Would you consider someone who walked into the Alaskan wilderness alone with nothing but boots, and a bag of rice brave, or utterly foolish? The novel Into The Wild, written by John Kraukner is based on a true story, following a young man who leaves his whole world behind to find his true purpose in life, ultimately leading to his death. John Karaukner’s 1996 novel, sparks many opinions on the main character, Chris McCandless. His journey made him a controversial figure to many all over the world.
Was his decision reckless? Should his story be praised, or discouraged?
Who was Chris McCandless?
Chris McCandless was born in February 1968 and grew up in El Segundo, California. From a young age, he was interested in life in the mountains and had a passion for adventure, which he pursued through endless hikes and trips with his family as a child.
He grew up in a well-balanced family. They were wealthy and Chris had a decent relationship with each of his parents. Chris was said to have been intelligent in school, and involved in several clubs and societies.
After high school, he went to Emory University and excelled academically but wasn’t very social. He valued his time alone and didn’t spend his time pursuing the typical college experience.
Even though he had a good childhood, Chris felt differently about the world. He disagreed with many aspects of modern, civilized life. He hated society because he thought that people only focused on material things and money, rather than nature and what we have around us naturally.
These views of society made him want to run away. He thought if society couldn’t change, he would change his way of life. This ultimately leads to his adventure in the Alaskan wilderness.
The Journey
Chris’s adventure began with a trip to Arizona in July 1990. From there, he traveled all over the country ,mainly by hitchhiking and walking. He found jobs in places like Bullhead City, Arizona, and Colorado, and even canoed into Mexico searching for work. During his journey, he met several people who made his experience more enjoyable.
In August 1990, Chris was picked up while hitchhiking by an older woman and her husband. They allow him to stay with them for a week, and they soon become “parents” to him. The month after, Chris makes his way to Carthage, South Dakota, and meets Wayne Westerberg who gives him a job in a grain factory. Finally, he meets Tracy, a younger girl, as well as many others during his time at “The Slabs”, an abandoned Air Force base.
He makes intimate connections with each of these people and truly values every moment he has with them. From the beginning of his story, many may view Chris as antisocial or even unlikeable, but the beginning of his adventure reveals that he truly does care about his relationships with others.
This pattern of moving around didn’t stop for over two years.
Chris had no money, no place to stay, and nobody there to fall back on if he got into trouble. Even though his goal was to leave everything behind, his actions were extremely dangerous and led to a devastating ending for the young man.
The Stampede Trail
On April 28th, 1992, Chris decided that he was done moving all over, and had his mind set on exploring the Alaskan Wilderness. He had his eye on the Stampede Trail, a remote section of mountains close to Denali National Park.
This is where he stayed by himself for over 100 days. He brought nothing with him but a bag of rice and a pair of old boots. Chris was extremely unprepared, and it shows through his experiences. He lived off the land with very little knowledge.
Bus number 142 is what Chris McCandless is known for. During the midst of his journey, Chris found an abandoned city bus and made it his home for over three months. He slowly started to decline mentally and physically. He became noticeably sick, and was starving for weeks after he could no longer leave the bus.
He began to journal his experience, which was found later after his death. Through his writing, you can see how exhausted and weak he had become.
On August 18th, 1992, Christopher McCandless passed away, alone in the Alaskan wilderness. His cause of death was ruled as starvation, after ingesting seeds that made him unable to keep food down.
Was it Worth it?
He made every decision on his own from the moment he left home, without the guidance of others. When he left for Alaska, he knew that the terrain would be difficult to live off of, but still would not accept suggestions, or equipment from the people he had met. Chris’s actions and journey as a whole prove how dedicated he was to changing his situation, but was losing his life worth it? He was aware of how dangerous the journey would be and didn’t re-evaluate any of his choices, which ultimately led to his death. Though his reasons for leaving his world behind were valid, his attempt was foolish. He sacrificed everything he had to experience a more fulfilling life.
There were other ways for him to channel his love for nature, and his desire to run away from it all, but his journey was ultimately a suicide mission. In the end, Chris’s story should inspire people to look for a greater meaning in life, but the specific actions he took to manage his feelings should not be encouraged.
