Preview

Analyzing Chris Mccandless's 'Into The Wild'

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
458 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analyzing Chris Mccandless's 'Into The Wild'
Into the Wild tells so much about the person Chris McCandless was, his story, and the tragedy of it all. But only a few chapters explain how he became the way he did and how it led him to do some of the things he did. He thought differently, worked at a different pace, and embraced life unlike any other. But, why? Many things in Chris’ life shaped him and made him the way he was before his tragic ending.

Chris was always fearless. On page 109, it talks about how Chris’ father, Walt, took Chris on a three day hike, when he was eight, in the Shenandoah to climb Old Rag. Then Walt talks about how himself, his wife, kids from the other marriage, and Chris went to climb Long Peaks in Colorado. At 13,000 feet, Walt wanted to turn around and go back but Chris wanted to keep going. He would’ve risked the dangerous path. Even later on, when he left to Alaska, he would take risks and do dangerous things. Walt had said, “He didn’t think the odds applied to him.” He had no fears, and he did what he wanted.
…show more content…
He did his own thing at his own pace and the majority of the time, he was better at it than anyone else. But he’d also get into trouble. Chris got an F in high school physics because he refused to write a paper in the format the teacher wanted. This same characteristic can be seen later on during his trip, when he worked at McDonalds, he would work at a slow pace all the time but he’d always show up on time. He got into the habit of doing things how he wanted to do them when he was younger and that’s how it always

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chris McCandless, round and static character of commentary text novel Into the Wild is depicted as a detached young man contending solely with his own internal conflicts. Into the Wild is a non-fiction journalistic piece written by Jon Krakauer which delineates the events Chris McCandless encountered over a two year journey of self discovery, independence, and utter emancipation from materialistic society in the wilderness.…

    • 64 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the book Into the Wild written by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless gets portrayed as adventurous. He is adventurous in the way that he just left his family on a whim, and started traveling on his cross-country adventure. “I got the impression that this Alaska escapade was going to be his last big adventure” (Krakauer, 1996, pg 66) said Wayne Westerberg when describing how Chris talked about his then future trip plans. This shows that he was planning this big adventure for a long time and the Alaskan adventure would be the last big advent for a while. Or at least it was his last planned big adventure for a while as he was probably burnt out from adventuring for the last two and a half years. This is important as it shows Chris was too adventurous…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Serious stuff, like he was baring his soul, kind of. He said he could tell me things that he couldn’t tell the others. You could see something was gnawing at him. It was pretty obvious he didn’t get along with his family, but he never said much about any of them except Carine, his little sister. He said they were pretty close". Overall I would say that Chris was ignorant, arrogant, selfish and a brave young man, simply because he was ignorant because he didn't know that some of the berries might kill him and these mistakes and ignorance lead him to his death, but overall for young who just graduated and got on his own in the wild I would say that he did a pretty good job on surviving for four months, "Said he didn't want to see a single person, no airplanes, no sign of civilization. He wanted to prove himself that he could make it on his own without anybody's help". he will always be remembered as a young brave man, who was seeking his own…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    . There were several themes portrayed in this novel. Throughout his journey, we learned the many ways of how Chris McCandless worked. In Chapter Twelve, Krakauer explained a past discovery Chris made that caused him to view his father differently. “…Chris pieced together the fact of his father’s previous marriage and subsequent divorce…Walt continued his relationship in secret…”(121 Krauker). This revelation seems to inspire him to dismiss his parents completely; especially his father and commence a trek into wild America. Along the way, McCandless had some types of father figures, including Wayne Westerberg and Ronald Franz , and even a mother figure, Jan Burres. Christopher McCandless rejected what he saw as American materialism, in…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the book Into the Wild it explains a true story that had changed the the lives of many. A young man who all he wanted was to escape society and get away from the world. His life did end shortly after his disappearance. But that does not mean he did not live his life to the fullest. Jon Krakauer the author of the book Into the Wild describes Chris McCandless faults and traits. Chris is an intelligent guy but he finds a new meaning for life and wants to go discover it. He didn't have any contact with his parents but was contacting his sister carrie. Krakauer does a tremendous job of interviewing everyone who had anything to do with McCandless from his parents, when he grew up, to the people who found his body in the abandoned bus in Alaska.…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The meaning of life is undefined, no one truly understands the beauty of life until it is experienced. In the novel, Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, follows Chris McCandless journey to find some sort of enlightenment .Nevertheless, McCandless needed to discover who he was without influence from his parents and society. McCandless told the world to experience life and embrace the beauty that surrounds. Thus, Christopher McCandless had two motivations, first, to pursue a life of adventure, and second, to strive away from social norms.…

