In his novel, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer highlights the adventures of Chris McCandless. McCandless undergoes several questionable tasks, which influence the reader to form judgments about his character. Krakauer believes that the reader of the novel should form his or her opinions on the actions of Chris McCandless. However, the author suggests that McCandless is a unique person, describing him as “something else.” By analyzing the background and actions of McCandless, one can conclude that he was rebellious and became tired of his life despite his wealth and accomplishments. To understand the reasons why Chris McCandless proceeded with his actions, one must know his personal background. Chris grew up in a wealthy family, raised by his highly educated parents. He became very passionate about his schoolwork and read several novels from Leo Tolstoy and Henry David Thoreau. While attending Emory University, McCandless was seen by others as a man with a promising future. Even though he was wealthy and successful, however, he was still unhappy with his personal life. Chris’s family was constantly fighting, which motivated Chris …show more content…
Once he graduated high school, Chris frequently drove across the country to be alone. He was tired of being with others, so he chose to leave society to start a new life. During this time, he abandoned all of his possessions, including his personal identity, to evolve himself into a different person. Without considering the possible consequences, McCandless heads into the world unprepared. When Chris leaves, the audience becomes aware of his rebellious qualities through his dialogue with the other hitchhikers that he meets. When McCandless talks to others, he reveals that he does not like society or materialism. He doesn’t value the idea of wealth and social power. Instead, he believes someone must find happiness through something that they
Because he displays the qualities of being religious and loving, Chris McCandless is a solid example of a grad at grad. Chris is more like a grad at grad than Holden Caulfield because he exemplifies more of the grad at grad qualities than Holden does. This essay will discuss how Chris McCandless utilizes being religious and loving during his journey in “Into the Wild.” However, it will not discuss the qualities of being committed to doing justice, open to growth, and intellectually competent because neither McCandless nor Holden displayed these qualities. Neither of then mention service to others, which proves that it wasn’t a large part of either of their lives. Neither of them were open to growth either. They were both self centered and didn’t do anything for anyone but themselves. Holden called everyone a phony and Chris ran away from his life to go into the wild. Although both Holden and Chris seem to be intellectually competent, Holden failing
Throughout his life and journey, McCandless identifies himself distinctly through his actions. In McCandless’s lifetime at home, he was always a very confident person and never did as he was told. During school, he never followed the rules, as a runner, he always pushed himself, his actions weren't like the other individuals in his community; he never really fit in with society (Krakauer 108-112). During
Mr. Chris McCandless was a man who felt he needed to escape the “world,” that he was brought up in to find his purpose. His purpose not only in his life, where he fits in with the rest of this conformist world. From what I have gathered from Chris McCandless life is. That he was a smart, Well educated man, and very ambitious for leaving to go on a self-serving quest to find himself. He could have gone on and gotten a well paying job with his college degree.
It has been very perplexing reading this novel and trying to truly understand the motives one would have to have to make the decisions McCandless made. I am questioning Chris’ motives for cutting ties with his family and travelling all around the country. I think that he truly had a deep love and spiritual connection with nature. It began as a young child when Walt McCandless (Chris’ father) took Chris on many excursions in the outdoors, such as hiking in the mountains. Chris immediately fell in love with nature and all of the pleasures it had to offer. Also, Chris was motivated by his withering relationship with his family. Early in his life his parents worked tirelessly and it was difficult for Chris to spend time and build a solid relationship with them. Throughout his young life he had disagreed with his parents about many aspects of life. It was said that he
“As a youth, I am told, I was willful, self-absorbed, intermittently reckless, moody. I disappointed my father in the usual ways. Like McCandless, figures of male authority aroused in me a confusing medley of corked fury and hunger to please. ”(Krakauer 102) Krakauer included this quote to portray to the audience that McCandless experienced a common world-wide phenomenon. Chris McCandless throughout his life struggled maintaining a healthy relationship with his abusive father.
