Category: Chris McCandless

Chris McCandless was stuck in the wild. No food, no water, no compass. He was all alone. What if this was you? What if you were in this situation? In the book, Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, this is that crazy situation. Chris McCandless was deep in the Alaskan wilderness and struggled to survive. He used his instincts and his incredible knowledge of the wild to help him. This essay will be about Krakauer’s story about how Chris McCandless was a survivalist and how he uses foreshadowing, irony, comparison, and flashbacks to better the readers understanding of the death and battle with nature of the main character, Chris McCandless.

Chris McCandless grew up in a wealthy, well educated family. He loved being outdoors, and was fascinated with the wilderness. Chris and his father had disagreements all throughout his life as a child and teenager. When Chris graduated college, he went on the road. He left everything behind that he ever had. He began to hitchhike throughout North America. He hitchhiked from the coldest parts of the country like South Dakota to Mexico. He survived by living on the edge, by living like our ancestors. Living like animals in the wild. This all began the main part of the story. This begins how Chris McCandless, A.K.A Alex Supertramp, began his struggle with life and death and how he survived for so long in the North American wilderness.

Jon Krakauer compares Chris McCandless to many other characters that achieved the same fate as Chris McCandless when he tried to survive in the Alaskan Bush. Krakauer chose these characters that all tried to choose their own destiny and live life the rustic, dangerous way. They all have one thing in common; they don’t make it out of the Alaskan wilderness. He compares McCandless to three characters: Gene Rosellini, John Waterman, and Carl McCunn. There are many reasons why he compares them to McCandless. These people all went to the Alaskan Wilderness and tried to live life to the fullest, and live life how they wanted to. The main reason why Jon Krakauer made these comparisons is because it showed how each of these people had mental or physical illnesses, and/or a mental or physical weakness or disability. This is one of the ways that Krakauer uses comparison in the novel.

Chris McCandless was a survivalist because of his preparedness. Chris McCandless didn’t have hardly anything to help him survive in the wild. “He had no axe, no bug dope, no snowshoes. The only navigational aid he had was a tattered state road map he’d scrounged at a gas station.” Chris seemed unprepared and foolish to most people, but he was resourceful. Chris McCandless was no ordinary survivalist. He wanted to live off the land and he wanted to be as basic as he possibly could by using hardly any tools. When Chris went to Alaska, he took next to nothing with him. He took a backpack with 5 pounds of rice, his clothes, and a rifle. Everything else was taken from the land and was used to help him survive. When Chris paddled his way to Mexico, he survived on almost nothing. The climate was barren, and he only had one oar for his canoe. This he overcame and he kept going in the wilderness. He did all this just to prove he could do it. Several people offered him things such as clothing, food to take with him, money, and many other things. He never accepted it, and he could’ve survived easier if he wasn’t so stubborn and would accept the offerings. This all ties into one of the most prominent literary devices used in this novel. That is irony.

The literary device that Krakauer uses is irony. He uses this to tell about when Chris McCandless graduated college, he donated all of his money to an anti-starvation organization. This is ironic because Chris unknowingly will pass away from a similar fate in the Alaskan wilderness. The anti-starvation organization that Chris donated to is OXFAM America. “What Walt, Billie, and Carine didn’t know when they flew down to Atlanta to attend Chris’s commencement – what nobody knew – was that he would shortly donate all the money in his college fund to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger in America.” It is also ironic that Chris McCandless worked so hard to go to Alaska in the wilderness, but it eventually ended up in his death. Chris went through so much to get to Alaska, and he worked harder than anything, but being stubborn eventually caught up to him. It is also ironic that Chris McCandless kept great spirits even when he was near the end. “Malnutrition and the road have taken their toll on the body. Over 25 pounds lost. But his spirit is soaring.” Chris was always positive during all of his adventures. He lost 25 pounds, yet he still was in great spirits. He looked to the bright side. He was living his dream. “I have had a happy life, and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all! Then he crawled back into the sleeping bag his mother had sewn him and slipped into unconsciousness.” Even in his deathbed, Chris McCandless kept good spirits. He was where he had always wanted to be: Alaska. This is so ironic, because of the fact that he is dying, and is in a great mood. He has a good outlook on his life, and he thinks it was worth it.

Jon Krakauer uses foreshadowing to reveal Chris McCandless’s story about struggling to survive in the wilderness. “He was a big eater. Never left any food on his plate. Never.” He also never knew when his next meal would be. He would always eat as much as possible to cover for him going long periods of time without any food. This is an example of foreshadowing in the novel.

The final literary device used in the novel is flashbacks. Krakauer uses flashbacks to tell the story of Chris McCandless’s survival throughout North America. For example, in the third chapter; it tells the story of how Chris McCandless is working in Carthage. Krakauer waits until chapter 16 to tell the rest of the story about him departing Carthage. This is just one example of many about how the story jumps around and does flashbacks from the present to tell his story. His story is never told in order.

These are the literary devices that are used in Into The Wild. Foreshadowing, flashbacks, comparisons, and irony are used. This essay went into detail on the importance of these literary devices. Chris McCandless was a survivalist and he has a story that should teach everyone. He taught us to keep a good outlook on life and do what makes us happy.

Venturing off into nature can help find a sense of true meaning of who someone is and belonging in life. However, it is the environment nature that unfortunately takes his life. Towards the end of his life, McCandless Discovers what he never realized before. He realizes his purpose and need of other people. After the death of Chris McCandless in Alaska, Krakauer took it upon himself that he wanted to let the world know about who Chris McCanldess was and write a book of his life. Krakauer portrays McCandless with a variety of characteristics. He characterizes Chris as a young man who is arrogant, selfish, and reckless.

But at the same time charismatic, determined, intelligent, and independent. Although Chris McCandless was foolish and unprepared, but was also a good minded intellectual. Chris was intelligent but an impractical man. He was a unique young man, but he was also arrogant, which caused him to unfortunately be led to his death. Krakauer is accurate in describing Chris as selfish because he left his family behind without any communication on his departing. He left his family to go start a new one with a new alias and no track of his old life. He met other people along the way in his trio and introduced himself to them as Alex Supertramp. However, while Chris was on his trip to Alaska, he was unprepared which ultimately caused him to have his life taken away from him at a very young age of 24 years old. Christopher McCandless died August 1, 1992 in Stampede Trail.

“Because he lacked a good map, the cable spanning the river also remained incognito.”(174) John Krakauer describes how McCandless decisions had a major impact on his life. Some argue that his life depended on his determination, while others argue that McCandless was not prepared. Krakauer implies that Chris could have survived if he had made smarter decisions. John Krakauer’s argument is important because it describes various factors that lead to the tragedy of Chris mcCandless. Krakauer gets the audience thinking if McCandless personality played a role in his death. They audience can also wonder if his stubbornness was enough to impact his decision making. Krakauer believes that McCandless just gave up and felt unmotivated to keep going. He lost his drive to keep on going with his journey and the loss of motivation led him to his death. It is pretty strange to say because Chris was not the type of person to give up on a task he’s been working on for so long. Chris was a hard working man who always finishes any task that was dealt to him. Especially with the trip on going to Alaska, which is what he wanted to do ever since he left his family behind. People can see Chris McCandless as a foolish young man who left his life behind.

Others can see Chris as being admirable. Chris lived his life the way he wanted, not what his parents set him out to be. He wanted to break free from society because he thought it was bland. He wanted to follow his dream of going into the wild and surviving. He portrayed a new life for himself and was able to sustain himself in the wild for two years. Unlike many people who sob about their classic 9-5 job, Chris lived his life the way he wanted to. He ultimately achieved the happiness and purpose that he was seeking during his lengthy quest. If it weren’t for the toxic mold on the wild potato seeds he ate, Chris McCandless would live to tell his tales and would be admired. “Some readers admired the boy immensely for his courage and noble ideas. Others fulminated that he was a reckless idiot, a wacko, a narcissist, who perished out of arrogance and stupidity. He was under serving of the considerable media attention he received”(Authors Note).

Krakauer describes how many people shared different views on Chris’s death. Some people argue that McCandless had a good enough reason to go into the wild, while others have various reasons to be against McCandless. Krakauer implies that individuals have a distinct view on Chris’s death. Krakauer’s argument is important because it implies how the audience has different views on McCandless. He suggests that Chris influenced some individuals positively and negatively. Krakauer also believes that McCandless changed many people’s perspective of life or attitude towards life.

The novel Into The Wild is based on a true story of a young man named Chris McCandless, who later takes on the name of Alex and adventures alone up to his death to the Alaskan Wilderness at only the age of 24. His main drive for this unplanned trip was because he felt as if his life was becoming a schedule every day with the same repetitive actions occurring daily instead of living in the unknown. With so much chaos occurring in his life he makes the decision to get away from his monotonous life to live an unpredictable one. The author of a novel has always played a vital role in depicting the purpose to the audience and which Jon Krakauer surely does this with the use of many rhetorical devices, especially through the use of anecdotes. In the book Into the Wild, the author Jon Krakauer uses descriptive anecdotes to show the audience that Chris McCandless wanting to live off the grid was not unreasonable.

To start Krakauer utilizes anecdotes to describe Chris as a person and his experiences on his journey but most importantly he uses anecdotes to humanize Chris for many readers perceive him to be crazy for his radical life choices. Jon Krakauer does so by asserting “god how the trail lures me…. You cannot comprehend its resistless fascination for me”(Krakauer 91). The purpose of this anecdote is to emphasize that Chris is not crazy for his actions because if he can find happiness in the earth itself then why can’t he be normal. The author chooses to include anecdotes of Chris’s experiences of joy on his adventure living alone with nothing handed to him to show how truly happy he is with solely the simplicity of nature. Furthermore, he adds “Climbing mattered……..The world was made real”(134). He includes these stories of Chris to give insight into what he experienced on his trip and the emotions that he had at the times that he writes. When he climbs, nothing else matters and the author chooses to fully emphasize this to show that Chris does not need anything but the bare earth to be happy and have joy. Krakauer effectively retells significant events in Chris’s journey that lead to his death in order to convince the reader that Chris was not merely crazy just as some people perceived him to be. Mccandeles is criticized by many and is viewed as radical however Krakauer utilizes these anecdotes to humanize his story to help the readers understand his logic for his trip and to realize that Chris McCandless is not radical.

There was a man who embarked on a journey in one of the most frigid and glacial areas in the entire world. That man was Chris McCandless. Critics will claim that McCandless was a delusional fool who traveled to Alaska just to have his life cut short. While others claim that he was a brave young warrior who traveled to Alaska but was not able to survive long enough to find his purpose that he came to the state to search for. Chris McCandless is a young adventurer who was attempting to fulfill his destiny on his expedition however his life in Alaska was cut short because of his lack of preparation.

Chris McCamdless was more than just a young man who searched to find freedom on his peregrination in Alaska. People are familiar with a man such as this. It took McCandless a lot to get to the place where he was at. There are reasons as to why McCandless was influenced to go into the wild. One of McCandless’s influences was literature. Particularly the works of Jack London, Leo Tolstoy, Henry David Throeau, and others. Their writings on nature and society flooded McCandless mind with a whirlpool of ideas.

