Please write a quotation from Into the Wild and comment on its significance in terms of theme, characterization, or symbolism. Your response should be thorough, incorporating inferences and assertions beyond the text.
In addition, read through other people's selections, and comment on two of them. Include your thoughts, questions, and possible connections.
82 comments:
“It is tempting to regard this latter notation as further evidence that McCandless’s long, lonely sabbatical had changed him in some significant way. It can be interpreted to mean that he was ready, perhaps, to shed a little of the armor he wore around his heart, that upon returning to civilization, he intended to abandon the life of a solitary vagabond, stop running so hard from intimacy, and become a member of the human community. But we will never know, because Doctor Zhivago was the last book Chris McCandless would ever read.” Page 189
As shown from this passage that McCandless is finally willing to accept the very society that he wanted to turn against. What caused this drastic change? First, let’s examine why he decided to wonder into the wild. On the surface, it seems as if he wanted to find the true meaning of life. However, the real purpose of his trip is to fulfill his “yearning” for something that he doesn’t already have. Given that he grew up as a rich kid, I’m sure that he had been given the best education, the best cloth, and the best life that anyone could hope for. However, being brought up in a rich family also has its cons. For example, his parents must expect much more from their son than a normal family would. This explains why he is so good at many fields such as sports, music, and education. While spending all his time making his papas proud, I can’t imagine any free time for himself. His parents had given him everything besides freedom. As it so happened that he read a book by Jack London that explains the unbounded limit to freedom in the wild. Because he never had any freedom since birth, he is yearning for it. This caused him to deicide to move into the wild.
When he finally made it into the wild, and experiencing this new “thrill” and “freedom” he is very excited. However, after a few months in the wild, it is obvious that he is “yearning” to go back to society because at that point, that is one thing that he couldn’t have. We can tell that he misses society because the author uses words like “returning”, “changed”, and “community”. Just as how Jack London had influenced McCandless into going to the wild, Doctor Zhivago also influenced Chris to go back to society. Because he is currently at the wilderness and unable to get out of it, he is yearning for the civilized life that he previously lived.
When Jon krakauer wrote that, “… because Doctor Zhivago was the last book Chris McCandless would ever read,” it gives me the feeling that McCandless don’t any real goals. He is going through life as it is happening. For example, when he read about the wilderness, he rushed into the wild. When he reads about Life in society, he wants to go back into society. It seems as if he wants everything in life.
One big part of human’s nature is to “yearn” for something that you don’t have. If you don’t have freedom, you’ll do anything to have it. McCandless’s case is a very good epitome to human yearning”
"Andy Horowitz, one of McCandless's friends on the Woodson High cross-country team, had mused that Chris �was born into the wrong century. He was looking for more adventure and freedom than today's society gives people."" page 174
In the text, Chris seems to have tried to live his life in a way that is almost anachronistic. He wanted to explore the west and Alaska when there wasn't anything left to explore; all of the United States had been mapped a long time ago. In the desert, he burned all of his money. A century ago, one might have been able to live in this country without money by asking for favors and working to pay them back. Chris does this with Wayne Westerburg the first time they meet, but in general this method of living no longer works.
Horowitz believes that Chris "was looking for more adventure and freedom than today's society gives people." Is it true that modern society limits peoples' freedoms? It is possible that it does to a certain extent. Very few people today do what Chris did by going out into the wilderness to try to live solely on nature without extensive preparation. Because it is so seldom heard of, many people automatically think "This man is insane". These thoughts cause them to rethink their own future plans and warn others against action that strays from what is generally considered to be normal. People in society limit their own freedom by trying to stay away from unusual activities.
Chris doesn't really care what others think of what he is doing. He was able to resist the lack of freedom in society by removing himself from it. Through most of his adventures in the west, from Detrital Wash to Alaska, Chris was completely alone. Like when Thoreau went to Walden Pond in 1845, Chris attempts to remove himself from society and live in the wild. However, as Rossellini found out, it is nearly impossible for someone from today's society to go on a trip, such as the one Chris took, and come out alive.
In response to Shi's post...
People always "yearn" for what they don't have. Chris wanted freedom and he was able to obtain it, but in Alaska, where he had the ultimate freedom from society, he decides he wants human company and a normal life. Before he went to Alaska, he had some friends from the western states, but he didn't get overly close to them. He wouldn't tell them about his family, his life before the west, or even his real name. Then, when he traveled north, he probably was able to grasp how much impact people had on his life. Like most other people, he didn't realize what he had until it was gone.
Wanting something is definitely part of human nature. If people don't want something, then how do they live? People set goals because they feel they need something, whether it be food or a college degree. If there was someone who didn't want something, then they would sit around for the rest of their life doing absolutely nothing. Everyone has their wants and Chris's desire for society stems from this.
“He screams and beats canoe with oar. The oar breaks. Alex has one spare oar. He calms himself. If loses second oar is dead. Finally through extreme effort and much cursing he manages to beach canoe on jetty and collapses exhausted on sand at sundown. This incident led Alexander to decide to abandon canoe and return north.” (Krakauer 36).
Man's role in Nature is the predominant theme of Into the Wild. The subject of the book, Chris McCandless, believes that man's ultimate joy can only be found in communion with nature. McCandless is an avid reader, and his favorite authors are quoted frequently to support McCandless's romantic view of natural communion. Jack London and Henry David Thoreau are two of McCandless's favorite authors, and their immense respect for nature influences the impressionable young man.
However, nature is a fickle beast, turning from friendly ally to cruel enemy in the blink of an eye. McCandless is not insensible to this fact. His personal experience and the literary accounts he enjoys reading both teach him that nature's laws do not change for any man. Natural cause and effect can work just as easily against a man, as it can in his favor.
In response to Meredith’s post…
Yes, Chris is definitely born into the wrong century. Chris’s action is called to be irrational in the society today. God should have placed him during the Stone Age so his measures would be considered “normal”. Many people do not accept Chris’s life style is because of our culture today. Human culture changes from year to year and from century to century, so some things are acceptable in one period of time more than the other. For example, a mid 1600 lady dressed in colonial clothing carries a large hand made wooden basket was to walk around the streets. What would you think of her? A weird doofus? So like Chris Mccandless, he’d considered to be out of his mind in the society today.
Trusting Samel and Thompson, veteran Alaskan hunters who’ve killed many moose and caribou between them, I dully reported McCandless’s mistake in the article I wrote for Outside, thereby confirming the opinion of countless readers that McCandless was ridiculously ill prepared, that he had no business heading into any wilderness, let alone into the big-league wilds of the Last Frontier. Not only did McCandless die because he was stupid, one Alaska correspondent observed, but “the scope of his self-styled adventure was so small as to ring pathetic --- squatting in a wrecked bus a few miles out of Healy, potting jays and squirrels, mistaking a caribou for a moose (pretty hard to do)…. Only one word for the guy: incompetent.”
(177)
Chris McCandless adventure drew in a lot of attention from the rest of the world. There were many people who were inspired by Chris, however, even more were extremely against him. Jon Krakauer received loads of angry letters in response to the article he wrote for Outside. A great majority of Oustide readers believed he might have been crazy. As we read “Into the Wild” in class, the idea that Chris was out of his mind constantly comes up. He continues to be ripped apart by people who don’t support what he did, but it is not as if he affected their lives. He had the courage to live the way he dreamed. Although his overconfidence was his downfall, he accomplished what he wanted. Many people dislike Chris’s actions and the lifestyle he chose because it is not the stereotypical “normal”. Although it is hard to define normal, Chris clearly stood apart from the rest of the world. People have a lot of trouble understanding and respecting what they don’t know or believe is right. Often when someone stands apart, they are considered reckless and stupid, which is why Chris’s story received so much criticism and disapproval.
In response to Danielle's post...
People in class keep saying "It's hard to define normal" but no one goes about trying to define it. Normal could be defined as what one generally experiences on a day-to-day basis. However, this definition cannot be applied to all people because no one experiences the exact same things every day. Everyone is unique, not only because it's written in our genetic code, but because we experience different things and experience these things in different ways. If everyone is unique, then it is practically impossible to use the word "normal" to describe a large group of people because what may be normal for one person may not be normal for the person sitting next to them.
On a completely different note, why do people care if what Chris did was "stupid" when it has no effect on them? Krakauer writes about how people write letters to the Outsider magazine with comments on how reckless and "incompetent" Chris was. Why does it matter to them? As Danielle points out, many were against Chris's actions because they strayed from the "stereotypical 'normal'". These people try to make their opinions known by writing to the magazine. By making a record of their negative opinions, they are saying that this is something they would never do, or if they did, they would be more prepared than Chris was. They are angry because Chris was, in their view, completely unprepared, not because he went to live in the Alaskan wild. They might believe that someone else might attempt to do exactly what Chris did and go into the wild unprepared. Many people don't tend to do what others see as irrational, so these people write their negative comments to dissuade them from reenacting Chris's adventure by telling them that it's a foolish thing to do.