In the novel Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, the main character's name is Chris McCandless. Much of what Chris does is driven by his beliefs and opinions about things and he tends to be very impulsive. Walter McCandless, Chris's father, plays a large role in Chris's life purely because of the distaste Chris has for the man. On his journey, Chris meets and forms bonds with many different people. Several of the people he meets even become sort of parental figures to him. Chris's relationships with the people he meets on his adventure seem to be a whole lot more laid back than his relationship with his own parents, perhaps because the expectations for him aren't as high as they are within his own family.
Since the beginning of time man has learned how to live off the land. Over the centuries technology has advanced and humanity had slowly been accustomed to a much more luxurious way of living. In the writing of Jon Krakauer “Into The Wild” Chris McCandless is a peculiar, intelligent, and dauntless individual who tries to escape the modern way of life and attempts to challenge himself past his own limitations. Christopher McCandless is an 18 year old hitchhiker who sets off onto a great journey to find himself and experience a life that no human cares to live for. Chris McCandless, who is also understood as Alex McCandless, is an individual whose personality was “puzzling in its complexity”, but he could also be “convivial and gregarious in the extreme.
If i could pick one person that was very similar to Chris McCandless in the book “Into the Wild” i would choose Henry David Thoreau. This man was an outcast, an adventurer and an economic warrior just like Chris Mccandless. Chris followed many of the writers ideals in his own life and story. They both did not follow what anyone else did because they thought it was ideal to live in a solitary life. They also both have differences about how they viewed nature, and how it was important of each individual.
Chris McCandless was a young man who walked into the wild alone to fulfil his lifelong journey of being at peace with nature. However, this journey was cut short when the harsh realities of the wild led McCandless to his demise. There are many speculations as to why McCandless did what he did and what truly led him to the wild. One speculations many people believe was the cause of Chris McCandless going into the wild was because of his young arrogance and stubbornness. However, the real reason McCandless went into the wild was due to his literary influences and family complications.
McCandless gave more importance to finding the truth than love. He did not reject the power of affection; he simply considered his search more relevant. In the text, Chris "indicated that he was planning another extended trip but implied that he would visit his family," which demonstrates his will to continue his journey. Chris readily risked the affection of his family members and the people around him in order to find the true meaning of life. Additionally, he used all of his effort to endow on a journey to prove to himself that life had more to offer than just love. As a result, Chris relates to Thoreau's quote because he
All through the action-adventure novel, Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, the life, death and story of Chris McCandless demonstrates his passionate contempt for the dull life and simplicity of the normal American. In this literary piece, Krakauer continually provides examples of McCandless’ actions and emotions that lead a reader to understand his actions were a direct result of his hatred toward a flawed society. I most definitely agree with the author's views and would firmly agree that McCandless’ was an individual with a very bad attitude toward the flawed society we live in which led a rebellion in which he established his beliefs, and his disdain with the idea of conforming to the stipulations of “social norms”.
This shocking discovery throws Chris over the edge and into a whirlwind of anger and contempt towards his father. Chris attended Emory College, and then led his parents to believe that he was interested in attending law school, but instead donated $25,000.00 he had saved to charity, anonymously, and planned to abandon his life and name, and take a solitary journey as a drifter so that he could live his life completely by his own beliefs. Chris is very passionate about life in a way that few people understand. He is content, relieved and happy, even, to live life outside of society and all of the affairs, contradictions, politics, and hypocrisies that it includes. Chris McCandless is important to understand, in order to see his life as meaningful and educational.
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
Although Chris McCandless’ controlling and toxic family environment was a major motive for his escape, his deep-seated internal battle was simply an irresistible impulse for discovery and liberty. Chris’ journey shows a new level of freedom; what true independence holds. He set out into nature alone without support of family or friends, searching for a path unlike those of most, and running from a barred cage of conventional living. Unsatisfied and somewhat angry with himself and his life of abundance in money, opportunity, and security, his preceding experiences and determined character lead him to an inevitable flee into no-mans land. Throughout the novel, Krakauer wants the reader to understand that there is more to Chris than his habit of criticising authority and defying society’s pressures. He needed more from himself, and more from life. He wasn’t an ordinary man, therefore could not live with an ordinary life. Krakauer demonstrates this by creating a complex persona for Chris that draws you in from the beginning.
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