Blog 30

1. Describe specific connections between the text you read and your experiences in the many aspects of MSB (Into The Wild):

My experience during the Media Saves the Beach showed me a new perspective of nature and health of our valuable ecosystems. Into The Wild, Chris McCandless ventured into the wild scenic areas of the Americas and saw some of the most beautiful sights imaginable. In a way, MSB and Chris McCandless journey accomplished the same things, proving how beautiful nature is and how delicate it is.

Into The Wild (Nature Writing)

Was McCandless justified in the pain he brought to family and friends in choosing his own solitary course in life? Why or why not?

In 1992 the body of a young man was found in the Alaskan mountains. Chris McCandless, the protagonist of Into the Wild, was searching for his true self, but died in the process. Had Chris survived his solitary adventure as he likely planned, the pain he caused his family and friends could have been justified, but his death made that impossible.

McCandless followed his dreams, did what he wanted to, and pursued happiness, even at the expense of his family’s and friends’ pain. It is good to follow your dreams, and to pursue happiness for yourself; the right to pursue happiness is in our country’s Declaration of Independence. Chris knew this. So he ran away from home. The sudden absence of Chris pained his family, and it would be another two years before they would hear any news about him. Chris was following his dreams.

McCandless began referring to himself by a different name: Alex. “Two years he walks the earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road.” says Alex ‘Supertramp’ in May of 1992. In many ways Alex represented another personality inside Chris. Alex was the one who wanted to return when he was on his deathbed in the mountains of Alaska. Chris never intended to return. Chris didn’t care about his family; they were always trying to “buy his love” with their money. Because of this, money was one of the things Chris hated the most. He hated what it turned people into, such as greedy and inhumane. This hatred motivated him to later burn all of his cash and basically live moneyless for two years. His original intentions for his expedition were to get away from money, get away from family, and journey no matter how much it hurt his family. He believed he was justified, but after two years, Chris grew up he realized his intentions were not good.

Some criticized McCandless for being unprepared and untrained. An Alaskan park ranger said, “…he spent very little time learning how to actually live in the wild. He arrived at the Stampede Trail without even a map of the area. If he (had) had a good map he could have walked out of his predicament…Essentially, Chris McCandless committed suicide." McCandless came into the Stampede Trail with a bag full of materials insufficient to keep him alive. It was a wonder that he survived the two-month period that he did. He said in a letter that he was ready to “live off the land for a while”. That was Chris talking. Maybe that was Alex realizing the pain was too great for all and therefore not justified.

McCandless never got to say goodbye to his family, and he died alone in the wild. Some say that’s the way he wanted it, but some say he was going to return. His journal references that he wanted to return home, but some even say he lost his sanity right before his tragic death. The pain caused by his death, in some ways, was justified, and in other ways, it was not. Yes, he was a reckless kid in over his head, but he was also following his dreams. Chris probably never understood the pain he caused his family and friends, and even the many friendly characters he met on his expedition across the continent. The amount of pain Chris brought on by his unnecessary, horrendous, and untimely death cannot be justified.

Into The Wild Rough Draft Essay

Into The Wild Essay:

In 1992 a young man was found dead in the Alaskan mountains. Chris McCandless, the main character of ‘Into the Wild’, was searching for his true self, and died in the process of doing so. Because Chris McCandless wanted, some would say needed, to do something reckless, and his original intent was to survive and return home, his pain which he brought onto his family and friends was and will never be justified.

McCandless wouldn’t agree with the statement that him causing his friends and family emotional pain was justified, maybe the pre-journey Chris, but the Chris who grew during his venture into the wild, the post-journey Chris, wouldn’t. In the story ‘Into The Wild’ there are two Chris McCandless, and the story jumps from the present to the past and back around again, and because of that it is difficult to indentify which McCandless it is referring too. Luckily enough, the Author, Jon Krakauer, gives us a big hint. Chris renames himself several times, one name is his real one, Chris McCandless, one is Alex McCandless, and the last is Alex Supertramp, his alter ego. But along with those names, there is deeper meaning to the change of names. Three names are spread across two egos.

Many people criticized McCandless for not contacting or keeping contact with his parents and family. He did not have to tell his parents anything. He was doing what he wanted, not what other people wanted him to do and he was happy. Again, he didn’t have to do anything. He should have kept contact, or at least not pushed himself as far as he did, and returned before his demise.

Losing a family member is like pain that will never leave. It’s like plastic degrading, it never does, it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces. The pain for McCandless would/will never leave, and his death will never be justified, but he never really wanted to die. He wanted an adventure, and with his family it would never have happen, so he left. Although he doesn’t exactly hint at it until he is on his deathbed, I believe he always thought of returning. Alex/Chris originally set off into the Alaskan mountains after 2 years of adventuring to ‘live off the land’. In his journal he said he wanted to return, but only said this before he died.

Chris McCandless wouldn’t agree with the statement that him causing his friends and family emotional pain was justified, maybe the pre-journey Chris, but the Chris who grew during his venture into the wild, better known as Alex, wouldn’t agree. He probably knew it wouldn’t be, leaving without telling, and next they would hear he was dead.

Nature Reading

Read the italicized passage on page 168 that McCandless wrote and the italicized passage he highlighted from Tolstoy on page 169. Based on these writings and events in this chapter, what convinced McCandless that it was time to return to civilization? What did he learn from his time “in the wild”?

Chris learned what real living was like. He did not declare any regrets, and in some ways I feel and believe that he lost his sanity. He wrote in a poetic form and yet he described his ‘real’ life had begun, rebirth, that he has ‘real’ responsibilities. In the scariest way, what he wrote makes complete sense to me. It does make sense. Complete sense. I think that Chris learned what real living was like. When he ventured off he experienced so much, he covered more ground than most of us will in life, and he ran away from everything in his life, and yet he describes these ‘real’ responsibilities. It’s very weird.

Krakauer observes that it is not “unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders.” Explain whether McCandless would agree with Krakauer.

In 1990 Chris McCandless ran away from his parents and responsibilities, and did something “unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders”, but is that really that unusual? I think McCandless would agree with that statement.

It’s the reason why so many kids leave for the furthest away schools they got into, because they want to do something reckless before they get old and boring. But McCandless, and like a lot of young adults, wanted to do something even more reckless. But McCandless is a rare bread, in my opinion, for he actually did what so many kids threaten to do, he went ‘into the wild’. What is different about McCandless, or was different, is that he did it, but he had a reason. Lots of kids, in fact most of kids will attest to disliking their parents, McCandless did, but he also had a reason.

He hated his parents and always thought they were trying to buy him and his love, he hated money. He hated what money did to people, and his parents had lots of it. That was his reason. Reckless and stupid Chris left with not a lot.