Mya, an American singer/songwriter, said, “‘Damage’ is about taking risks, stepping into new territory regardless of the outcome.” In the nonfiction book, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer portrayed how a young man, Chris McCandless, freely lived his life. Out of his own confident and naïve conscious, Chris was on his own post-college without asking for or wanting assistance from family or friends. Having the possession of all this newly introduced freedom, Chris decided to embark on his long awaited journey to Alaska, living off of nothing but land. He was far from prepared, but didn’t care enough. Chris McCandless deliberately took risks. Chris was deliberately taking a risk when he left his family to start his independent adventure with no money, …show more content…
Chris moved out of his apartment in Atlanta, Georgia and hit the road, leaving his life behind to start a more ominous and adventurous one. The author wrote, “Five weeks earlier he’d loaded all his belongings into his little car and headed west without an itinerary,” (Krakauer 22). This shows that Chris went with the flow when he left. He traveled to different locations based on instinct and intuition. Chris took a huge risk by packing his stuff and traveling west because, if anything, he knew that danger was the one thing on his itinerary and could not be avoided. From the start of his freshman year in college to his final year in college, Chris had taken many trips when he was given a break between semesters, which left his parents worried. He wouldn’t ask for permission, he’d leave his parents a note mentioning where he was headed, after he already left. On one of his trips, he found out some ugly truths about his father’s divorce and the things he did with his marriages. Chris graduated with nearly perfect grades, and not too long after receiving his diploma, he took off with all the resentment he had in him. The author wrote, “Shortly thereafter, he donated the balance of his bank account to OXFAM, loaded up his …show more content…
Krakauer portrayed the letter that Chris wrote to Burres while in Seattle. He had been living on the streets, now identifying himself as a “hobo” riding the rails. Chris was jumping trains without the thought of possibly getting caught and receiving consequences. A bull recognized his presence and was furious with Chris while kicking him off the train instead of firing his gun. Krakauer stated, “I got the last laugh when I caught the same train 5 minutes later and rode it all the way to Oakland” (53). This shows that all Chris had on his mind was a way of transportation. He had no thoughts about how many ways jumping trains could have gone wrong. Even after being caught, to take it a step further, Chris hopped on the same train he had been caught on. He knew there could be some sort of punishment for the disobedience and illegal actions he displayed, but didn’t think of it as anything more than a slap on the wrist; he deliberately took the risk of receiving consequences–possibly death– by breaking the rules twice in a row. Krakauer depicted how Chris traveled to the Stampede Trail from Carthage, South Dakota. After several hitchhiking attempts, he was finally able to get the attention of and catch a ride with Stuckey, a delivery man who was headed the same way Chris intended to go. Stuckey told him that he was unable to drive him the full distance, and Chris was unbothered by it and thankful for his
chris was a courageous person also a brave person who had so many reason he was this way read more to find out.throughout his journey he face so many people help him out through his journey like on page 16 when wayne westerberg come and pick up chris and transport him to where had to go which was saco hot springs 240 to the east on U.S highway 2. Chris always describes the person he is with ,Chris was not afraid to talk to this stranger with knowledge of his family. He told this kind thing to wayne westerberg chris main talk about how his family did not treat him right this is what gave chris the courage to leave his home.
If Chris had a map the outcome would have been completely different. Chris goes into the Alaskan bush in the winter while the rivers are still frozen over and are easy to cross. When Chris decides that it is time to leave and he feel like he accomplished what he wanted in total isolation without contacting anyone he knows and scaring his family making them think that he is dead, he tries to leave the same way he came in but the river that had once been frozen over is now a raging river with freezing temperatures from the glaciers and dangerous rapids that will kill him if he attempts to cross. Chris decides that it would be better if he went back to the bus and stayed longer to try and make a plan to get out without dying. Chris first job was to get food he has a wild edible plant encyclopedia that he uses to forage for edible plants.