Saul Goodman • Sep 15, 2024 at 6:00 pm
Great book. I bought a copy in Ketchikan on a cruise ship stop. Krakauer did a great job staying neutral and letting the reader make the call on Chris’ judgement, skill, character, etc. No doubt he was a smart kid. Sad story. He almost pulled it off. A swollen river and eating wild sweet potato seeds lined up all the holes in the Swiss cheese and that’s all she wrote for Alexander Supertramp. I got the sense that he had a good family that loved him. Sure they had their problems, but what family is perfect? It did seem that Chris’ discovery of his father’s secrets hit him hard though. Chris seemed bitter about it, but I don’t think it had anything to do with wanting to be free of a “normal” existence. Who knows. I’m fascinated by the story. I couldn’t put the book down. I think there’s a bit of Chris McCandless in all of us.
Rob Wilson • Aug 15, 2024 at 9:59 am
Your synopsis of the story is interesting, and I agree, that he took dangerous, ill- advised methods of finding himself and managing his emotions. The one place I might disagree with you is your opinion that he came from a good family, and that he had a proper relationship with his parents. Although they were probably a good family on paper, and in the community, it seems obvious that he didn’t get the love and support needed from a young age on. Most likely they were focused on being successful, and less on being nurturing. The end result he became a classic Avoidant personality type, self soothing his own emotions, and distancing himself from meaningful relationships. He wanted love, valued relationships, but in the end, only knew how to depend on himself. He died in the angst of his own solitude: ” Happiness is only real when shared”. You can disagree with my assessment, but I relate to this sort of family, sadly.
Manny Paez • Jun 30, 2024 at 10:23 pm
The young man had suffered from trauma due to his parents and the revelation of his father’s secret relationship with another family. He found out that he was a bastard and his mother was not his father’s legitimate wife. The abuse he witnessed his father inflict on his mother caused his relationship with his father to deteriorate, and he lost respect for his mother for not standing up for herself. The only person he trusted was his sister. He began his journey after fulfilling his duty to his parents by completing his college education and graduating. He moved out and embarked on a quest to discover his own path in life. Instead of focusing on building his career, he completely disappeared from society. He sold his car, donated his trust fund money to charity, abandoned his legal name, and cut ties with his family except for his sister. I deeply admired his independence, courage, determination, and integrity, but I also felt that he lacked resilience in giving his parents a chance and accepting their mistakes as human beings. His rebellion seemed to stem from a lack of understanding about life and choices. Sadly, he died stubbornly, refusing to listen to those who cared for him, as he had lost trust in people due to the deep trauma he endured. His actions seemed arrogant and selfish, as he prioritized his own feelings over those of his parents and sister, as well as the people he encountered on his journey. It appeared that he had become a victim of trauma himself, unconsciously hurting others without realizing it.
Manny Paez • Jun 30, 2024 at 10:17 pm
The young man had suffered from trauma from his parents and from what they found out about his father secret relationship with the legitimate family. He found out that he was bastard and he married to mother wasn’t not legit. And the abuse of his father towards his mother. He’s relationship with his father started deteriorating and he lost respect for his mother for not standing up for herself and the only person that he trusted in his sister. He started his journey after fulfilling his duty to his parents to finish his college education and after graduating from college. He moved out and started his journey in finding his way of learning about his own life alone so instead of trying to focus building his career he completely went off the grid sold his abandoned his own car that he actually bought for himself money that earned while working and going to school, donated his trust fund money to charity and he also abandoned his own legal name change his identity so his family not able to find him. He only kept intouched with his sister. I had deep admiration’s for his independence, courage,determination and value for integrity but I also feel for his his luck of resilience in giving his parents chance and accepting the responsibility for parents mistake as a human being and his selfishly for putting his parents through all kinds of emotional pain and unanswerable pain and grief and not give them a reasonable chance to understand his pain. His rebellion is testimony of luck of understanding about life and choices. He died because he was stubborn and didn’t listen to those people who truly cared for him his lost of trust of trust from his parents endured such deep trauma for him to see others as genuine with good intentions. I find him a little bit arrogant and selfish he only cares about himself and his own feelings he doesn’t care about his parents and his sister. And those people that he met in his journey I feel like he was victim of trauma and he became one of them without even realizing his unconsciously hurting others as well.