A man could go on the same journey as McCandless, but what sets that person apart from McCandless is the additional recognition,criticism and remembrance that McCandless had behind versus the person taking their journey. The media has a pattern of portraying people who go on these types of journeys as lost causes. There are also people that the media gives attention to that go on the same journey but complete their expedition and they are seen as national heroes and receive their share of fame and accolades. It goes to show that even though McCandless did not achieve much, he is still remembered today as either a hero or a fool.

Jon Krakauer argued about the issue of the “bush casualty” stereotype attributed to McCandless. Krakauer writes that ‘McCandless didn’t conform particularly well to the bush-casualty stereotype. Although he was rash, untutored in the ways of the back country, and incautious to the point of foolhardiness, he wasn’t incompetent-he wouldn’t have lasted 113 days if he were. And he wasn’t a nutcase, he wasn’t a sociopath, he wasn’t an outcast. McCandless was something else-although precisely what is hard to say. A pilgrim, perhaps” (Krakauer 85). The stereotype would probably be defined to McCandless as some who didn’t just go out to the wilderness to die but someone who was preparing for this adventure for his entire life. He wasn’t foolish, he was exploring nature while exploring himself.

McCandless felt like society turned against him. Which might have made him flee from his family. He was done accepting gifts from his family. McCandless graduated from Emory University with honors. Krakauer saw from the people that he interviewed that McCandless was brilliant but he lost his edge once he refused the resources that would help him to stay alive. This is more than just a man of strange character, this was a man who defied the rules of society. He retreated to solitude and he was satisfied that his lifelong dream was coming true.

McCandless went on his journey, but his parents saw it as a tragedy that he vanished. The mere fact that McCandless refused to have any communication with his parents showed his true feelings towards them. McCandless’s feelings towards his parents were justified. Since McCandless was an adult, people like him would be likely to be on their own instead of being in the care of their family. Whether people accept it or not McCandless had a right to settle on his own. Instead of going to his home that he grew up in, McCandless found refuge in a home that he found in the middle of nature. He lived in an abandoned bus. He hunted for food and survived on what he had for a transient time. His physical shape might have deteriorated and his search for food became scarce when he refused to eat animals that he shot but McCandless realized after years that the animals contribute to the wild and it wasn’t fair for him to eat what people consider an amazing spectacle to the wilderness.

Earlier in the essay it was stated that it took McCandless a lot to get to where he was at. The reason for that was because McCandless went through several states and cities to get to Alaska. In most of the states that he was in, he did not have a place to stay. Although in other states he did stay with a couple of people and was able to hold down a couple of jobs. All the while he was gaining experience that drove him towards his relentless quest of reaching Alaska.

Krakauer recalls certain people in the story who McCandless made an “indelible impression” on (Krakauer 35). Ronald Franz is one of those people. Franz like others who McCandless came across was caring towards him and wanted to give McCandless some guidance before his migration to Alaska. Not only did Franz impact McCandless but Jan Burres had some influence on him as well. He helped the Burres by working at their flea market and in return he was given items that would help him in Alaska. He left their presence and continue his push to Alaska.

Once he arrived in Alaska, he got some help from other people who drove him to the parts that he requested. People such as Jim Gallien who drove McCandless to the part where he would remain for the rest of the time before his death. McCandless although he was in the wilderness by himself did not go through this journey alone. The people that went through it with him were the ones who aided him. They took the time to assist him and give him what he needed. Whether it was resources or experience it helped him survive for a duration of time.

Not everyone is fit for survival in a place of cold temperature but McCandless was. McCandless did whatever it took to make sure he could get to the place where his journey could begin. McCandless persevered by fighting debacles in other cities. Fighting homelessness, hitching rides, and being employed. Some who criticized McCandless weren’t aware of his plan. McCandless’s plan succeeded regardless of his death. Parts of the plan that McCandless executed was having food. The food was what he found in the wild and the ten pound bag of rice that he carried with him.

Another part of the plan was shelter. Before he reached Alaska he lived with certain people. Once he reached Alaska he found refuge in an abandoned bus and kept all of his necessities. He was able to protect his fortress despite being in a forest surrounded by animals and tall trees.

McCandless read books by Jack London, Henry David Thoreau, and others. The authors that McCandless read went on their own journeys or lived in the wilderness. Jack London was part of the Klondike gold rush and based some of his stories in winter settings. Henry David Thoreau lived in a log cabin near a river in Concord, Massachusetts. He authored a book titled Walden based on his experiences.

Chris McCandless was not a fool for finding his purpose in the wild. It occurred to him that he had to isolate himself in Alaska in order to carry out his survival tactics in Alaska. No person who ever expressed their feelings to Krakauer about McCandless could fathom what he really felt inside. McCandless took a picture of himself sitting next to the abandoned bus where he was living. The evidence is evidently clear that McCandless was satisfied with where he was. His death was more than starvation. McCandless wasn’t prepared for what was to come, despite being in the wild for the time being.

In the end, McCandless became an embodiment of not just as a simple adventurer but a warrior. He was on a quest and he succeeded regardless of his death. He had a plan for how he was going to survive and his plan was executed. Half of the plan did not come into the picture because of his refusal to do certain aspects in order to guarantee long survival.

His life was meaningful. Besides being a hiker he left behind a legacy that is talked about to this day. McCandless did not just step into the wild to die. He carried food with him which was the ten pound bag of rice. He also hunted for animals or anything that looked like food such as plants, leaves, etc. He found shelter in an abandoned bus where he kept his necessities and items. He kept arms which was the rifle that he had with him which made hunting for food easier. McCandless might not have learned everything there is to know about what’s safe in the wild, but all those years he spent around the public built up enough courage in him to explore the wild.