Chris is showing signs that he is ready to leave the wilderness when he leave his base camp but discovers that there is no way out. There is no way out because the measly stream he crossed only a couple of months ago is now a raging river. What Chris does not realize is there is actually a way to cross the river about a half mile away. Chris does not know there is an alternate way to leave because he felt he did not need to bring a map. Chris was ready to return to civilization and Jon says, “McCandless decided to return to civilization:
Chris McCandless running away into the wild was very selfish and self-centered because he didn’t just leave his old life, he left his caring family, friends, and even gave up a hard earned scholarship, which eventually led to his death. Because of these actions this verified the fact that Chris McCandless purposely cut himself off from civilization in a journey to find himself, In doing so, he made a big mistake of never completely clarifying his whereabouts to others, preventing them from knowing where he was while he adventures alone in Alaska. Some also see this as a strange way of suicide, based on the death note he had written, “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.
The second reason, Chris was reckless because he wanted by himself to leave the house. Doesn’t care about his family. Doesn’t tell anyone and leaves home secretly, he won't tell his family. In the text it says, “It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. ”(9).
“He needed money to buy some new gear… I even pfferd to buy him a plane ticket to Fairbanks” (Page 6). This evidence shows Chris arrogance, because he was donating all his money (over 20k), giving away, then later on burning and burying his essentials he could have used throughout his journey because he didn't think he needed it, leading to his downfall. This reveals thoughout his journey, Chris was given opportunities to receive help and use his tools and money to his advantage, but he refuesed because of his independent nature and arrogance, not thinking he would need these vital supplies, and help from
Chris had not talked to his family in years, and what others may have referred to as friendships were merely considered acquaintances by Chris. Chris had one person he was close to, and that was Wayne Westerberg. Wayne was a grain elevator operator that McCandless met while passing through Montana. Less than a day before entering the Stampede Trail, Chris sent a letter to Westerberg saying, “If my adventure proves fatal… I want you to know you're a great man”(69).
Chris McCandless running away into the wild is selfish because he left behind his loving family and friends, and gave up his hard-earned scholarship, which eventually led to his tragic death. Throughout the novel, the author refers to Chris as selfish and unprepared for
He also had a soft spot for his mother even though their relationship was complicated. He always found an escape and his main one for awhile was running. Eventually, Chris decided that he needed a longer distance and to leave his family. So, his next big goal was to hitchike to Alaska. “Chris was long gone.
Chris, being an adventurous 12 year old, was intrigued and wanted to continue on. Walt had stated that if Chris were older he would have just let him go on alone. Even when he was little Walt said that Chris “didn’t think the odds applied to him. We were always trying to pull him back from the edge” (Krakauer 109). Early on Chris was apprehensive and wasn’t afraid of the dangers.
Chris wanted to find himself, and he knew nature would be the place to do that. People will disagree, saying he should have at least let someone know where he would be, but if he did, his family would have found him and it would all be for nothing. I will be explaining
Thank you. Thank you. This quote stuck with Chris because it's what he wanted to do with his life. Live it to the fullest. I also think that he would have survived if he also brought a map because he was getting lonely and sad so he wanted to go back home to his family so he left the bus and he walked until he reached a river but the river was to strong
Chris wanted to leave but he couldn’t find his way out of the forest. Chris could’ve found his way back if he had a map. “He left the map in galliens truck” (krakauer). A map is key to surviving. If he had a map he would´ve known there was a cabin nearby.
“How is it … that a kid with some much compassion could cause his parents so much pain?” (Krakauer 104). Chris wanted to escape his abusive father and the poison of his life at home. No one can truly be at fault for wanting to find freedom in a way that they feel and know is best. McCandless was forced to make one of the hardest decisions of his life to save himself.
I would also like to say before I begin that Christopher was far ahead of his time and lived an idealist life which is hard to emulate in present world by any standards. Chris – as he was fondly called by her sister, made sure that every attempt to find him was in vain. He remained as meticulous in his preparation as he possibly could for spending a few months in the wilderness at Denali National Park. He seemed to find closeness and warmth in people after they stopped judging him and what assets he held. It is quite possible to refer Chris as retarded and insane because he let go of a worldly life and running after accumulating wealth.