Meredeth said, “People in society limit their own freedom by trying to stay away from unusual activities”. This is completely true. Chris wrote a letter to Franz explaining this to him. “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, all of which may seem to give peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.” (Krakauer 56-57) Many of these people find themselves unhappy, because they are too scared to leave what they may consider their safety zone. Although they are not happy with their limited freedom, they are the only ones who can change it. Anyone could have attempted what Chris McCandless did, but it would require a lot of courage and the ability to leave behind all that you have.
"Under the bed at the rear of the bus, she leaves a suitcase stocked with a first-aid kit, canned food, other survival supplies, a note urging whoever happens to read it to 'call your parents as soon as possible.' The suitcase also holds a Bible that belonged to Chris when he was a child, even though, she allows, 'I haven't prayed since we lost him'" (Krakauer, Into the Wild 202).
This excerpt conveys a couple of interesting things. Note that Mrs. McCandless leaves the suitcase at the rear of the bus underneath a bed. A bed in the rear that Christopher McCandless used during his stay. In one way, Mrs. McCandless leaves the suitcase for other travelers along the Stampede Trail, after all, the bus is poorly equipped or supplied to support anyone for long. After enduring such a grieving experience of losing her son, Mrs. McCandless leaves the suitcase there so that other parents of passionate explorers like Christopher McCandless will not have to go through her pain, the pain of losing your child. In yet another sense, it is significant to note that exact bed is also where Christopher McCandless passed away. Thus, the bed is a sort of memorial, if you will, and the suitcase Mrs. McCandless leaves is an offering to her son's spirit, providing her son with what she, as a mother, would have done had she known he was there.
The suitcase, as a whole, is an offering itself. But the Bible is one as well. It belonged to Chris, and the act of leaving it there, where he felt union with a higher being, is yet another offering, a more spiritual one. Regardless, the more interesting fact is that Mrs. McCandless mentions that she has not prayed since she and her family have lost him. In effect, she has essentially lost all trust in God. This raises the question, why would she then bother leaving the Bible? Perhaps, she left it there as an offering as I have previously mentioned, or perhaps she left it to "die" as Christopher McCandless had.
Regardless, Mrs. McCandless's lack of trust in God can be related to that of Carine McCandless and Ronald Franz. Earlier, Carine McCandless noted that she prayed, after hearing about Christopher's death, looking for answers, but in the end, received none from God. Ronald Franz, noted in a strong passage that he hoped that God would keep an eye on Christopher, and in the end, God had let Christopher perish. Franz, as a result of this betrayal, became an atheist, severing all connections from "God". It is interesting to recognize these three people and how "God" had failed them. Perhaps, Krakauer used these religious betrayals to indicate that "God" is not permanent, not something (or someone if you are extremely picky about my choice of words) to give trust to. And really, this reflects Christopher McCandless advocation of the permanence of nature.
“It probably misses the point, though, to castigate McCandless for being ill prepared. He was green, and overestimated his resilience, but he was sufficiently skilled to last for sixteen weeks on little more than his wits and ten pounds of rice. And he was fully aware when he entered the bush that he had given himself a perilously slim margin for error. He knew precisely what was at stake.” Page 182
Jon Krakauer raises an interesting question with this quote. If Chris McCandless actually was stupid and reckless, then how come he managed to survive for so long? Some people may say it was luck, but in fact it was the lack of luck that killed him. He knew exactly what he was risking when he entered the bush and he was definitely ready for it, otherwise he wouldn’t have survived sixteen weeks and tried to leave when he was ready to return to civilization. It was a series of unfavorable events that killed Chris, first the Teklanika river’s high flow, which stopped Chris from leaving the wild, and later eating seeds that were never reported as toxic but, for his misfortune, were toxic at this time of the year. Even though Chris was ready for this journey, he was incapable of recognizing that he was only human and prone to make mistakes, as Jon Krakauer says, “he was green, and overestimated his resilience”. Chris knew the dangers he was putting himself to, but he was immature enough to overestimate his own health a capability of surviving in the wild.
A response to Shi's initial comment.
It is not necessarily a drastic change. He read that happiness, wherever he got it from (in this case, his own isolationist journies) is useless unless shared. It doesn't necessarily mean, he was exactly willing to go back into society. It was just a realization that his own achievements are nothing unless shared with others. In total, it just means he will have to share both worlds of individuality and whatever other world there is.
It is an interesting to say that Christopher McCandless was in a sense yearning for everything he couldn't have. For his yearning for freedom, this may be true, after all he did live a restricted life under society. For, going back into society. I am not so sure. The only two reasons I can think of for going back are that in the former paragraph, and the fact that like all human beings, (also like that Everett Rousse [sp?]), Christopher McCandless just likes people too "damn" much. He isn't necessarily yearning, but rather fulfilling his desires; one being his primal desire for nature, the other being a social desire for interaction.
Next to “And so it turned out that only a life similar to the life of those around us, merging with it without a ripple, is genuine life, and that an unshared happiness is not happiness…. And this was most vexing of all,” he noted, “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED.” (Krakrauer,189)
Chris McCandless has lived a lonely life for about two years. After all this time, he had been searching for true happiness? McCandless had probably tried to live outside society to see if society had really influenced why he felt specific ways for things. He probably did not understand what happiness is and why he felt it the way he did. He had 25,000 dollars in savings, a car, and had gone to college. How can a person not be happy with the things he had possessed and gone through before his adventure? There were many people that really liked McCandless like his family and friends. He had seen happiness through the things they have done for him. McCandless never felt that kind of happiness. He wanted to figure out where happiness comes from and when happiness is at its strongest. Happiness comes from oneself but it increases in power when it is shared with the happiness of others. When one is happy by themselves, like watching a happy ending of a movie, they feel happy but not as strong as they would if they were watching it with other people. When feelings are shared, people can connect with each other and since they are feeling the same feeling, they can understand one another and be comfortable with themselves and others. Also, if one is really happy, then that person can affect others to be happy. If a person is sad and someone is there to cheer them up, after getting better, the upset person feels happiness through the happy person because they are sharing their happiness. A person cannot be happy if others around them are not happy. How does a person first understand what happiness feels like when they are young? They understand by how others feel their happiness and those people share that feeling with the young person though the understandment of the experiences that cause them to feel that way. Happiness is wanted by all and we are all helping each other in some way to be happy. A person also feels true happiness not from what great they have done for themselves, but for they have done for others. Happiness comes from everyone because people are all trying to make life work out for themselves,. This cannot be accomplished by oneself. Others contribute for this happiness gained. People want this world to have peace and to live in harmony.
McCandless had been lonely but not all the time during his adventure. He had many times, helped people and gave them advice and shared his experiences. Others have done this with him. He has felt what this has done to himself than how it feels to be lonely. When people share their experiences and feelings, it helps others understand more about why people have their feelings. In this world, people all give to others and receive from others. If McCandless had lived to only lived to give and receive for himself, then he would have not lived happily. After one has done so much for oneself, what can a person do? What if a person reaches the most happy they can feel by themselves? Happiness is only temporary. If people share what happiness is for them, then a more fulfilling happiness can be achieved. McCandless probably did not feel happiness before his adventure. How can someone share happiness if they don’t have it? McCandless had gone on this Alaskan adventure to figure out what is happiness for him. He must have wanted to go back to share what he has learned and felt with himself with others after the two years because he had realized that “an unshared happiness is not happiness” (189)
In response to Anthony's first comment…
The suitcase that Billie McCandless left on the bed where her son died is definitely an offering for her son. She is supplying him with everything he lacked when he went off to live in the bush. It is the parent’s instinct to care for their child and since Billie wasn’t capable of doing it when her son really needed it she still carried out her duty as a parent in a symbolic way, as if Chris’s spirit was still there suffering and she came to save him. She didn’t mean to leave that there for other travelers that come buy because, as we have read earlier, nobody has used that bus in years. And the note that says 'call your parents as soon as possible’ is a symbolic way of Billie and Walt to tell their son to come in contact with them and so they can tell him they loved him and he should have kept contact with them and let them know about his plan, and he should have done it soon so it isn’t too late to be helped.
In response to Meredith's initial comment:
Christopher McCandless's lifestyle during his so-called odyssey seemed anachronistic simply because he threw out the traditional way of life. As a result, it can be conjectured that what makes our life so modern is that we rely on tools, money, and other material possessions. So it would be safer to say that Christopher McCandless's journey was just out of it, not his lifestyle. Certainly, he used a rifle, albeit a weak one, and he used semi-modern equipment like the stove, the bus as shelter. His wasn't living necessarily as if he was in the past. He was living as one would in those particular conditions.
Modern society does limit freedom. Not just society, the government. It must have been Thoreau who said something along the lines of, "A good government is one that does not govern", or at least that was what he was trying to convey. All of the rules imposed by the government, the expectations of society, they limit what a person can do, and in some cases what a person should believe in. Modern society, as Christopher would have thought it, was static, and unchanging (in a sense, lacking adventure).
