Into the Wild

In the Alaskan Wilderness there was a young man found dead by Moose hunter in the famous book Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, tells a story about Christopher McCandless’s life’s adventures. This young man starts his journey in Virginia and travels throughout the west coast all the way up to Alaska. Krakauer explains the heart and sole of his trip through the best selling novel McCandless journey was not a selfish one, nor did it lead to a foolish, pointless, death, because he fulfilled the adventures in life he wanted to do, he inspired many people and he died doing something he dreamed of after his parents wanted him to become somebody else.

Chris McCandless’s life was one to remember and could never be lived again like his, just because of the story that was told. His journey was unique and really started when he told his family that he would take his yellow Datsun and go away for the summer. McCandless was very young when he went on this adventure too, he wasn’t an older man trying to make something out of his life, he wanted to do it for fun. He traveled all throughout the states; Krakauer mentioned that “He passed through Pistol River, Coos Bay, Seal Rock, Manzanita, Astoria; Hoquiam, Humptulips, Queets’ Forks, Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Seattle” (31). He didn’t just go through them, he later found himself kayaking down the Colorado River and then into the Gulf of California. He went through all these places, so brave and fearlessly. All he had was a bag of rice and a backpack, he left his car on the side of The Wash and he left a note, “This piece of shit has been abandoned. Whoever can get it out of here can have it.” (Krakauer 26) This shows that he can have just as much fun without an automotive or electronic. He also “buried his backpack in the desert on 2/27 and entered Las Vegas with no money and no ID,” (Krakauer 37) Little details like those are what make his journey different and abnormal. I personally have never heard of anybody else that chose to hitchhike all the way to Alaska to live off the land. He lived his adventures without looking at society and thinking he was being a selfish guy.

Chris McCandless also had the audacity to go out and inspire people he didn’t know and didn’t plan to know. As a hitchhiker, many people didn’t feel obligated to help because they felt as if it was unnecessary. But people that would actually help Chris, it wasn’t because they felt bad they saw potential in him and saw he was different. Going through town, McCandless meets a man named Wayne Westerberg who found him hitchhiking and wanted to help him. Westerberg offered him a job numerous times and they eventually became very close; he thought McCandless had potential, he wasn’t hitchhiking just to end up dying. “....He was hungry to learn about things. Unlike most of us, he was the sort of person who insisted on living outside his beliefs.” (Krakauer 67) Going through his adventure, McCandless also met a man who he inspired greatly, Ronald Franz at Hot Springs.“Franz grew increasingly fond of McCandless. ‘God, he was a smart kid,’” (Krakauer 52). At the beginning, Franz tried to convince McCandless to leave the encampment but he rejected, he figured that this was too big of a trip and he needed to finish it. It was his dream. But because McCandless and Franz had such a strong friendship, McCandless would send letters to him about his adventure heading up to Alaska. It meant the world to Franz and when he found out McCandless died it broke his heart but he was also that he made to Alaska because he knew how badly McCandless wanted to do it. Chris McCandless definitely inspired so many people on his journey through life.

When we die we all have that one thought, did we live our life to our fullest? Whether that time would be spending it with family, doing daring things, or just trying to be a part of something. We want to be able to say that my life was the best life, and I did everything to make it that