Young Man Makes Deadly Mistake

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.