggestions because he despised his father’s past. Even while on the road, many of those who met Chris picked up on his strong distaste for his father, as Wayne Westerberg noted, “From the things he said, you could tell something wasn’t right between him and his family (Krakauer, 18).” Chris hated the man who told him lies throughout his life and about his past, and it seems that Chris associated anything that Walt did, with evil. Any moral decisions Walt made had to be inherently malicious, so McCandless contradicted most of Walt’s decrees. Scientists had discovered that character flaws like stubbornness can be developed due to “misconceptions about the nature of self , life or others

Chris is a charismatic young man, but takes extensive measures to ensure he does not become too close with anyone. By going out into the wild without so much as a letter to his parents,

In the book “The Wild Truth”, Carine writes of the abuse she and Chris endured that “compared to [their] reality, [Krakauer’s] book, and [Penn’s] film were extremely kind” to Walt and Billie (Mccandless 15). This is one of the reasons why someone may think Chris was justified in his decision to “go into the wild”; in fact, one could say that it was his parents’ fault for driving him away. It may be a valid reason for why he left his family’s home, but it does not really justify how he hurt those who he met during his travels. The people that he effected after his death, excluding his parents, had not wronged or hurt him in any way; therefore, it is still not justifiable, in terms of his actions after he left his old home behind. Another thing that should be pointed out would be his reluctance to accept help from others. In the film, he had little to no problem with staying with others for a short time, yet he would be extremely reluctant to accept anything that could potentially help him survive the wild. Due to this reluctance, he was very underprepared when he entered the wild and eventually he died. Even though his death may have been from a mistake he had made, if he had been better prepared or even accepted a bit more help from the people he met, he probably could have survived a

“Chris was a high achiever.” It is very common that the eldest child in dysfunctional family is all-around stud and Chris was no exception. He was an excellent student and served as a captain on his high school track team, eventually leading them to many championships. The oldest child often usurps the role of the parent when there is a lack of parenting. Krakauer points out that whenever Billie and Walt got into an argument, Chris would try to get Carine as far away as possible to protect her from the chaos. By sheltering Carine, Chris is essentially taking care of his sister like a parent would. Furthermore Chris did his best to hide the issues of his family and was characterized as charismatic among many that knew him. With the traits of the oldest child in a dysfunctional family in mind it is evident that Chris was raised in a dysfunctional family with an authoritarian parent as he exemplifies all the subsequent traits.