People do limit themselves based on fears (ie: unusual activities). It is the mere fact that he faced a conspicuously terrible end. And the fact that the person who dared to do such an unusual action is regarded as "insane" tells people that "If I follow what I believe [as McCandless had], I'll end up dead". I suppose society teaches the follower that dying for one's own causes is not worth one's demise.
In response to Jin’s comment…
Chris McCandless actually underestimates the power of nature. During his whole journey, from when he left home to the point when he got to the bus, nature wasn’t always in his favor, and he managed to beat nature most of the times, like the time in the river when he ended up in Mexico. These experiences built up his confidence making him think that he can actually “beat” nature in the form of living off of it. Since Chris loved challenges, he couldn’t just miss this one. But in the end, nature got the best of him, proving that no man in the world is capable of defeating it.
In accordance to Maria's comment on how Chris’ pursuit of happiness must come with someone else’s company.
When I first read that quotation on page 189, I was just as interested as Maria into why Chris would say this. However, this whole ‘adventure’ was a set up for himself to find his inner-self, “AND NOW AFTER TWO RAMBLING YEARS COMES THE FINAL AND GREATEST ADVENTURE. THE CLIMATIC BATTLE TO KILL THE FALSE BEING WITHIN AND VICTORIOUSLY CONCLUDE THE SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION.”(163) Chris was set out into the wild to figure out what his character was really made of. He wanted to come out of that Alaskan bush, a whole new person with a different view of life. And we see this on page 168 when Chris states that he is “reborn”, and then he lists the essentials to living a fulfilling life. He, like his mentor Tolstoy, has found what is needed for happiness. Now McCandless is ready to go back to civilization, ready to go back home. In doing so he is “prepared to forgive their [his parents] imperfections”(168) and he is “prepared to forgive some of his own.”(168) This is now a rejuvenated Chris McCandless.
This is an unbelieveable quote to go with the point I was making; "It can be interpreted to mean that he was ready, perhaps, to shed a little of the armor he wore around his heart, that upon returning to civilizion, he intended to abandon the life of a solitary vegabond, stop running so hard from intimacy, and become a member of the human community." Krakauer truly believed that Chris McCandless was a changed man, and now I do too.
page 189.
At that point he gave up on preserving the bulk of the meat and abandoned the carcass to the wolves. Although he castigated himself severely for this waste of a life he’d taken, a day later McCandless appeared to regain some perspective, for his journal notes,
“henceforth will learn to accept my errors, however great they be.” Pg. 167
Alex is the type of person that questions every action he makes because he wants to see how it will benefit him in the end. To survive tin the wild he has to let some of his morals go for example killing animals. In order for him to survive his adventure he has to be well nourished. When he landed his biggest prize the moose, he thought he could make it last so that he did not have to kill any more animals. However, when he realized he could not care for the meat, it hit Alex really hard because he took one of natures creates in vain. This moment in the book is significant because the reader never sees Alex admitting to his faults, he has done far worse then this insistent. In society Alex is not able to admit to his faults because he does not want to become corrupt or even looked as the same as ordinary people. One the other hand, in nature he is able to put it past him because they is one there to criticize his faults. In the wild he has come to accept himself for who he is a human.
In response to Meredith post...
Chris was someone who did not like to follow others he wanted to be his own man. When people thought he was crazy going to Alaska alone, he did not think twice about it because he was not going to let society tell him how to live his life. Meredith does make a point when she says, “People in society limit their own freedom by trying to stay away from unusual activities”, People never make time to enjoy life or see what the world has to offer. They are to busy thinking about how to live a more wealth life, so they push themselves to over work so they can keep up with what society thinks is the best life.
“When the adventure did indeed prove fatal, this melodramatic declaration fueled considerable speculation that the boy had been bent on suicide from the beginning that when he walked into the bush, he had no intention of ever walking out again. I’m not so sure, however.” (Krakauer, 134)
This passage helps to prove the point that I was trying to make earlier about how Chris McCandless attempt to the wild might be a suicide attempt. Although going into this he probably wasn’t doing this as a suicide attempt but a few of his actions lead me to believe that it was. For one he went into the wild very uneducated, he only had the information that he had read from his books. Even if he was just trying to get away from civilization and be one with the land, common sense should tell you that there are certain things that you have to bring with you. Even the people he had encounters with that knew the area a little better had tried to warn him the danger of the land with out supplies. And we also know that he wasn’t happy with how his life was going, I mean he didn’t have a good relationship with his father, he tried not to get close with anyone because of it. But most of all he was tried of living a routine life. I strongly believe that he might have when into this not caring if he came back out alive. And we are not going to get the full story I believe because the author Jon Krakauer sees his journey as an accident that prevented him from coming out.
In response to Maria’s post...
During his adventure in the wild Chris realized it would have been better if he had someone present. Everything he was trying to leave behind him only made him miss it more. Whenever he meet new people he loved explaining to them what his plans were. He also enjoyed telling people to go beyond their everyday life, just pack up in live in the wild. Fro example when he was telling Ron to try something new for a change, “ The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon…” (57). Whenever he learned something new he made his job to share with the world. After time in the bus he stared to get depressed because he had no interactions with the world. Do you think it would have made a difference if he went to Alaska with someone he knew on the road?
“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 134)
Krakauer as an author always has taken a preference to Chris because he feels that he understands Chris's dilemma and his troubles of his upbringing. Both have had a father who they feel had fail them in some essential way. Where Krakauer's father was heel bent on having his son become a doctor and in the end having his father despise him for being defied by his son. Walt McCandless was an authoritarian and a father who supposedly had a very short and explosive temper, Chris always held his father in high regard but discovering of his cheating ways Chris was very hurt knowing that out of all the people in his life it was his father who was betraying Chris and his family. Both Krakauer and Chris have that in common, they both have a father that failed themselves and their families.
In response to Maria’s comment:
I believe that Chris went into this not knowing just how much he meant to others and how this might hurt them. But now that he has spent sometime in the wild by himself he as recognized the importance of having people who care about you in your life. He had no one who he could really share this with and now he is realizing that real happiness comes when it is shared.
In response to Meredith’s Comment:
It is true that although Chris’ actions had no effect on us it is the fact that he went into the wild unprepared and uneducated. In even in some ways very selfish no matter how bad a relationship you have with your parents you should have told them about something like this. I have nothing against Chris’motives I just feel as if he could have approached it better. And there are many different ways he could have went with this if he felt like he needed adventure he should have traveled or if he wanted to be closer to wild without society, he could have moved to the country or some place.
In response to Vitor's Post
The young man whether he be really lucky or ignorant of the severity of his situation, in the end has no one to blame his misfortune but himself. Chris went in the Alaskan bush with less than the bare necessities to survive but brushed it off as if it were no real challenge to him. He felt he was prepared to survive in the Alaskan wilderness with such little supplies because he has survived in other places with the same amount of supplies but what he doesn't realize is that the Alaskan wilderness is nothing like the places Chris has survived in. The Alaskan bush is an isolated area for a good reason, yet Chris goes in there thinking about how isolated it is but never takes in the consideration of how treacherous the Alaskan wild is. That's what ultimately leads to his death, his overconfidence and his ignorance of how dangerous the elements really are.
In response to Antony's post
One of the things that Carine, Billie, and Franz have in common is that they all feel as if God had failed them by letting Chris die but what they are really disappointed in is Chris. Chris had much to live for but recklessly risked and lost his life for his personal expedition not once thinking the damage he would leave behind if he were to die. Carine, Billie, and Franz all ask God for answers but who they really want to question is Chris but since he's gone, God is the closest they will get to asking Chris. They will never get a definite answer so there's always going to be an open wound that cannot be healed with time alone, they want answers and rightfully they deserve them so they can move on with their on lives but since Chris never took in the consequences of his actions, Carine, Billie, and Franz will never know why Chris was so brazenly adventurous.
“McCandless didn’t conform particularly well to the bush-casualty stereotype. Although he was rash, untutored in the ways of the backcountry, 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.”(85)
A pilgrim is a religious devotee who journeys to a shrine or sacred place on a quest for something conceived as sacred.
Chris McCandless’ sacred place, however, was the bush in search of a deeper meaning of life and how to live it outmost. And we see in this quote that he didn’t care that people before him had died from not knowing key survival skills because he was motivated, and no one was going to turn him away from this so-called ‘pilgrimage’ into the Alaskan wild. This journey is very similar to the pilgrims before him, in 1620 at Plymouth Colony. These men and women were in search of a ‘New World’ where they would be free from government and society’s restraints. Not knowing what could be ahead of them in their travels across the Atlantic into the ‘New World’, they faced life threatening weather and diseases where only half of the settlers survived the first winter. However, going into this journey they knew there were going to be some bumps along the way but they wouldn’t be big enough to stop them from escaping to their own freedom.
Nevertheless, Chris McCandless was a ‘refuge in nature’. He needed to escape, like the original pilgrims, from modern day restraints of government and society. He had no idea what was going to happen in the wilderness, but it didn’t matter because he was finding his own self and his purpose to life. With very little knowledge about the location and resources, McCandless did an extremely good job surviving as long as he did.