McCandless’s adventures throughout the film represents issues faced in society today. Are we idolised by the technologies or companies of others? Obsessing over how we are viewed by society, even for those, our peers who care so much about us. Early on it was visible that McCandless wasn’t infatuated with such items that consumed his parent’s world. In the film McCandless discovers about himself the true meaning of life, or what really does consume our society? Was McCandless really an outsider holding onto bottled up emotions that ultimately lead to a nervous outbreak or a sudden epiphany/realisation. Existentialism is broadly seen throughout the film and Chris’s journey, as he questions his existence and those who surround him and takes part on a journey on what is suspected by some that believe he was in attempt to reach a minimalistic lifestyle.

Jon Krakauer’s, into the wild exceeds existential thoughts and the human desire to live existentially. Different aspects of ones live may give purpose. Is it god and religious aspects, money or family? Everyone has their own sense of purpose in life. A sense of meaning is something that we all crave or even need. Devotion and time are spent into finding our meaning, whether intentional or not. This can be found through religion, fighting for social justice, educating others or seeking beauty in artistic expression, in McCandless’s case he found himself within nature and a minimalistic life. There is a group of philosophers, the existentialists that focus on the research into the human mind is specific details that surround our purpose of existence that an individual may desire. ‘So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, nothing is, more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man then a secure future’- Christopher McCandless. To what extent does Chris reject society to live this lifestyle. McCandless was naïve and ignorant to believe he only needed himself. I feel as though McCandless was trying to detach himself from that toxic environment this was at the cost of his own mental stability. Were his hallucinations and him outwitting his own mind worth it? Psychology says that part of human nature’s default mode is to be social, which gives us a need to belong, patients that feel lonely have higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, with high levels of stress in this area can lead to sickness, ultimately being social is just as important as exercising and eating well. Was McCandless arrogant in the fact the he set himself up for mental deterioration, by leaving his family behind. Chris, the protagonist, after graduating college, burns his belongings, including his money. This symbolises that Chris was so easily able to burn what suffocates and consumes society today. He sets off into the ‘wild’ as it suggested this will burn the entities within him and free himself from this toxic lifestyle. Existentialism is practice within into the wild as it’s the acceptance that we fear death, rather not to accept this but to live it, as this is was Chris McCandless does.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom’. McCandless knew himself, however due to the pressures from those around him including his parents he was unable to explore these themes. There were times throughout the film where McCandless felt free and with joy, was this his wisdom, his freedom if you will. I feel that McCandless was lucky to have found his wisdom. He found this through exiling himself from others. McCandless alienated himself from distractions, furthermore, helping him reach a minimalistic lifestyle which he so badly craved. McCandless felt as though he was living a lie not his true self. He was on search through his journeys to pick apart who he really was, and with this he was able to compare his past life to his now more so minimalistic life, however crumbling in the end. What does it mean to live? What are we really searching for in life, or in this case what was McCandless searching for in his life? Perhaps McCandless wasn’t mesmerised by the meaning of life itself but how we live our life, McCandless had everything he wanted going for him, good education, money to help assist him in his career choice, however is this how he really wanted to spend his future? I feel that McCandless felt trapped, he felt as though he wanted to live, he was living to be a slave in our society. We question if McCandless was searching for the answer throughout his journey, or whether he didn’t know what he was in search for and in fact he was running because he was scared. He didn’t know how to grasp what to do with his life and maybe the pressures of society were too overpower.

McCandless through his journeys was unable to find his true nature, by surrounding himself with today’s society this could not be applicable, through this he exiled himself from distractions that consume those around us. During his quest he questions his existences and various existential thoughts/realisation comes to play with McCandless’s mind. McCandless never found who he was, his desperation took the better of him, ultimately leading to death. Comfort comes from the fact that Chris was joyous through being in Alaska and for those he met in this journey, which ultimately shaped him as a human being. McCandless’s desperation and naïve mindset is what left him to deteriorate his own mind, body and soul in the end. His ignorance is what overtook his last few weeks of life. I think that McCandless so desperately wanted to escape the ‘dark’ entities that surrounded society today, so much as it’s safe to say he had a deep hatred and despised the way his peers and surrounding family acted over money and reputation. However, having said this, McCandless was able to reach a goal of minimalism and exiling any unneeded wants that were so often craved such as technology and wealth.

A good education is something that all children, teens, and young adults across America deserve, but what’s the point of it? Over time, people learn the basic skills needed to function in society such as reading, writing, and basic arithmetic, but beyond that, what’s the purpose? Although people are going to college more than ever, so many more are asking why they’re even there. They may ask themselves, “why am I wasting four years of my life for a piece of paper with a script font that says I graduated?” I’ll admit, from time to time I ponder that same question, but I am quick to answer it. I am going to school to not only obtain knowledge and skills, but to be inspired, learn how to think critically, and to gain a better understanding of the world around me. In essence, these are the aims of education.

Richard Rodriguez, a first-generation Mexican American, highlights in his essay “The Achievement of Desire” how education made him aware of the cultural differences between him and his parents. As Rodriguez became more educated, he realized that his parents remained uneducated, a disparity that he came to despise. As a result, Rodriguez was compelled to correct his parent’s grammatical errors and was abashed that they never dedicated time to read him a book. When he came home from school, Rodriguez “saw in his parents a way of life not only different but starkly opposed to that of the classroom” (535), and consequently, he felt that he “[couldn’t] afford to admire his parents” (536) and was “[embarrassed] by their lack of education” (536). Rodriguez realized that the academic culture he identified with contrasted with the “working-class” culture that his parents embodied. The education he was obtaining sparked that realization.

Similarly, earning an education made Frederick Douglass more aware of his dire situation. Douglass was born a slave during the early 1800’s in the American South and was deprived the opportunity of an education early on. He famously quoted that “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Just as Rodriguez’s education made him more aware of his surroundings, learning to read and write brought Douglass freedom because it gave him the tools to realize that slavery was not acceptable. In our day in age, education rids us of our ignorance by broadening our perspectives and perhaps changing the way we think.

Chris McCandless is another interesting individual. He was a college graduate who was studious and loved to read – all the qualities of a successful person. Yet, immediately after he graduated college, he was reportedly missing and two years later was found dead in an abandoned bus in the desolate and isolated region of the Alaskan Interior. Was this his fault? Perhaps he wasn’t thinking critically.

Richard Miller highlights McCandless’ tragedy in his essay “The Dark Night of the Soul,” which discusses the different perspectives on writing. He concludes that McCandless’ irrational behavior can be explained by his reading habits. McCandless took the books he read too literally; Miller quotes Jon Krakauer in his book about McCandless that “‘He was so enthralled by [Jack London’s] tales…that he seemed to forget they were works of fiction, constructions of the imagination that had more to do with London’s romantic sensibilities than with the actualities of life in the subarctic wilderness’” (445). Miller deduces that “because McCandless wanted to believe in the world London invented, because McCandless wanted to be enchanted, he failed to ask the question that Krakauer believes must be of concern to all readers: namely, what is the relationship between what the author says and the way the author lives?” (445), which suggests that McCandless wasn’t thinking critically enough to decipher fantasy from reality. Furthermore, McCandless “surrounded himself with books that reinforced his own beliefs – in this case, texts that confirmed his sense that he was living honorably by attempting to follow his beliefs to the letter” (445). This confirmation bias fueled the stubbornness and arrogance that he needed to justify his goal to live in Alaska with minimal food and supplies.

If McCandless had read in context and performed a reality check, he would have recognized the chimera of Jack London’s fantasies or realized that fleeing from humanity was not an appropriate course of action. Similarly, if Mark David Chapman hadn’t taken the book Catcher in the Rye so literally, maybe John Lennon would be alive today making music and spreading peace in the world. This is why critical thinking is emphasized so greatly in modern academic curriculum. Many universities, including Santa Clara University, require students to take a variety of classes such as CTW & C&I whose goals are for students to develop critical thinking and writing skills to ensure that they can accurately interpret ideas found in text, speech, or other mediums of communication.

Nonetheless, if education does nothing else, it can be inspiring. Throughout middle school and high school, I was blessed to have a multitude of inspiring teachers that each shared their own unique and practical experiences that I still remember to this day. One of my teachers, Mr. Schaa, came from a drug-ridden family and community in rural California. He attended school with bullies, drug dealers, and girls that were pregnant at 15 years of age. There were many instances in which he could have succumbed to the temptations around him, but he knew he didn’t want to throw his life away, becoming a “high school drop-out that works at McDonald’s.” Unlike many of his friends in high school (who chose the former path), Mr. Schaa attended community college, eventually transferring to UC Berkeley. After graduating, he moved to San Jose, CA, started a family, received his teaching credential, and helped establish a K-8 charter school in my East San Jose neighborhood. That same school, Ida Jew Academies, was where I met my 6th grade teacher Mr. Schaa, and with his experiences and words of wisdom, he inspired me to be the best person I can be, to never give up in the face of adversity, and to appreciate the opportunities that I am given. Overall, the educational system provides teachers an opportunity to share their stories and enlighten their students. It is imperative that students have this experience at a young age because it can positively shape their character and diversify their perspective on life as it did for me.

As we have seen, education is important because it allows us to think critically, to be inspired, and to gain a better understanding of the world. Richard Rodriguez realized that his parent’s working-class mindset conflicted with his own values. A lack of critical thinking for Chris McCandless lead to his demise. In addition, inspirational teachers like Mr. Schaa have made a big difference in students’ lives. All of these examples highlight what I believe are the aims of education. Although people may challenge its purpose, a more thorough analysis reveals that there are skills and experiences that can be best discovered by pursuing an education. So, when you are at school and ask yourself the question, “Why am I here?” or What’s the point?” you’ll immediately know why it’s important to never stop learning.

The style of Chris McCandless’s life represents the theory that Thoreau mentioned in his book called Into the Wild. Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” had an obvious effect on Chris’s life. The fact that Chris didn’t renew his License plate and just didn’t want the government to regulate his life and make him follow the rules like everybody else and to protect his personal values and his freedom. Thoreau is the same because he despised the government and the human-made laws they made, Thoreau advocated for higher laws and for personal ethics based in conscience. Chris was living Thoreau’s theory, making it a guide and inspirational for his difficult journey and heading to the path of the truth of what freedoms mean, which would lead to his horrid death. Chris McCandless life was very strongly influenced by Henry David Thoreau book called Into the Wild, but Chris McCandless action was mainly dictated in one thing that Thoreau talks about which was “Civil Disobedience’’, which prescribe for the search of freedom and the love for nature, and as well for a life that is lived by Chris own of personal accord.

Within “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau said that “All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right of revolution; the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable. But almost all say that such is not the case. But such was the case now, they think, in the revolution of ‘75.” (Thoreau 3) We can see that Thoreau’s attitude is that people should consider doubting the power of the government policies and reject it if it is not beneficial. Chris had the behaviors indicating Thoreau’s opinion. For example, when his car broke down or ran out of battery, Chris had to ask for help from the jurisdiction. Although, Chris soon realized that he will have to answer the questions as “why had he ignored posted regulations and driven down the was in the first place? Was he aware that the vehicle’s registration had expired two years before and had not been renewed? Did he know that his driver’s license had also expired, and the vehicle was uninsured as well?”(Krakauer 28) Chris for sure did not want to be disturbed by these questions, which would devastate his hike. Chris felt that the regulations were incapable of tramps. It was a process of doubting the policies and Chris got tired of the stupid rules.

