Into the World/Wild. Chris McCandless Character Review - Essay Example

Question1. My opinion of McCandless Introduction At the beginning of Into the World, the s that several controversies surround the life and death of Chris McCandless. He puts forward that some readers admired McCandless hugely for his noble ideas and courage; others fulminated that he was a reckless idiot, a wacko, a narcissist who perished out of arrogance and stupidity. Ideas are given basing on how carefully their utterances are crafted jointly to leave the most lasting impact. The narrative in Into the Wild is a significant one because Jon Krakauer effectively used Chris McCandless relationships and adventures and related them to the reader, making him seem a sympathetic character. Despite the fact that the character had some wicked behaviours, I have a strong feeling that he was a bit foolish but at the same time a hero, following his dream and for adhering a strict moral code. Chris McCandless is depicted in the book and subsequent movie, Into the World, as a young American adventurer who was extremely disappointed with the materialistic society in which he had been brought up. This made him to find the meaning of life through solitude, adventure, and survival in the wild. The author notes, “He read a lot. He used a lot of big words. I think maybe part of what got him into trouble was that he did too much thinking” (Krakauer 74). The young man began extended trips just after completing his high school level, surviving on little cash or equipment. His dream of finding fulfilment and self-discovery terminated when he toured Alaskan wilderness, a place where he hunted for food, studied, and wrote in a journal and spend nights in an abandoned bus. Life in this part of the world was not so favourable to McCandles. After living in the bus for a period of more than three months, he perished out of starvation. Chris McCandless is not a fool as such, considering that he did everything in his consciousness. That was what he thought was right and it should not be ignored that many people go out on trips and do rare activities daily, but they are never categorized as fools or heroes. This means that McCandless is not an exception; his story ought to be treated just like any other. For example, Krakauer explores characters like John Waterman and Gene Rosellini who had financially stable ranks, yet they turned away from their good, affluent lifestyles for the reason that they desired to focus more on the inner linkage with nature. Further, John Waterman and McCandless both felt insecure and had a deep desire to explore things that showed no response; these two characters are not categorized as fools. The author only tried to illustrate to the readers and subsequent viewers, a man who was incredibly eager and naive, but certainly not foolish or reckless. Krakauer articulates that “He was unheeded, happy, and near to the wild heart of life. He was alone and young and wilful and wild hearted, alone amid a waste of wild air and brackish waters and the sea harvest of shells and tangle and veiled grey sunlight” (Krakauer 24). The opinions of critical readers are what motivated me to read and understand this book deeper, only to rank McCandless as a thoughtful and cautious young man who valued independence and new life experiences, factors that actually contributed to his tragic death. The courage and confidence learned from individuals like Chris are what makes life an adventure in itself. People should not forget that it is not foolishness that makes a person lose his or her life. There must be good fortune and back-up plans that can make a person keep going. In this sense therefore, I can suggest that McCandless is both an idealistic fool and also a reckless hero. As a reckless hero, he went ahead to face a challenge, which he had no clue of how to fight. He had not trained himself of how to face the challenge; he did not have money, adequate and relevant equipment or weapons to do this. He definitely left a lifestyle that could be admired by many people in Washington to search for a life that could be claimed by very few people. What made him look even more foolish was the fact that he thought he could actually survive in the adverse wilderness conditions with only his wits. He is incredible but there could have been better ways to achieve his dream. Actually if one has to climb a mountain, he must look for the best way to go about it. It must be a cowardly but smart way of achieving a goal. However, Chris was brave enough to start up the journey to getting a precise solution to the existing dilemma by simply getting rid of the map. Personally, Chris would think that the terra would definitely remain an issue of focus. Even though I commend on his heroic nature, there is still proof that McCandless’ foolishness made him appear moody, broody, and impulsive to the extent that he sometimes harboured dark feelings of resentment against his father. Despite the fact that his rejection of hypocrisy and materialism is realty and that his determination to choose a life of his own is admirable, he sometimes acted out of these emotional intensity that he could not picture the real consequences. His strict perceptions of how he could survive in the wilderness prevented him from thinking widely to save his life. While he thought that he had escaped the human intimacy, of which he disliked, he goes to a place with little favours (Krakauer 55). He froze and served to death in a bus regardless of the fact that there was a bridge and a river less than two miles from where the same bus was. In such a desperate time in the wilderness, it was quite foolish for McCandless to stop his journey on a bus for an attempt to find a way to survive. Another illustration of his foolish heroism is depicted when the author illustrates that McCandless took the risk of surviving on the little stuff he had. He even had no idea of where he could end up next. I think that the young man was too immature to live a life on his own because no one else would dare show to the world that he can endure such conditions. However, a heroic idealism comes in when I thought that it is not a usual phenomenon for a newly graduated youth to have an idea like that of McCandle without getting help from anyone. McCandless was sensible and had ethical morals and ideas that developed his deeper character and initiated an appeal to ethos. On the issue of human intimacy, it appears that he was somehow driven to women but retained his celibacy as innocent as a monk. Moral purity and chastity were ethics that this young man milled over for a long period of time. While reading the works of Thoreau and Tolstoy, he would often highlight and circle passages that denounced immorality, indicating that he fondly opposed them as well. Engaging in sexual intimacy activities is a usual activity for most human beings, but Chris’s disinclination towards such actions developed his credibility in choosing what is right in life because he had deeper morals and values. The author portrays McCandless as a fiercely idealistic, well-read, intelligent, and his friends described him as an ethical, talkative, kind, musical, and passionate person. He emerges as a memorable character who was gifted, and indeed people were drawn to him to develop instant concern and affection. Conclusion It is only through the lessons that people learn from others’ experiences that one can push on to greater adventures and explorations. In my opinion, the main point in Chris’s story centres on the materialistic society, adventure, frustration, and the unfairness experienced in the world. Chris actually found happiness and satisfaction in his new residence, despite the fact that it ended up in a tragedy. He did what he believed satisfied his heart, and thus judging his personality is a subjective matter. If he had enough experience and knowledge of wildly life, then his trip could have been so adventure less. Nothing could have seemed new. The challenging fact here is that people live for so many years yet they never get something to satisfy their desires, meaning that the young McCandless was a hero, having achieved what only a few would achieve in a tender age. Works Cited Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York: Pan Macmillan, 2011. Print. Read More