McCandless relates greatly to the character in “Doctor Zhivago”, the last novel he read before his death, “Lara walked along the tracks following a path worn by pilgrims and then turned into the fields. Here she stopped and, closing her eye, took a deep breath of the flower-scented air of the broad expanse around her. It was dearer to her than her kin, better than a lover, wiser than a book. For a moment she rediscovered the purpose of her life.”(188)
Sounds a lot like McCandless doesn’t it?
In response to Roledine's post:
“Alex is not able to admit to his faults because he does not want to become corrupt or even looked as the same as ordinary people.”
I agree that Alex is unable to admit to his faults, however, I don’t think it because he fears he will become corrupt. Alex went out into the wild to prove himself. He wanted to test his own strength and see if he could survive without living by the rules. “McCandless went into the wilderness not primarily to ponder nature or the world at large but, rather, to explore the inner country of his own soul.” (Krakauer 183) He went into the wild for adventure, and to explore his own traits. “Chris was good at almost everything he ever tried,” Walt reflects, “which made him supremely overconfident.” (Krakauer 118) Chris was used to succeeding, he had never failed before, which put the idea in his head that he never would, or could fail. He would have a lot of trouble accepting his faults because he may believe he failed himself and his adventure. Also, because he was so used to doing well in everything, it would be hard to accept that he has finally done wrong.
�Everything had changed suddenly- the tone, the moral climate; you didn�t know what to think, whom to listen to. As if all your life you had been led by the hand like a small child and suddenly you were on your own, you had to learn to walk by yourself. There was no one around, neither family nor people whose judgment you respected. At such a time you felt the need of committing yourself to something absolute-life or truth or beauty-of being ruled by it in place of the man-made rules that had been discarded. You needed to surrender to some such ultimate purpose more fully, more unreservedly than you had ever done in the old familiar, peacefully days, in the old life that was now abolished and gone for good. � Passage highlighted in one of the books found with Chris McCandless remains. �Need for a purpose� had been written in McCandless� hand in the margin above the passage.� (Krakauer 103)
This quote which is from one of the novels found with McCandless� corpse is a reflection on his life and the beliefs he developed from his own independence. �As if all your life you had been led by the hand like a small child�� McCandless reflects on this because he grew up conforming to what society would consider the conventional way of living. For example, going to college, graduating, having all that luxury etc�When McCandless was mature enough to think for himself he broke free from that conformity and drifted to Alaska. His voyage to Alaska represents his liberation from conformity. ��you had to learn to walk by yourself� refers to how McCandless needed to develop his own opinions, beliefs, goals because now he didn�t need anyone to guide him towards that; he could do it on his own. �At such a time you felt the need of committing yourself to something absolute�� Chris McCandless left the man-made rules and committed himself to being more in touch with nature. That quote actually reflects to a point that Anton made in class a week ago in that McCandless� god is nature itself. It was clear that McCandless abandoned all his previous beliefs and voyaged to discover his own.
In response to J.J’s comment…
“The prevailing Alaska wisdom held that McCandless was simply one more dreamy half-cocked greenhorn who went into the country expecting to find answers to all his problems and instead found only mosquitoes and a lonely death.” (Krakauer 72) this reflects on how nature can be considered a friend and a foe. McCandless walked into the wild as if it were his paradise, the one place he could escape to and perhaps discover himself. Unfortunately for him, what he looked at to be his paradise ended in his own demise. He saw Alaska as a get away, a chance to escape but his “escape” led to his death. The pros and cons of journeying into the wild.
In response to Danielle’s initial post…
From the knowledge that Chris already have, he knew that the nature can be dangerous and unpredictable. Chris wasn’t overconfident with arrogance. He chose the way he want to live. Readers see Chris as ill-prepared ignorant fool who tries to conquer the nature. But he is not, because all he wanted to do was to live life to the fullest. How else would he be able to achieve that if everything is prepared for him, like how he had everything when living with his parents. If Chris gathered all the gadgets he needed and read all the survival skills required for each of the places he will be visiting, everything in his journey would be predictably boring and he would not be living to the fullest. Unless the reader IS Chris, he/she should not judge a person right out of the bat, especially when the judgment is incorrect.
�On weekends, when his high school pals were attending �keggers� and trying to sneak into Georgetown bars, McCandless would wander the seedier quarters of Washington, chatting with prostitutes and homeless people, buying them meals, earnestly suggesting ways they might improve their lives.�
�Chris didn�t understand how people could possible be allowed to go hungry, especially in this country,� says Billie. �He would rave about that kind of thing for hours.� (pg113)
For Chris to understand how people could starve in this country he had to put himself in their shoes, which he did. He got rid of his money and all of his valuables. In order to be homeless he had to leave his home and family, which a homeless person does not have. The reason why Chris went to Alaska was to understand complete isolation: no one to interact to, no one to help him, and no one to save him. As Chris tries to suggest ways for the homeless people to improve their lives he contradicts himself never taking any advice from anyone not even his own father which unfortunately lead to his death.
A response to Vitor comment.
I agree that Chris was reckless and stubborn more then stupid. The way Chris has excelled through his life the word stupid would be the last to describe him. Being stubborn unable to educated himself outside of school was an obstacle Chris had to over come. If Chris properly educated himself about the wilderness in Alaska he wouldn�t have ate the seeds and became sick because it was toxic during that time of the season. Like Chris� racquetball ball match talent only got him so far until defeat as his stubbornness only lasted him sixteen weeks in Alaska.
“Gallien asked whether he had a hunting license.
‘Hell, no,’ Alex scoffed. ‘How I feed myself is none of the government’s business. Fuck their stupid rules.’” (6)
In class, this passage has been used to accuse Chris of being an anarchist, but I will show that Chris understood the importance of government. In the passage, Chris is expressing a libertarian point of view, not an anarchist one. Libertarians believe in small government, meaning that the government strictly adheres to the laws written in the Constitution and interferes as little as possible in people’s lives. The difference between libertarianism and anarchism is that libertarians believe in the necessity of laws and that it is essential for the government to have the power to enforce those laws, while anarchists want to eliminate government all together and have no laws.
To a libertarian like Chris McCandless, the idea of having a hunting license, or license and a car registration, for that matter (see p.28) would seem like an invasion of privacy. Why should the government know that Chris owns a gun? He hasn’t broken any law by owning a gun; according to the Constitution, gun ownership is legal. Besides, the government doesn’t own the gun and they don’t own Chris McCandless, so it is none of their business. This is what Chris means when he refers to the government’s “stupid rules”. He does not mean that all laws are stupid, only the ones that restrict his freedom when he has done nothing wrong.
On page 123, Krakauer claims that McCandless founded the College Republican Club at Emory College. I have never heard of an anarchist being a member of the Republican Party. During the 1980’s, the Republican party was the party of small government, an idea with which Chris deeply agreed and which Chris’s hero, Thoreau, summarized by saying, “’That government is best which governs least,’”(123). It is undeniable that Chris sees the value of Government. He is certainly not trying to destroy the rule of law and cause anarchy.
Understanding the subtleties which separate Chris’s views from anarchism is essential to understanding who Chris McCandless is.
“People have a lot of trouble understanding and respecting what they don’t know or believe is right. Often when someone stands apart, they are considered reckless and stupid, which is why Chris’s story received so much criticism and disapproval.”-Danielle
Maybe the reason people are angered by Chris’s way of life is because they are jealous of it. So many people live unhappy lives because society has boxed them in. Think about it, I’m sure that all of us have had a few days where we would just like to throw away all our pencils and burn our books and never step foot in a school again. But we cannot do that because in our society, it is a common belief that the only way to be successful and happy is to go to school for 25 years; we are essentially “boxed-into” school. If you don’t go to school, society tells us, you will end up with a crummy job and be poor and miserable and die alone.
But look at the example of Sir Richard Branson. Richard Branson dropped out of highschool only to end up as the head of the Virgin Corporation and a multimillionaire. People who have actually put themselves through 25 years of menial schoolwork only to make half as much money as he does tend to get a little jealous when they hear about people like Branson. For the same reasons, when people who have worked their entire lives to make money, but are never truly happy, see people like Chris McCandless who manage to be truly happy and free while doing only what he enjoys to do, they tend to get jealous. And that jealousy manifests itself in the anger people react to Chris’s story with.
Here’s another crummy metaphor: Imagine if you spent $400 on an I-Pod, only to find out that you could have bought an MP3 player that holds twenty times as many songs for 25 cents and a box-top. My guess is that if you see someone carrying the other MP3 player, you aren’t going to say, “Hey, congratulations on being smarter than me!” More likely, you’ll want to shove that MP3 player down his throat because you got ripped off and you’re envious of his good deal. Most of society “bought the I-Pod” in that they work and work and work only to get just a little happiness. Chris McCandless, on the other hand, doesn’t work all that hard and when he does, he only does things that he enjoys. And yet he is far happier than an “I-Pod person”. It should be no surprise that people react with jealousy masked by anger when they hear about Chris McCandless.