    • 87 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    These are the two reasons why Chris McCandless went on his two year journey. He was a very rebellious young man, that loved the meaning of life. He was also intelligent, Chris had influences from different composers. He wanted to find the meaning of life by himself. He wanted to live free from communication and other people. Chris McCandless was a brave young man, to take on this…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first reason why Chris McCandless fled to the wild was due to his literary influences. McCandless was influenced by many talented authors but some of his favorites were Jack London, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry Thoreau among many others. In a passage from To Build a Fire by Jack London he wrote, “‘ You were right , old hoss; you were right’... Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known” (12). The main protagonist from the story, acts a lot like Chris McCandless. They both ignored advice from wise people who were familiar with the area and what it had to offer. If they had just listened and…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chris Mccandless Analysis

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages

    After reading the book “Into The Wild” there are many words that come to mind when describing Christopher McCandless. To Jon Krakauer Chris McCandless was rash, but Krakauer insists that McCandless “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”(85). The real question still remains unanswered, what precisely was McCandless? Chris McCandless ultimately should be described as a romantic. Chris was a free spirit, he was a counterculture adventurer who escaped the shackles of prescribed society and lived for the moment. He ended his relationship with endless consumption and simply went out and experienced people and places for what they really…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Graduating from not only high school but also college would also back the fact that he is somewhat smart. But no matter how book smart you are does not allow you to go into the Alaskan wilderness and survive like it’s a piece of cake. This is where Chris’s arrogance shows because he believes he can go into the wild and survive off of minimal knowledge of the land and in survival alone. His arrogance and lack in knowledge definitely shows in the overall outcome of his fate because in the end Chris dies of starvation which could have been avoided with proper training and…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Who was Chris ? What kind of person was he ? Some say he was foolish others say he was intelligent. Some say that Chris was a man full of hate others say he was full of love. What was Chris searching for? Perhaps it was Happiness others say it was an escape from society. If you read the book Into the Wild by John Krakuer it is clear that Chris is the mix of the both Worlds.…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Chris McCandless longed for independence and freedom from the life he was living and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. Jon Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild, begins the book by giving the reader a narration of his journey ,then shortly after changes into a mystery by telling the reader of a dead body found in the bus. The readers can infer that the body found is Chris, giving the reader a feeling that he was crazy for making this venture into the wild and doubt his mental state. Krakauer, then tells the reader of Everett Ruess, a young man who did the same journey and died, giving the reader his view on Chris that he didn’t go out into the wild, because he was crazy but it was more for his own good as a person. The author would continue…

    • 1472 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever wanted to escape from your old life and start a new one? Well Chris McCandless did. Chris McCandless was a transcendentalist (a person that analyzes the process of nature) that wanted to forget about his past . McCandless didn't want to live the same life anymore, he was set out to show his love for nature. McCandless travelled through North America living with harsh necessities and off the land. Throughout McCandless’ adventures of “Into the Wild” he shows how he forgets the past and moves on to be a transcendentalist while he sets out to show his love for nature.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He was an adept hunter, and while he “made some mistakes on the Stampede Trail, but confusing a caribou with a moose wasn’t among them.” (Krakauer, 178) something the Alaskan hunters who found him, mixed up. Those who knew Chris understood that while he might be idealistic, he was not a fool. Many letters were written to Outsider, after the Chris article, stating that Chris was ignorant and underprepared. “His ignorance, which could have been cured by...is what killed him.” (Krakauer, 72) While Chris was arrogant, he was not stupid. Chris just did not see things the way others did, seeing his Alaska excursion as “The great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent.” (Krakauer, 37) A phenomenon of human nature is that we do not see things in the same way, and Chris definitely saw things in a different…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning, McCandless knew he was ready to just get up and start a new journey. He kept to himself about his adventure to Alaska and did not want anyone to know where, when or why he was leaving. Chris knew he had all of the materials he needed, until it came to a plot twist when he had burned all of his money and abandoned his car anyways. Gallien, a friend of Chris, even said “There was just no talking the guy out of it… he was determined.” Other people saw determination in him as well.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays