As I read John Krakauer's book Into the Wild,
I found that Chris McCandless' story was ridiculous. At first, it seemed like
McCandless was somewhat crazy but I feel that there is more to him than the
crazy and young man that his story portrays. In actuality, as Krakauer
describes, McCandless had a method to his madness and explains why he decided
to take on such a strange task that eventually resulted in his death.
When Chris McCandless began his journey across the
United States towards Alaska, he was trying to escape his monotonous life of
living in excess and in lies. His ideals came to the forefront as he justified
why he left his family and lives with little to no provisions. Although his
solution to his problems was a bit extreme, McCandless exhibited a kind of view
on life that exceeds the issues and stresses of life. He searches for more than
thrills on his journey and instead discovers a new self-meaning in the world.
McCandless bypasses the pettiness of our current society and lives in a world
where he is responsible only for himself. Because McCandless identified that he
disagreed with something and then ventured to separate himself from it, it
shows how strong-willed he was despite any rash decisions he made in the
process of liberating himself.
Nowadays, the initiative and conviction that McCandless
felt towards escaping society is seldom seen. Too many times people will find
an issue they disagree with, complain about it to themselves and others but they
fail to do anything about it. While McCandless didn’t necessarily change the
world to right its wrongs, he made a point to expel the issue from his life
completely. This kind of idealism and perseverance sets McCandless apart from
the other adventurers that Krakauer mentions in his book because they don’t have
as much motivation as him. McCandless realized something he disagreed with and
set out to make it right in his own life, an example that we can all follow,
but maybe not to the same extreme, in our own lives.
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