I don’t mean to insult I-Pods. I’m only trying to used a well known product so it’s easier to understand my metaphor…
“Satisfied, apparently, with what he had learned during his two months of solitary life in the wild, McCandless decided to return to civilization: It was a time to bring his “final and greatest adventure” to a close and get himself back to the world of men and women, where he could chug a beer, talk philosophy, enthrall strangers with tales of what he’d done. He seemed to have moved beyond his need to assert so adamantly his autonomy, his need to give their imperfections; maybe he was even prepared to forgive some of his own. McCandless seemed ready, perhaps, to go home.”(168)
From the passage it looks like McCandless had finally reached his goal. He was probably searching for something like the meaning of life. Throughout his travels he had used both the identity of Chris McCandless and Alex Supertramp. By deciding to return home it signals that he has decided to take the identity of Chris McCandless. Through this Alaskan adventure Chris has learned to be more rational. He seems to know that it is time to return back to family and society. His adventures have probably made him think more of his family. He seems to realize his own faults and that it’s not right to make the family suffer because of their faults.
“On August 12, he dragged himself out of the bus to forage for berries, after posting a plea for assistance in the unlikely event that someone would stop by while he was away. Written in meticulous block letters on a page torn from Gogol’s Taras Bulba, it reads:
S.O.S I NEED YOUR HELP. I AM INJURED, NEAR DEATH, AND TOO WEAK TO HIKE OUT OF HERE. I AM ALL ALONE, THIS IS NO JOKE. IN THE NAME OF GOD, PLEASE REMAIN TO SAVE ME. I AM OUT COLLECTING BERRIES CLOSE BY AND SHALL RETURN THIS EVENING. THANK YOU.
He signed the note ‘CHRIS MCCANDLESS, AUGUST?’ Recognizing the gravity of his predicament, he had abandoned the cocky moniker he’d been using for years, Alexander Supertramp, in favor of the name given to him at birth by his parents.” (Krakauer, 198)
Alex is in the wilderness and he is injured and starving at this point. He is out looking for berries and trying to kill caribou but has no luck. He knows his adventure might finally be coming to an end so he writes an SOS note on a page torn from Gogol’s Taras Bulba. This actually Chris’s first time asking for help. Usually other people offer him help. He knows that he is dying and that he needs help immediately so he decides to write this note. He says that he is injured and can not hike out of where he is. He hopes that someone might come by and see the note and find him to help him out even though this is highly unlikely. By the time someone found the note Chris had already died. The note was found 19 days after his death.
The reader can notice how Alex actually used his real name on this SOS note. He abandoned his adventure name, Alexander Supertramp. He realized that he was in a bad predicament that he needed help badly so he decided to use his real name. There are a couple of reasons as to why he writes his real name on the note. If someone did find the note he wanted people to know him by his real name and not his fantasy name. If he used his fantasy name everybody would think that Alex Supertramp died on that bus on August 18. He probably wanted people to know that Chris McCandless was the person who went on this long journey. Chris has been through so much and he never asked for help and never needed help. However in his weakened state he needed some one to find him and bring him to salvation. Chris had no intention of dying. He thought he could make it on his own but he finally realizes that everyone even himself needs other people. Unfortunately he had to learn this the hard way.
In response to Jin’s post…
I agree with JJ’s comment about nature, saying how it can help you but also turn on you when you least expect it. It is definitely true that Chris McCandless know how tough and challenging nature can be at times, because of what he has experienced through his journey.
The quotation that JJ selected is a great example of characterization of Chris McCandless. It demonstrates to us that may be the journey is really getting to Chris. That he has possibly reached his limit, before he snaps. The passage shows how Chris easily looses his temper, and become conscious of the fact that things aren’t so easy when you’re by yourself in the wild.
In response to Meredith’s post…
I love the quotation that Meredith posted, mainly because Andy Horowitz’s observation about Chris McCandless was absolutely correct.
Based off of Chris’ actions from the very beginning of the novel, this opinion can be made by everyone as well. From exploring the bleak, desolate Alaska, to burning his money; ditching his car, to abandoning his family. Chris was just one of those people who did not want anyone to control him, not even in the least bit possible. He was all about maintaining his freedom, and would never let anyone take that away from him. Chris journeys because he knows that he would not be able to be as adventurous and free as he would like to be in society, and that is what drives him into the wild.
In response to Jin’s post…
It’s true that Mother Nature does not have mercy for any man. Chris McCandless was oblivious to understand this when he walked into the wild. He believed that he could make it on his own in the wilderness. He thought that nature was man’s ultimate joy as stated by Jin. He later finds out from experience that nature won’t have mercy on him even if he is near death. The only way Alex could have survived at that point was by pure luck. Alex read many books and in these books he read a lot about nature and this is where he got the idea that nature is man’s ultimate joy. However he did not read that nature can also be man’s ultimate downfall.
Response to Danielle’s post:
Danielle writes, “Many people dislike Chris’s actions and the lifestyle he chose because it is not the stereotypical “normal”.”
Many people were against McCandless because they thought he crazy but can an intelligent person be crazy? Can McCandless, who know so much, understand that he is risking his life with his Alaskan adventure? Krakauer writes, “And he wasn’t’ a nutcase, he wasn’t a sociopath, he wasn’t an out-cast. McCandless was something else-although precisely what is hard to say. A pilgrim, perhaps” (84). A pilgrim is someone who goes on a religious journey, visiting a place of religious significance. I think of this place, not as a place but as a particular point that he had to reach. If this adventure of McCandless’ would have been considered as a religious journey, would people still have responded negatively to such an adventure? Not everyone agrees that some religions are considered to be normal but there must be some respect for religions. Anyways, McCandless had reached a significant religious-like point before his death. He had realized what he had truly not been happy alone and had wanted to share his happiness with others from his dangerous experiences which he had been successfully living through for a long period of time in harsh conditions.
In response to Jake’s response to Danielle’s post…
When people read about Chris McCandless’s adventure and his death they are angered because of his stupidity of even going on his adventure. I agree with Jake that people are actually jealous of Chris because he was able to do what most people would be afraid to. Chris went into the wild and died without regret. He was a very young man but he was a happy young man. Most people live normal lives but are not happy. The ipod metaphor was clever. Some people buy an ipod for a high unreasonable price while other people buy cheaper MP3 players that have a better value. The people that bought the expensive ipod are going to be jealous of the people that bought the cheap MP3 player that can hold more songs. Same thing with Chris. Chris went on an adventure to be happy while other people decided to live normal lives and be unhappy. So in reality jealousy is the reason for all the angry letters sent by all the angry people.
pg 174
"...... had mused that Chris" was born into the wrong century. He was looking for more adventure and freedom than today's society gives people."
" He simply got rid of the map. in his own mind, if nowhere esle, the terra would thereby remain incognita."
" Thinking that his escape route had been cut off, he returned to the bus-a reasonable course of action, given his tropographical ignorance. But why did he then stay at the bus and starve? Why, come August, didn't he try once more to cross the Teklanika,when it would have been running significantly lower, when it would have been safe to ford?"
Chris was a unique young man. His way of thinking is very different than most young men out there. He believes that without the technology that we have now, he can travel a place which many people wouldn't. He's a stubborn hitch hiker. If he wasn't so ignorant he wouldn't of threw away his map then he would still be alive right now. The map showed him a way to cross the Teklanika, but he was stupid to threw that away. I know its a good thing to believe in yourself that you can do anything on your own but when it comes to things like this of living in the wild it's obvious that you need help and good equipment to survive. Chris gave up when it came to depending on himself in the very end. Just because he though there was no way he can get cross he quit. He's not as strong as he thought of himself as. Chris gave up too easily and he didn't even go back later on to try to find another way to get cross. He just gave up just like that. Never give up on something you started even if things may get in your way of completing it. He should of never gave up on his hopes of getting across the Teklanika. Chris is a stubborn, ignorant man and because of the way he thought of the world that's what ended his life.
In response to Meredith’s post….
The quotation is absolutely true. As Illiana and Meredith said McCandless resisted control so he can be absolutely free. McCnadless from the start dislike his father for his controlling and nature which was partly why he decided to go on his adventure. He never wanted to continue his education after high school and even in school he flunked physics because he didn’t want to follow the lab format. In today people conform to mainstream society. We all want to be “normal.” We do what our friends do and ask our friends to do what we want to do so that we are not the only person pursuing an activity. And, here comes McCandless who goes off and does his thing, oblivious to what other consider as normal. Society has made us uncomfortable to take a new unbeaten path.
responsing to J.J’s quote
Nature is a nice place to explore but than again it is a dangerous place to be by yourself.Chris thought walking into the wild as if its his homeland, as if he knows everything by heart but he was wrong. He thought he would find himself in the wild but instead of finding himself he found death. Chris looked at the adventure of Alaska as a place for him to get away from everything in the world that made him unhappy but he was wrong. Being in the wild can be an exciting trip. The nature shows you so much that you can't find anywhere esle but it can also hurt you in so many ways if you're thinkin gtoo ahead of yourself.
