There are quite a few debates on how McCandless was responsible for his own death. I think the main one has to be that he simply did not know what he was getting himself into and that he had a specific kind of advantaged pride that led him to accept as true that he could “study up” on palatable plants and by dressing game, in order to survive in the wild. In the first chapter, the author interviews Jim Gallien, the gentleman who gave McCandless a ride to the trail that marked the beginning of his trip. Gallien noticed that Chris brought only a bag of rice for his food, and his gun was too small to hunt big game such as elk and moose. Even though he didn’t have a compass, or even a good map, McCandless could not be persuaded out of his adventure. As Gallien said, Chris was “excited. He couldn’t wait to head out there and get started.”
This in turn made verified the fact that Chris McCandless intentionally cut himself off from civilization in a journey to find himself. In doing so, he made the error of never completely clarifying his whereabouts to others, preventing them from maintaining notes on him while he journeyed alone in Alaska. Some also see it as a measured suicide, based on a letter he composed: ‘If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again I want you to know you’re a great man. I now walk into the wild.’ When the adventure did indeed prove deadly, this sensational statement drove significant assumption that… when he hiked into the bush, he had no plan of ever walking out again.
Christopher was a teenager who was born in a wealthy family. He graduated from one of the best colleges in the United States. However, he wasn’t satisfied with his life and didn’t understand what the reason about his existence was. Therefore, he decided to abandon his family and culture to find his genuine identity, which was his main objective. He believed that he wasn’t the person that he was thought to be. Clearly, he was ready to victimize himself to find his new self and his true existence. He went on a lengthy journey that ended in the state of Alaska. After living alone for around 115 days, he died due to starvation. Life is a blessing which is given by God. In life, we all have some accountability to implement, such as worshiping, helping our parents, and aiding and protecting our nation, which are holy tasks. We all come across adversities and predicaments.
Nevertheless, McCandless ignored all of these duties and chased his egocentric thought. Therefore, I believe that he was certainly irrational. Have you ever seen a hero who has avoided a place where he has come across problems, before? The answer is no because a hero is an individual who is prepared to face any complications in order to solve them. However, Christopher abandoned the area where he had difficulties, so his actions such as parting from his family, finances, and contacts pointed out that he was a fool. Young adults should be ready to expense their being in order to defend and progress their nations because if they don’t do it, who will? Nonetheless, Chris abandoned his culture instead of aiding and defending it.
Once, he said, “How important it is in not life necessarily to be strong but feel strong.” His choice was the contradictory of his quote because if he was tough or felt tough, he should have confronted his difficulties in the world, instead of his following this irrational judgment, which was deserting the public. In addition, he also gives a bad message to all adolescents. His actions revealed that leaving the people is a way to solve problems, though it is the opposite of reality. For example, you have an inner problem in your household and want to resolve it; do you ponder that leaving your house may help you answer it? No, it isn’t likely; therefore he was a fool. This isn’t the simple reason that convinced me that he was irrational; disregarding his faithful family and a great degree is another element. Even though he had a courteous and caring family and graduated from one of the best schools in the United States, he was thoughtless and deserted them.
His family provided him what he desired and mandated. For that reason, he was supposed to take care of his parents, but he didn’t even contemplate about it, and he also sacrificed his family to achieve his self-centered goal. When close relatives become old, they can’t live independently because they may face many difficulties which they don’t have the ability to solve. As a result, Christopher should have stayed at home to take care of his parents when they weren’t capable to run their personal lives. Additionally, nearly everybody tends to get a decent degree in order to get a respectable job. According to Chris’s story, I recognized that a professional degree can’t benefit you to get a job if you are a fool because Chris had a worthy degree, but he didn’t have any job due to his foolishness. He also said,” The core of man’s spirit comes from experience.”
However, he didn’t take any tasks in the social order to enhance his understanding. He should have gotten a great job and enhanced his skills. He also should have found what the reality was through functioning and living through it. However, he was a fool due to not having compassionate thoughts about these points. There are several people who say he was a brave man because he tried to be sovereign and find the truth. He also burnt his cash because he believed money is nothing for heroes. However, his ideas are totally illogical. For their first reason, he could have been independent in this country without the need to go out into the wilderness. For example, he could have wed the lovely girl who he encountered during his excursion and lived freely. He also might have found the truth while existing and functioning in his country. Although he went to find his true identity, he killed himself in the end. Wasn’t he a fool while going to discover something, but losing everything in the process? Also, burning money makes no one a hero but a fool. If a man has a cognizance, how can he burn money lest it is an indication of being foolish? Why didn’t he save it or offer it to someone else in need? Well, great question. I know why, because he was absolutely thoughtless.
In conclusion, even though I believe he was a fool, Chris McCandless was simply was living out his own best existence. Chris McCandless is not by any means an idiot; a fool is more of a reasonable title due to the fact that he was roaming across the undomesticated places of our country to give himself a high that nourishes his desire for exploration. But, when you envision yourself living out your fantasy, the thought sheds light on what you as an individual are most zealous for. Chris wanted to give up his life as a working civilian in his community. It is in the whole thing and everything we might experience. Many people can’t agree with his choice to live like a nomad. We just have to have the courage to turn against our habitual lifestyle and engage in unconventional living” (57).
Several people live within unfortunate environments and yet will not take the advantage to alter their condition because they are conditioned to a life of sanctuary, traditionalism, and opposition, all of which may seem to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more detrimental to the daring spirit within a man than a secure future. Chris inscribes in the same letter to Ron a stimulating message to wish Ron to relinquish his “old-fashioned” lifestyle, but also sheds light on his decision to go into the wilderness himself. Chris McCandless was deeply empathetic, and a noteworthy part of his travels comes from the bias of society and how inconsiderately and insatiably most Americans lived.
Chris strived to find his inner self and in doing so inspired many to follow their own dreams and for that he should be recognized. Not only could he not identify with living a life like that, but he was the kind of person who was real (57). This passage is symbolic to the fundamental part of Chris’s life in the wild. The very basic core of a man’s active life-force is his appetite for adventure and because it shows how Chris feels right after he walks into the wild. It was the place that his heart felt most at peace at and that’s a feeling all individuals deserve to experience.