In one of the passages, Krakauer talks about how McCandless found the truth in transcendentalism. The first thing Chris did was abandon his family, and the people who were very close to him. This was one of the first steps of becoming a Transcendentalist because people who believed in this thought that human interactions/relationships interfered with the ability to truly connect with nature. Chris also started to act very moody and vague with the people he met or hitchhiked, making sure to avoid making a connection with them. Chris even said, “You are wrong if you think Joy emanates only…from human relationships. Gods have placed it all around us…and all you have to do is reach for it.” (Krakauer 79)

Chris McCandless was a talented college graduate who leaves his family, friends, and all the nice comforts of civilizations in a mission to find the meaning of freedom. On the cover of the Into the Wild the readers were already given the information that Chris died, and another thing is that we get to know that McCandless had donated his money to charity, Krakauer reports how Chris burns the remaining cash he has “in a gesture that would have done both Thoreau and Tolstoy proud” (Krakauer 29). When Krakauer addresses and explains his relationship between Chris and his parents, Krakauer illustrates the kind of strict moral code by which Chris measures himself with. Chris had an attitude that made it seem as if it was obvious that nature was his happy place and escape from society. He honestly didn’t have any time to make any friends with anybody even though technically he did still. He just knew it would interfere with his journey. Leaving behind his possessions such as his car and money leads to more opportunities to depend on his surroundings.

It’s clear that Chris McCandless is very dispassionate towards society and socializing. Chris only sent letters to the people who helped and supported him throughout his journey. McCandless makes it very evident that he wants nothing to do with his parents or anyone, normally speaking, Chris wants to go to Alaska to live a new life for himself. Chris has been planning to go into the wild to isolate himself from society so that he can finally live the new life since he left Atlanta. Even though McCandless met so many people that helped him throughout his journey to Aleska, he never really had intended to stay with them even though they asked him too. It was very unclear to a lot of people what his motive was that led him to carry out these activities, but a lot of them shows evidence of Chris McCandless becoming a dreamer.

In one of his passages in the book by Thoreau, he talks about him isolating himself from society by going to the wood of Walden Pond for two years was one of his reasons so that he can understand what life had to offer to him and live a purposeful life. Because Thoreau is a dreamer like Chris and he believes self-reliance, his actions also set an example of self -reliance by relying on himself to live rather than relying on others. Furthermore, Chris McCandless’s action is also like Thoreau’s in the way that being a dreamer may play a role. For instance, McCandless Isolates himself from everybody including his family and friends and still plans on going to the woods in Alaska to live a new life by himself and only eats the food from nature such as berries and fish. These similarities between them make it very convincing clear that McCandless could have possibly been a dreamer and enthusiast.

Chris McCandless talks about how Thoreau is one of his inspirations and Thoreau’s quotes are interspersed throughout the book by McCandless and Krakauer. Thoreau’s best work in his book “Civil Disobedience” has to be the essay Civil Disobedience, reading this essay provided us information of what Thoreau’s teaching was and the development of Chris McCandless’s philosophy. Chri’s relationship with the government and money reflects on Thoreau’s; they both saw themselves as human beings and was forced out by the immorality rampant in organized society.

Throughout Into the Wild, Chris McCandless goes through all the process of disconnecting himself from the society-shedding his social identity, name, donating all his money, and removing all of society comforts and earthly possessions. Chris saw that he had to remove himself was necessary to move, even though fought and protested against a very corrupted system that he didn’t believe in. Instance Thoreau spent a great big deal in the world, Chris respited the society that lived in the untamed world. Chris and Thoreau both take a very different approach to social discontent. The view that Chris and Thoreau had in “Civil Disobedience” is somewhat of an aspect of a protest in the American Culture. All of these pieces of information illustrate McCandless action’s toward the government. Chris and Thoreau’s actions toward the government were very rebellious but each person had a meaning in why they did what they did, they believed that there should be no restraint to a person doing what they wanna do in life and should be free and be able to find the true meaning in freedom.

Work Cited

1. Fullerton College Course Catalog: 2018-19. Fullerton College, 2018. Fullerton College. 12 Sept. 2018, www.fullcoll.edu
2. Krakauer, Jon. “Into the Wild” Villard, Edited by Jay Cassidy, Jon Krakauer, 1996, pp. 1-207
3. Thoreau, Henry David. “Civil Disobedience” Civil Disobedience. Edited by Robert Bly, Henry David Thoreau, 1849, pp. 1-18.
4. Thoreau, Henry David. “Walking” Civil Disobedience. Edited by Robert Bly, Henry David Thoreau, 1849, pp. 49-74.
5. Thoreau, Henry David. “Life Without principle” Civil Disobedience. Edited by Robert Bly, Henry David Thoreau, 1849, pp. 75-90.

In life and education, individuals who stray from the norm are branded as delusional outcasts instead of innovators or visionaries. Jon Krakauer investigates this in his book, Into the Wild. The book explores the final months of adventurer and transcendentalist, Christopher McCandless; McCandless abandoned the trappings of wealth and higher education to explore the Alaskan wilderness. While some Americans have questioned McCandless’s motives and legacy, Krakauer’s Into the Wild shed light on McCandless’ desire for enlightenment and what inspired his journey. He asserts that McCandless was not thoughtlessly rejecting his family or education; he had a purpose and reason behind his perceived delusional behavior. When the rescue teams found McCandless’s body, they also discovered works of Thoreau and other esteemed authors, which shows that he maintained the link to his formal education, which was important to him. These two authors preached the importance of immersing in nature to become enlightened; McCandless lived out the teachings of these two authors to the literal. In Into the Wild, Christopher McCandless successfully claims his education because he disregards societal norms and even his own safety to achieve the education he desires; he lives out the theories he read with complete conviction in an attempt to reach the level of enlightenment he needed.