“…And this was most vexing of all,” he [Chris] noted, “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED.”
“It is tempting to regard this letter notation as further evidence that McCandless’ long, lonely, sabbatical had changed him in some significant way. It can be interpreted to mean that he was ready, perhaps, to shed a little of the armor he wore around his heart, that upon returning to civilization, he intended to abandon the life of a solitary vagabond, stop running so hard from intimacy, and become a member of the human community.” (Krakauer, 189)
This is a major important characterization quotation for many reasons. All throughout the novel, Chris McCandless is known as a young man who is not a very loving, over-romantic person. He tends to shy away from lovers, and crushes, and live a solitary, virgin life style. The way he went on with his life showed that he didn’t become depressed that he didn’t have a lover or anything, and that he seemed to be ok with that. He believed that he didn’t need to become close with anyone, to be a happy person. Chris bonded with people, only to a certain point, and that seemed more than enough to fulfill his happiness at the time, but now, that old idea completely changed.
After being alone, having no one to talk to, laugh with, or share concerns with, Chris McCandless seemed to have cracked. He survived pretty long, probably longer than what people would have thought he could last, with out any companion at all. Through his long journeys, Chris was very strong to outlast the loneliness, but after a while, it appears as if he got to a point realizing that no, you cannot be completely happy by yourself, and he even wrote it down. This is such an exciting quotation, because it demonstrates that Chris does have a warm heart, and that he has feelings, and emotions like everyone else. This passage proves its importance, because it illustrates Chris McCandless as a different person, than how he used to be a long time ago.
“Children are innocent and love justice, while most of us are wicked and naturally prefer mercy” (Krakauer, 117)
This quote symbolizes the erosion on society. As people stay in the environment they’re born in it has an affect on them and their morals. At first, before people have time to be temped by the vices of society, people desire what they see as justice, an eye for an eye. That is before they grow up in society and when they are presented with the moment to choose between right and wrong, they usually cannot keep the standard that they so zealously preached to others. This decline in one’s own moral standards makes it so they become more forgiving to others of the same folly. Unlike the so many hypocrites from society, Chris was rigorous in following his own standards of morals, especially the standards he held his father up to as a teenager. This view of the world and its people in either black or white is no doubt what drove him away from society, considering that even by people’s own standards they fall into the gray region. To Chris society was just a disease that ate away at the morals of those who lived in it, and Chris didn’t want to become one of those hypocrites who he so passionately detested.
“Like not a few of those seduced by the wild, McCandless seems to have been driven by a variety of lust that supplanted sexual desire. His yearning, in a sense, was too powerful to be quenched by human contact. McCandless may have been tempted by the succor offered by women, but it paled beside the prospect of rough congress with nature, with the cosmos itself. And thus was he drawn north, to Alaska.” (Krakauer 66)
McCandless was so strongly aroused by the wild that in his world, human contact was unnecessary. By choosing the route to Alaska, where humans are scarce, McCandless turned his back against the rest of the world, and rejects human contact. His need for adventure overcomes his want of sexual contact. Since McCandless had a charm for connecting with others extremely well, he knew he had the power to attract others. On the other hand, it would be extremely difficult for him to connect with solely the wild. Therefore, he produces an obstacle for him to overcome and truly fulfill his life of “wants and needs”.
Satisfied, apparently, with what he had learned during his two months of solitary life in the wild, McCandless decided to return to civilization: It was time to bring his “final and greatest adventure” to a close and get himself back to the world of men and women, where he could chug a beer, talk philosophy, enthrall strangers with tales of what he’d done. He seemed to have moved beyond his need to assert so adamantly his autonomy, his need to separate himself from his parents. Maybe he was prepared to forgive their imperfections; maybe he was even prepared to forgive some of his own. McCandless seemed ready, perhaps, to go home. (Krakauer 168)
Apparently, Chris has stopped being the ignorant person (or so he thinks) that he once was and decided to do what he should have done a long time ago. He’s growing up and learning to forgive others and especially himself. At this point in the story, Chris doesn’t show his aggressive side anymore, hinting at him finding a “calm.” However, he’s still an ignorant person as this is a conclusion where individuals can arrive to without having to forcibly starve yourself or burn your secular possessions. Couldn’t he have thought of better ways to deal with a little family downtime? And whatever happened to his ideal “simple” life? Is he giving it all up now that he’s simply finished? I guess for Chris, it was just a little too late.
In response to Kenji's quote
Parents do have a great influence on their child’s life. I also think the goal to please them and live up to expectations is a powerful force, especially when those expectations are not met. They were probably so accustomed to succeeding that they thought living a life as mundane as their parents would put them into a life where they would grow to be as demanding of their own children and fight like their own parents did. In order to escape the same destiny as their own parents they chose to flee society in search of somewhere where there were no expectations for them, were no one had a plan for them.
“On July 2, McCandless finished reading having marked several passages that moved him:
‘He was right in saying that the only certain happiness in life is to live for others… I have lived though much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor – such is my idea of happiness. And then, on top of that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps – what more can a heart of a man desire?’
Then on July 3, he shouldered his backpack and began the twenty-mile hike to the improved road.” (Krakauer 169)
The meaning of McCandless’s life is to obtain ‘wealth’. In McCandless’s terminology, his ‘wealth’ is happiness. By going on his great journey, McCandless seeks the meaning of his life and finds a new way to obtain happiness.
In this quote, McCandless finishes not only Tolstoy’s ‘Family Happiness,’ but also his epic odyssey. Through out his whole journey McCandless was searching for ‘what is needed for happiness’. By finishing Tolstoy’s ‘Family Happiness,’ McCandless finds out that being isolated from the world and “running [away from] the forces of darkness…” (112) was not the only way to obtain happiness.
McCandless learns that happiness can also be obtained when around other people. He learns that Tolstoy’s idea of happiness is helping people and enjoying “rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor” (169). Most of these are impossible when living isolated from other human beings.
That’s why McCandless ‘shouldered his backpack and began the twenty-mile hike to the improved road’(169) one day after finishing Tolstoy’s ‘Family Happiness.’
Iliana wrote: “He believed that he didn’t need to become close with anyone, to be a happy person. Chris bonded with people, only to a certain point, and that seemed more than enough to fulfill his happiness at the time, but now, that old idea completely changed…After being alone, having no one to talk to, laugh with, or share concerns with, Chris McCandless seemed to have cracked.”
McCandless truly “cracked” as human contact vanished from his life. As the end of the novel approached, McCandless wanted a way back into the human world; however, he was trapped within the barriers of Alaska. As a result of his gradual disappearance from the world, once everyone forgot about him, he no longer had any means of survival and existing on the planet.
Response to Vitor’s post:
Vitor writes, “If Chris McCandless actually was stupid and reckless, then how come he managed to survive for so long? ” (182) and “It was a series of unfavorable events that killed Chris, first the Teklanika river’s high flow, which stopped Chris from leaving the wild, and later eating seeds that were never reported as toxic but, for his misfortune, were toxic at this time of the year.”
I totally agree that McCandless was an intellectual that understand exactly what he was putting himself though. Any idiot would even understand the risks of this Alaskan adventure. So, why do people call him stupid and crazy? It was not his fault that he had unfortunate events that he could not control. He had to let nature take its course. Anything can happen. He knew of the dangers of everything he had done. He took chances and ended up dying. He knew what he was doing, that he would probably die. He wasn’t stupid. Was he crazy? Who is normal? What is normal? Why is he crazy? Is it because it’s something most people would not do? So that must mean Spencer Silver was crazy for inventing post-it notes. He did something that was considered to be crazy at the time it was invented and almost everyone uses them at school and other places now. McCandless is not crazy for doing something he wanted to do. Even though it was drastic, he still wanted to challenge himself and understand himself more. He was fully committed to his journey and with a passion like that, how can anyone not admire him? Everyone lives their lives in different ways. McCandless did not have to conform to find out more about life. He had his own way of living and in the end it was worth it.
In reponse to Jin's first post...
“He screams and beats canoe with oar. The oar breaks. Alex has one spare oar. He calms himself. If loses second oar is dead. Finally through extreme effort and much cursing he manages to beach canoe on jetty and collapses exhausted on sand at sundown. This incident led Alexander to decide to abandon canoe and return north.” (Krakauer 36).
When you say nature, I see "green forests, rocks everywhere, and exotic birds." I interpret it as human nature, however. Your selected quote shows an agitated, angry nature of Chris McCandless. Typically, he's a pretty optimistic guy, but screaming, beating the canoe with it's oar, and cursing? This isn't the Chris McCandless that most of his acquaintances know. Also, it's these occasional, yet rare moments that show Chris' somewhat hypocritical(?) nature. At first, he relied on the canoe, but then later abandoned it out of frustration, typical human emotion.
in response to roledines comment:
“Alex is not able to admit to his faults because he does not want to become corrupt or even looked as the same as ordinary people.”
