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Chris Mccandless

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The Beat of Chris McCandless’ Drum

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is an account of Chris McCandless and his journey to his final destination of the great Alaskan frontier. Many songs by Eddie Vedder contribute to the readers understanding of the enigmatic Chris McCandless as well as his approach to life and time on the road. The three songs that reflect Chris’ struggles and philosophy are Far Behind, No Ceiling, and Guaranteed.

The first piece of music that mirrors Chris’s approach to life is Eddie Vedder’s Far Behind. Chris McCandless has a very unique approach to life. He believes that the less material possessions you have the better life will be. The reader knows this from a letter written to Ronald Franz. The letter included “... as a general rule spend as little as possible and you will enjoy it much more immensely” (Krakauer 58). Chris gave this advice to most of the …show more content…
Chris McCandless had a distraught relationship with his parents. So much so that one could say it was his reason for making the trek to across the states to Alaska. “That there’s nothing left to be concealed.” In the book, Krakauer discusses the family secret that made Chris extremely upset with his family. Chris’s father, Walt, maintained a relationship with his first wife long after Chris was born and even had a baby with her around the same time he was born. After two years of this secret boiling under his skin, believing his “entire childhood seem like fiction”(Krakauer 123), Chris turned inward and decided to leave his family to start a new life. Another line that reflects Chris’s life goes “As I walk the hemisphere I got my wish to up and disappear.” Chris did exactly that. He walked across the United States and went wherever he pleased. He was finally free from the suffocating life of Chris McCandless. The new Chris, Alexander Supertramp, was able to disappear from society pursue the life he

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