Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, tells of Chris McCandless’ fatal journey to find eternal happiness. Although Chris came from a somewhat wealthy family, he left it all behind to wander the country experiencing life and nature as he thought it should be. He was an intelligent, head strong young man, who traveled the country with only what he could carry with him. He met some interesting people along his journey and whether they liked him or not, he always made a lasting impression. The people that knew him were devastated by his death in Alaska. Initially, I thought Chris was selfish to abandon those who cared about him, but then I realized if they really cared about him they would want him to be free to his own life and make his own mistakes. He made plenty of mistakes before he even went to Alaska.
After he died many more people became fascinated with his life and his story. He was a high achiever as a child but as he grew older, he started to find different things important. Instead of sports and grades, he began to feel very strongly about different causes like hunger in Africa. “During his senior year, he became obsessed with racial oppression in South Africa.” (Krakauer, pg. 113). He also spent a lot of time with this homeless in Georgetown. He began to isolate himself from his friends and family. His summer adventures became longer and longer until the day he left for good.
Chris often found comfort in some of his favorite authors who inspired him like Leo Tolstoy, Henry David Thoreau, and Jack London. He felt these men understood what he was about. Like Chris, they saw society as corrupt and capitalistic. Chris believed that people needed to challenge themselves with new experiences without being tied to society’s ideals. Only that way could a person ever know true happiness and freedom. This is what Chris McCandless was