I agree Alex does not want to admit to his faults. However its not because he does nto want to become corrupt. It is because he does not want to let himself down. He's never failed at anything he's done before. If he admits he's wrong now, he will feel as if he's failed everything. Chris has always done well in school, sports, anything he's done. If he admits his faults, it will only upset him and make him feel as if he needs to do more than just achieve what he is doing in the wilderness.
In response to Roledine’s post ….
Chris McCandless throughout most of his life had been a very successful person. Just like what Danielle said it seemed that whatever he tried he would excel at it. He succeeded in killing the moose but was unsuccessful at preserving it so it won’t be a waste. I would have to agree with Roledine that the waste hit him hard since nature was probably McCandless’ god. This event may have been the turning point of his adventure when he reconsiders returning back to society and his family. He might have realized that leaving his family not knowing of his whereabouts would cause great suffering to him. He learns to forgive himself for his errors and to move on and also that of his parents.
In Response to Nam’s comment
I don’t think that Chris wanting to return to society was him coming to his senses at all. Someone of such strong opinions and ideals cannot be seen as ‘ignorant’ simply because he found a different way of living. And also his travel to the wild was not to escape his parents; he could remain safely in society and still not have to ever see them again. He went to the wilderness to find fulfillment by what he saw as a real challenge. Rather than live a life where he was great an A student with exceptional athletic ability, he chose to make life interesting by putting himself up against an opponent who had endless obstacles to overcome; nature.
In response to Tom's first post...
On weekends, when his high school pals were attending keggers and trying to sneak into Georgetown bars, McCandless would wander the seedier quarters of Washington, chatting with prostitutes and homeless people, buying them meals, earnestly suggesting ways they might improve their lives.
Chris didn't understand how people could possible be allowed to go hungry, especially in this country, says Billie. He would rave about that kind of thing for hours. (pg113)
I agree 100% that he very much contradicts himself. The passage just goes to show more of Chris' hypocrite manners. He would think about people being hungry and starving, but in the end, he becomes the same thing that he wanted to prevent. So in a sense, Chris McCandless is a walking, talking contradiction. Sometimes, it's funny how the human behavior works.
in response to merediths second post:
I agree completely that people alwasy yearn for something they don't have. In Chris's case this is freedom. This "yearning" sensation he has drives him to do what he does. Meaning walking alone into the wild with no communication to his family or anyone else. None to his family for them being the reason he had no freedom to begin with. I also agree that becoming close to certain people he met in Alaska also made him realize that he needs more than freedom. Made him realize that he needs human contact or something of that matter to live a happy life. By the time he realized this though, he had made a few mistakes with the wilderness and it was too late to get out. People definately set goals in life because they want to achieve it. Meredith is right, if people didnt set goals, they would sit around and do nothing their whole life.
“S.O.S I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here. I am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of God, please remain to save me…”
If Chris McCandless’ actions weren’t aggravating enough before, this little number should really do the trick. After everything this “young man” had done to himself, to his family, and to various others by unnecessarily endangering his own life, he simply goes for a second round of slapping everyone in the face. The S.O.S. note is the most contradicting part of this whole mess, and it should anger even those whose hearts are bigger than McCandless’ thick head. Sympathy, of course, is natural, and many will sympathize for this poor kid. However, it’s difficult to read what were his final words without feeling a surge of anger. The note, which is over-looked by many due to its kind placement on only page twelve, shows everyone that Chris actually does have a functioning brain. He truly understands, after two years of torture, that he cannot survive this lifestyle of his in the wild, as well as the fact that he so desperately wants out of it. One can only guess if he knew all along and secretly desired to get out. As Krakauer states late in the book, McCandless wanted to write a memoir to show the world of his greatness, and to show any diary entries of him saying “I’m an idiot” on day three would defeat the purpose. This backs up the idea of those who believe that Chris was not an insane young man who belonged in a nut house, but was just a man who made foolish mistakes and was flat out lost in this world.
He’s growing up and learning to forgive others and especially himself. At this point in the story, Chris doesn’t show his aggressive side anymore, hinting at him finding a “calm.”-Nam
I agree with the idea that Chris’s maturing has a lot to do with his attempt to return home. Following bison and caring only for yourself is something that is really easy to do when you are just a young man, like Chris is. But when you get older, it gets harder and harder to do that and Chris knew it. “I got the impression that this Alaska escapade was going to be his last big adventure... and that he wanted to settle down some,”(Krakauer, 66) Westerberg observes. When a person is just a boy, he lives the life his parents want him to live. When he becomes a young man, he lives the life he wants to live. And when he becomes a man, he lives the life that others want him to live (i.e., his family). When a person becomes a man, he has to settle down and get married and provide for his wife and kids. When Chris reaches that phase of his life (and he will reach that phase, as independent men have inevitably reached that phase all throughout history), he too will have to sacrifice his independence for security. Chris’s old recipe for happiness, independence = happiness, doesn’t work for a man with a family.
Maybe Chris’s internal clock is starting to chime; just as it called him to the West after high school and again after College, it’s now telling him to settle down and accept new responsibilities and end this part of his life.
In Response to Danielle A3…
Danielle is right on the mark. In the following quote Alex Supertramp (Chris) talks about the counles amounts of people who do not follow their dreams.
"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, 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." (Alex Supertramp)
These ‘many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation’ are the people who call Alex a fool, but in reality, they are the ones who are fools because they fail to obtain their true purpose in life, which is to follow one’s dreams.
"I agree Alex does not want to admit to his faults. However its not because he does nto want to become corrupt. It is because he does not want to let himself down."
I agree with the possibility that it's because he does not want to let himself down. However, what also needs to be taken into account is the fact that Chris may not even be aware of his faults. Also, if he is aware of what they are, he may not actually consider them faults. This, of course, doesn't make him crazy, it makes him human, and for the record: humans do not belong in the wild.
"...they are the ones who are fools because they fail to obtain their true purpose in life, which is to follow one’s dreams."
It's wonderful that someone in this world has lived out their dream--it really is, because it rarely happens. However, I find it strange--comical even--that Alex is defended by many people. Tomorrow, I am going to walk into class and demand everyone to call me "Frank". I am going to do this because I am insecure about who I really am, and even though I may have a lot of potential, I want to be someone else. Frank is my new character, but no I'm not a fool.
Roledine wrote: “When he landed his biggest prize the moose, he thought he could make it last so that he did not have to kill any more animals. However, when he realized he could not care for the meat, it hit Alex really hard because he took one of natures creates in vain.”
Earlier in the novel, Billie said that “Chris didn’t understand how people could possibly b allowed to go hungry, especially in this country.” This shows how strongly McCandless is against the wasting of food. He was so disappointed that in the world people are actually starving, that when he had no choice but to make the moose go into waste, it shattered his soul. When McCandless was finished castigating himself for the waste, he, in resolution, understood his errors and moves on with his life.
In Response to Vitor P3…
Alex Supertramp is no fool. He knew what he was up against in his Alaskan Odyssey. He had faced similar extremes in the Mexican canals. He was equipped well enough to live over 100 days in such extreme conditions. The caribou/moose incident proves that he was definitely not incompetent. The reason of his down fall was not his over confidence but a mistake of choosing the wrong thing to eat. “McCandless simply made the mistake of ingesting the seed pods”(194) of the H. alpinum potatoes. This was a reasonable mistake because McCandless’s guide said “nothing about the seeds being toxic.”(193) Therefore, Alex was not “immature enough to overestimate his own health” (Vitor).
“Do you blame me for staying here, where I feel that I belong and am one with the world around me. It is true that I miss intelligent companionship, but there are so few with whom I can share the things that mean so much to me that I have learned to contain myself…I know that I could not bear the routine and humdrum of the life that you are forced to lead. I don’t think I could ever settle down. I have known too much of the depths of life already, and I would prefer anything to an anticlimax.” (Ruess, 87)
Chris McCandless’s journey into the wild has puzzled many people. What was going on in this young man’s mind? Why did he choose to go on this adventure? Many people did not understand Chris’s actions because it was something that only a few would attempt. By trying to understand others, like Chris, who give up society to embrace nature, people are able to learn more about Chris’s decisions in doing some things. This is reason to why Krakauer writes about Ruess. In this excerpt of Ruess’s letter to his brother, readers are able try and comprehend how Chris is able to leave companionship. Reuss admits that he misses “intelligent companionship”, but there aren’t many people he can share his feelings with. Chris must have felt the same way, because as his father’s “favored” child, he was more pressured and oppressed than the rest of his siblings, although he was very close to Carine, “the differences between the siblings were greater than their similarities” (129), and also in college he had many friends, but he spent his days reading Thoreau and others of whom his friends must not have been into. Reuss also comments on not being able to live a routine life, because he has already experienced a lot of what life has to offer. In Chris’s adventures, he has also experienced a lot in meeting new people and testing out his limits. Once a person experiences an incident that gains them knowledge and causes them to feel intense emotions, that person would never be able to go back to life before the occurrence. Take soldiers at war for example. During war, soldiers have a different mindset than when they are at home. Some people would never dare kill a person at home but in war mode it is kill or be killed.
