Young
Man Makes Deadly Mistake
By: Alex
Can you imagine spending one hundred and
thirteen days in the wild, alone, without a phone, food, or a good map? A young man, about eighteen years old, named
Chris McCandless not only imagined it, but followed his dream. Chris was a very smart kid that worked hard
at everything he did. Although he was
book smart, he wasn’t very street smart.
He was very arrogant and felt that he didn’t need anybody’s help with
anything. Some people may say that he
did the right thing by following his dream, but I honestly think that he was a
fool for thinking that he could take on the wilderness all on his own.
One thing that proves that Chris was
foolish is the fact that he wasn’t prepared for his adventure. Because of Chris’s arrogance, he wouldn’t
listen to anybody that tried to tell him that he needed to be more
prepared. One of the last people to see
Chris, Gallien, recalls, “He wasn’t carrying anywhere near as much food and
gear as you’d expect a guy to be carrying for that kind of trip” (Into the Wild page 4). I think Gallien is correct because Chris only
had one backpack and didn’t have very heavy clothes on. Gallien offered to give Chris money and
better clothing, but Chris would not take it.
He wanted to be on his own. One
person from Alaska said, "Entering the wilderness purposefully
ill-prepared, and surviving a near-death experience does not make you a better
human, it makes you damn lucky" (Into
the Wild page 71). Despite the fact
that McCandless didn’t survive, I believe that he is luck that he survived as
long as he did.
I find it fairly obvious that McCandless
wasn’t in his right mind. If he was, he
would not have caused so many people the perplexing pain that he did. One reader from Outside Magazine said, "Why would anyone intend to 'live off
the land for a few months' forget Boy Scout rule number one: Be Prepared? Why would any son cause his parents and
family so much permanent and perplexing pain?" (Into the Wild page 71). If
Chris was thinking correctly, I don’t think he would have left his family like
he did. If he had told his family what he
was going to do, they might have helped him be more prepared for Alaska. Another reader stated, “McCandless had
already gone over the edge and just happened to hit bottom in Alaska” (Into the Wild page 71). Chris had gone over the edge when he abandoned
his car and most of his possessions in the desert. Chris felt like he didn’t need anything other
people had given him. Therefore, he left
it behind and continued only with the things he had prepared before he left his
home.
I believe that McCandless was so focused
on his Alaskan endeavor that he forgot, or just didn’t care enough, to take
care of himself. Westerberg described
Chris as, “His face had a strange elasticity: It would be slack and
expressionless one minute, only to twist into a gaping, oversize grin that
distorted his features that exposed a mouthful of horsy teeth” (Into the Wild page 17). I think the reason Chris’s face was lacking
expression is that he was focusing on what he was going to do, or where he was
going to go next. I believe that if
McCandless would have focused more on himself, rather than focusing on his
journey, he might have realized that he was starving and he needed to do
something to save himself. When people discovered Chris’s body, it was a
mess. The note that Chris had written
right before he died implied that, “He was hungry, and his meager diet had
pared his body down to a feral scrawn of gristle and bone” (Into the Wild page 189). If Chris would have realized what was
happening to him sooner, he might have been able to survive.
Some people think that McCandless was a
hero for following his dream of going on an Alaskan Adventure. One man that Chris met at one point during his
adventure said, “We got to talking. He
was a nice kid. Said his name was Alex. And he was big-time hungry. Hungry.
Hungry. Hungry. But real happy. Said he’d been surviving on edible plants he
identified from the book. Like he was
real proud of it. Said he was tramping
around the country, having a big old adventure” (Into the Wild page 30). I do
not see how McCandless is a hero for following his dream. In general, a hero is a person who shows
courage and is admired for his achievements.
Even though Chris showed courage by going to Alaska, he didn’t really
achieve anything. He died. I agree with the one reader of Outside Magazine that said,
"Personally I see nothing positive at all about Chris McCandless's
lifestyle or wilderness doctrine." The
only positive thing that could have come out of Chris’s adventure is that he
would be able to say that he survived in the Alaskan wilderness.
It may be difficult to see at first,
but Chris McCandless made the biggest mistake of his life by going on his
Alaskan adventure. Despite saying that
he enjoyed himself on his adventure, there is no proof, besides his arrogance, that
there was a reason behind his choice to leave his family and everything he
owned. Chris is a perfect example of
someone who over reacted because they weren’t happy with their life. While Chris McCandless may have been brave,
he was also ill-prepared, not thinking clearly, and oblivious to
anything that didn’t involve reaching Alaska.
Most of all, he was not a hero.