Christopher McCandless embodies the ideals of Thoreau through his abandonment of material goods, society, and traditional education. McCandless was following the mandate of Thoreau when he decided to embrace a minimalist lifestyle. The book opens up with McCandless hitchhiking to Alaska under the name of “Alex.” The man who picked up McCandless described his encounter to Krakauer. He said, “Alex admitted that the only food in his pack was a ten-pound bag of rice. His gear seemed exceedingly minimal for the harsh conditions of the interior” (Krakauer 5). McCandless’s minimalist approach to camping in Alaska parallels Thoreau’s rudimentary lodging at Walden Pond. McCandless had only what he needed to exist, but not enough to thrive in the wilderness. His time in Alaska was not meant to be fun but was solely intended to enrich his mind. His journey relates to the essay, “Walden,” where Thoreau writes that the only necessities of life are food, shelter, clothing, and fuel. All of which Thoreau reduces to heat (Thoreau 1773). Similarly, McCandless’s actions mirror this philosophy prior to his journey to Alaska. McCandless graduated with an impressive GPA and with many accomplishments from the prestigious Emory University, as McCandless spent the majority of his life achieving what society encourages young adults to do. As a graduation present, his parents give him a large sum of money; however, McCandless rejects it. He donates as much as he can and then burns the rest (Krakauer 1). The burning of the money is symbolic of both McCandless’ rejection of traditional society and his decision to only need “heat.” Thoreau rejects other comforts as weaknesses (Thoreau 1774). He also mandates that goods beyond these parameters are unnecessary luxuries. McCandless follows this literally when he packs up and journeyed to Alaska.

McCandless adopts transcendentalist attitudes throughout his travels in a way that illustrates his dedication to pursuing education on his own terms. Towards the end of his life, McCandless hunts and kills a moose, but is unable to preserve all of the meat (Krakauer 167). The moose’s rotting greatly upsets McCandless as he interprets the situation as being wasteful and “luxurious” as he had an excess of food. McCandless was trying to live a life free of temptation and distraction so that he could educate himself about topics he was curious about and give his studies undivided attention. His academic background inspired him to study in a non-conformist way to see if he could better understand his purpose, similar to Thoreau’s time at Walden . McCandless was not looking for further academic self-instruction but instead was looking for more self-discovery and education on his spirituality. The killing of the moose was formative for McCandless, as it solidified his belief in living a transcendentalist life. While McCandless was not religious, the moose’s deterioration and McCandless’s subsequent feelings are evidence of his enlightenment and understanding of nature.

From Walden to Alaska, McCandless adopted the idea of solitude and its role in self-education. McCandless chose to live his life in isolation because his academic experiences before his journey were stifling his individuality and pursuit of education. When McCandless leaves for Alaska, he feels freed from the expectations of the world around him. Krakauer describes this as, “…he was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his parents and peers, a world of abstraction and security and material excess, a world in which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence” (Krakauer 22). Krakauer asserts that McCandless’s world was suffocating him; McCandless was not feeling intellectually stimulated, thus needing to change his life completely. McCandless believed that if he changed his life so dramatically, he would be able to reach his full potential, not just what society expected of him. However, solitude is not sustainable for an extended time frame, which is what would ultimately lead to McCandless’s death. Despite claiming the virtues of solitude, Thoreau had his sister care for him during his time at Walden, as he recognized that extreme loneliness could be more harmful than helpful in his journey to enlightenment. McCandless believed in Thoreau so much that he followed his essays too exactly when even Thoreau could not have lived his teachings.

McCandless was looking for a greater purpose than just following the mold of traditional American life. To do this, McCandless believed he needed to give up the materialistic nature of everyday American life to remove distraction and temptation from his life. McCandless went to the wild to learn about himself and the natural world; he believed that he needed to change his educational style to attain this greater education. In Emerson’s “On Education,” he writes, “Your teaching and discipline must have the reserve and taciturnity of nature” (Emerson 257). McCandless followed Emerson just as strictly as he followed Thoreau. McCandless was very rigid with himself and his decision to be in solitude with nature. McCandless was ill-prepared to live in the outdoors, but he did so with a ferocity because he was passionate about his enlightenment. McCandless was so determined to be enlightened that it blinded him from seeing the genuine peril he was in. When he was found in the cabin, there were more books than supplies (Krakauer 12). McCandless valued being one with nature and his education over his physical well-being. His journals are detailed with his survival and adventures in the Alaskan frontier but are also evidence of how little time he spent taking care of himself. McCandless’s careless behavior is unsurprising due to how little mention Emerson makes of self-care in his writing; Emerson focused completely on education and neglected the necessity of being alive to be educated. It is unrealistic for a person to have the “discipline of nature” as to be human is to have the desire to survive, which, unfortunately, McCandless did not develop until it was too late.

Krakauer’s Into The Wild explores the motivations and methodologies of Christopher McCandless’s journey into the Alaskan frontier; Into the Wild reveals that McCandless’s desperation for enlightenment blinded him from valuing his well-being. McCandless was just a young adult trying to find his place in the world and, unfortunately, used nineteenth-century authors to guide his path to enlightenment and subsequent isolation. Thoreau’s insistence on extreme rudimentary living and Emerson’s strict view on education are all reflected in McCandless’s erratic and self-destructive behavior. Ultimately, McCandless was unable to differentiate the theoretical from the literal in his quest for education.