“However, he’s still an ignorant person as this is a conclusion where individuals can arrive to without having to forcibly starve yourself or burn your secular possessions. Couldn’t he have thought of better ways to deal with a little family downtime?" (Nam)
How is he ignorant in the way he dealt with his problems? His family was not the only reason why he went on this adventure. Sure, they were a big part of his problems, but he was also influenced by other factors like influential works of Thoreau and London. . After reading these books, Chris was influenced into finding the answer to his happiness. He was the type of person who loved challenges and over coming them. He questioned society and wondered if people were able to steer clear of it. He wanted to know things beyond his understanding and so went in search for the answers. If people didn’t bother to answer the unanswerable, the world we live in today would not be the same, because we are only able to advance in life by understanding the world around us. Other people may have dealt with similar problems differently, but nobody is the same. One student may be able to solve a math problem in 2 to 3 steps, while another student takes 5 or 6 steps. It takes different experiences for different people to understand more about themselves. For Chris, a life in the wild enabled him to forgive faults of others and to learn more about the world and himself.
"for the record: humans do not belong in the wild" (joe)
Who is to say the humans do not belong in the wild? Sure today in society the earth no longer consists of just land, trees, and water, but didn't life start out with just these things and maybe more. Didn't people used to live in the wild and have to find food instead of shopping in supermarkets, back in the day? Where do human's belong? Trying to find the answer to this is like trying to find the purpose of life.
In response to jj's comment on Danielle’s initial post
To say that Chris is not overly arrogance is a false statement. Since birth, he is at the top of the list in almost all the activities. In school, he achieved almost straight A's with A FEW exception. In term of sports, Chris is selected as the captain of the Cross Country team, which he later developed his own technique in strengthening the team. Economically, he is a " natural-born capitalist with an uncanny knack for making a buck" (115). For someone who is as talented him as Chris is, not being arrogance would be a understatement. When he goes out into the wild, he did not underestimate it's power. He simply overestimated himself. He thinks that he will overtake the nature just like everything else that he had tried.
in response to Jake's initial comment.....
If Chris have to be distinguished as begin an libertarianism and anarchism. i would say that he's an anarchism. He is against the idea of being governed by any form of authority. "He had trouble with the whole idea of parents" (115). He hates the idea of being told what to do. he believes that no one have the right to govern another person's right under any circumstances. on a larger scale, government can be viewed as a parent for the society. It's job is to ensure that none of it's "kids" breaks any rules. Just as how he hates when his parents tells him what to do, he hates the whole idea of how the government is influencing peoples life. How else would you explain the fact that McChandless BURNED all his money before he set up on his journey. In class, we had a whole discussion about how the currency symbolized the government itself. By burning the money, he is saying "death to the government".
“Now after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure. The climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution. Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking bring him to the great white north. No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone on the land to become lost in the wild.” (McCandless 163)
Chris McCandless is an enigma, even in death he is one. The reason McCandless is considered to be such a puzzle was that no one really understood why he had turned to the wild. People debate over his decisions and are always questioning his reasoning. Is he insane? Is he suicidal? Was he stupid to do what he did? Or simply brilliant? The fact of the matter is, no one truly knows what Chris McCandless was thinking. This is why this passage is important to the characterization of McCandless, for it shows a glimpse of why Chris took to the wild.
Chris McCandless was looking for the greatest challenge (or adventure) to man in order to “conclude [his] spiritual revolution.” From this passage it was concluded that Chris McCandless took to the wild in order to purify himself. Because when he feels that by surrounding himself with nature, then he won’t be poisoned by civilization and it will aid him to find his meaning of life.
However, was that what truly happened? It is known that Chris McCandless did want to return to society, “McCandless decided to return to civilization: It was time to bring his “final and greatest adventure” to a close and get himself back to the world of men and women, where he could chug a beer, talk philosophy, enthrall strangers with tales of what he’d done.” (Krakauer 168) From this passage, the reader can feel the hypocrisy that McCandless had represented. This man took to wild to find himself, but only after two months of living away from the tainted world, he wants to return to it. Returning would mean that his inner being would become tainted again, and his adventure would be for not.
Chris McCandless was just a young man, who wanted answers to his questions. And like most people his age, he was arrogant, ignorant, proud, and determined to achieve his goal. Unfortunately, like most people, he had a change of heart and decided to come back. Chris McCandless’ whole adventure turned out to be a huge hypocrisy, that after two long years of searching, he had finally found the perfect environment to purify himself. But it just took two months for him decide otherwise and change his meaning of life from avoiding others to complete his spiritual revolution to “being useful to people whom is easy to do good…”(Krakauer 169) The complete contrast of his ideals is something that is quite common in this book. And it should pose no surprise that after a period time of complete isolation, Chris McCandless wanted to return. It is unfortunate that he never had the chance to do so.
responing to Joe's comment
All humans began life in the wild back in those days. Our ancestors all started out in the wild, surviving with the land, water , trees and the beauty of the nature. Back then they had to live off the food that was giving to them by God to gather and hunt. Humans once belonged to the wild but where do we belong to now? The wild was a home to all living things years ago. There weren't cities of supermarkets, shooping centers and none of the technology we have now. Where is our real home now?
He would think about people being hungry and starving, but in the end, he becomes the same thing that he wanted to prevent. So in a sense, Chris McCandless is a walking, talking contradiction. (Nam)
In response to Nam’s post, I doubt that Chris wanted to do himself in by starvation. Although I agree that he contradicts himself throughout the entire book, but that doesn’t mean his intention was to die of the same thing he wanted to prevent. The fact that he did was just unfortunate and ironic. Chris was the same as everyone else his age, he wanted to defy his parents and prove that he could do something on his own, all at once. However, while others simply go to college or become a “rebel”, Chris took it to a whole new level or extreme. Much like the author, who climbed mountains and became a contractor to spite his father, after a period of time, Krakauer realized what his father was trying to do. “He built a bridge of privileged for me, a hand-paved trestle to the good life, and I repaid him by chopping it down and crapping on the wreckage.” (Krakauer 149) Chris had lived out his dream and the entire time believed that his father was a hypocritical idiot, but by the near end of his adventure, Chris had probably realized what his father was trying to do and wanted to return to society.
In response to kim's comment...
Home is where you feel at the most sincere and peace at. At least, that is what I interpret home as. Chris felt that nature was home because it was where he felt the most comfortable as. Or at least for a time being, after spending time in the wild, he may have felt uncomfortable in his home or betrayed by it, especially when he died from “living off the land.”
On page 96 in Into the Wild by Jack Krakauer discusses many men who have ditched the typical way of living, for a more adventurous lifestyle. When interviewing an experienced man named Sleight he says something that relates much to Chris McCandless, “We like companionship, see, but we cant stand to be around people for very long. So we go get ourselves lost, come back for a while, then get the hell out again.” This quotation is significant because it shows Chris as Alex Super-tramp. It sums up his character because he loved nature and humans are part of that, yet they also drive him away. The theme of this quote is vagabonds angst, showing that some people actually go out and do the things they dream about. In society these things may seem absurd yet they are more normal than wanting to become a famous Hollywood actor. When Sleight says “we like companionship” it shows that as humans we need to communicate signifying our nature. I agree with Meredith when she says “He was able to resist the lack of freedom in society by removing himself from it” sometimes people just need a break from the strenuous demands of the world.
In response to Kim's comment...
Home is where you feel at the most sincere and peace at. At least, that is what I interpret home as. Chris felt that nature was home because it was where he felt the most comfortable as. Or at least for a time being, after spending time in the wild, he may have felt uncomfortable in his home or betrayed by it, especially when he died from “living off the land.” However, there were other instances where Chris McCandless got angry with nature. “He screams and beats canoe with oar. The oar breaks….Finally through extreme effort and much cursing he manages to beach canoe on jetty and collapses exhausted on sand at sundown. This incident led Alexander to decide to abandon canoe and return north.” (Krakauer 36) This moment shows an entirely different side of Chris McCandless, he swears and is actively violent. And in the end, he abandons the canoe. Chris had probably felt betrayed by the lack of reliability in the canoe. I can’t help but think that this is symbolic towards Chris’ relationship with his normal “home” with his parents. Obviously, his relationship with his Dad is awful, which is accountable considering what his father did. When Chris found out about his father’s other family, he felt utterly deceived. His entire existence (morally at least) was based off his father’s, and it was all a lie. This started the rift between Chris and his family (namely his parents) and after some time, Chris just left them or had abandoned them also. Chris McCandless turned to the wild as his new “home” since his old one proved to be disastrous, however, as time grew on, Chris realized that his home wasn’t with the wild but with people he cared for (although, I doubt he was thinking of his parents.), “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED.” (Krakauer 189) Unfortunately, Chris never got a chance to experience his new take on happiness.
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