The adventure of a lifetime ends with a devastating conclusion. Such is the case in ‘Into The Wild’ by Jon Krakauer, which follows the journey of a wanderlust-driven man named Chris McCandless. His travels take him across the United States to reach his ultimate goal of Alaska and finding his true ‘self’. McCandless challenges society by abandoning his old way of life and starting a new, pure life. To his dismay, the journey ends with him realizing that he is going to die. Since the discovery of McCandless’s death, many have questioned who he was and what he wanted. According to the tales and anecdotes surrounding his life, Chris McCandless was an eccentric, reckless man whose mindset drove him to his best, yet worst, outcome.

For the most part, McCandless was a complex being. Though some would find him crazy, there is a sense of admiration that lies within this philosophy. Furthermore, he believed: “Life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality, nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences” (Krakauer 57).

For someone who has a natural way of thinking, one can assume McCandless’s statement is bold, yet foolish. He is erratic but has a way of thinking that is a bit off-putting; however, he is not entirely insane. In his sisters, Carine McCandless book ‘The Wild Truth’ focusing on the family aspect that drove Chris to leave his mundane life behind, Carine McCandless recalls: “Chris could not have cared less about trophies or honors, and yet he was still good at everything. He set high goals for himself and achieved them all without the pressure of knowing that others were depending on him” (McCandless, 50).

Chris may have been content with his family and school but gained no happiness from it. He did not care about other individuals’ opinions nor “a fake one just to appease you”. Chris wanted to rely on himself, disregarding his parents’ best attention on seeing him succeed, which highlighted his idiotic and stubborn streak.

He is also an irrational and half-baked visionary because he was so ill-prepared, as he did not have any gear for the Alaskan wilderness, “he peppered Gallien with… questions about the kind of small game that lived in the country, the kinds of berries he could eat” (Krakauer,5). A sensible person would do a vast amount of research before going straight into the wild and deciding to live off the land. He was incredibly smart, yet his lack of foresight was dangerously foolish. Nonetheless, he did have some exciting ideas on life.

Contrary to McCandless’s reckless actions, he did have true and wise ideologies and goals. He wanted to prove to the world that he actually could live off the land and make it on his own. He is seeking liberation from society’s toxicities. He wanted the “climatic batter to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution” and “no longer wanted to be poisoned by the civilization he flees” (163). McCandless wanted to escape the materialism and greed consuming society. He thought that he could achieve this through his Alaskan Voyage. Living life in isolation or by his means was not new to him. Ever since he was a child, “Chris marched to a different drummer” and “was very to himself…not antisocial; he always had friends…but he could be alone without being lonely” (107). The spiritual revolution he was seeking needed to be done alone. Though he should have taken a different approach, he came upon his destiny by himself.

At long last, McCandless’s odyssey ended with enlightenment; however, all at the cost of his own life. He experienced more in a few months than most people experience in a lifetime. He claims: “It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found” (37). Chris successfully survived 114 days in Alaska and was at peace by the end. In his final picture, though emaciated, there was a feeling of victory being conveyed — the same expression where one would win a race or receive an award. His final farewell being “I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!” (199). Even though his actions and consequences lead to his death, he still managed to fulfill his goal before he died. The fact that he decided to go back home, only to have a river thwart his plans, proves he accomplished his goal.

In the end, McCandless’s unorthodox way of thinking drove him to a preventable death. His unusual personality was the cause of all his ups and downs with the drive to rely on himself and not others. The guy who took a trip of a lifetime with such a casual approach had an impact on everyone he met. The mysterious man left behind many questions and a lesson: to go out into the wild and experience life from a different point of view. His thought process was different, but his goal similar to all; create his path and experience it. All that matters is that he found what he was looking for, to spark joy, and find his inner peace.

Have you ever regretted any of the decisions you have ever made? Chris was a smart and athletic person. He had parents who he wasn’t in a great relationship with. After he graduated from high school, he wanted to live on his own and have nothing handed to him. He wanted to find out who he really was.

Chris McCandless, main character of Jon Krakauer’s book ‘Into The Wild’, is a fool because he was smart, and athletic, and his parents wanted to give him a lot of things which included money, and he even got into Harvard. He did not want any of these things. Not many of people would pass all of that up to go live off in the wild of Alaska. Even though Chris was book smart he wasn’t very street smart. “His rifle was only a 22 caliber, a bore too small to rely on if he expected to kill large animals like moose or caribou, which he would have to eat if he hoped to remain very long in the country”.

Chris McCandless is a fool because he turned down a lot of things that a lot of us wouldn’t turn down. “…as Chris’s high school graduation approached, the owner of the construction company phoned Walt and offered to pay Chris’s college education…” (p.116).

Chris McCandless was a fool because he chose to do more dangerous things in life that were frowned upon by society. “It is hardly unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders; engaging in risky behavior is a right of passage in our culture no less than in most others. Danger has always held a certain allure. That, in large part, away so many teenagers drive too fast and drink too much and take too may drugs, way it has always been so easy for nations to recruit young man to go to war. It can be argued that youthful derring-do is in fact evolutionarily adaptive, a behavior encoded in our genes. McCandless, in his fashion, merely took risk-taking to its logical extreme” (p.182).

Some people may say that Chris McCandless was heroic because he survived many days only relying on himself and the tools he had. “As he trudged expectantly down the trail in a fake-fur parka, his rifle slung over one shoulder, the only food McCandless carried was a ten pound bag of long grained rice—and the two sandwiches and bag of chips that Galien had contributed”.

Chris was a fool because he is book smart and not very street smart. “His rifle was only a 22 caliber, a bore too small to rely if he expected to kill large animals like moose or caribou, which he would only have to eat if he hoped to remain very long in the country”. Chris passed up things that most of us wouldn’t have. Therefore, I think he was a bit foolish. Chris wasn’t totally prepared with the tools that he needed to survive in the wild. I want the readers to realize that Chris is not a hero because of his accomplishments. He was stupid and foolish.