Into The Wild: Chris Mccandless Journey
Cheryl Strayed, one of the few women to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and leave her past behind to find a new. Which is what the book “Wild” is about, with the death of her mother and family slowly breaking away, she was left with no other choice but to leave it behind and begin a journey. A journey that would be long, tedious and demanding, all for the sake of finding the true meaning of life, something that would help her reconcile with people who she had drifted apart from. Following her mistakes, achievements, interaction and ideology, everything that led up to the conclusion of her journey. Something that “Into the Wild” can relate to, with the survival and story of Christopher McCandless. Similarly, Chris McCandless story is his journey throughout the United States, and the interaction of people he meets, the hardship he faces with every step, and the desperation to survive. Both him and Cheryl,
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deciding to leave everything behind after facing personal grief towards family members and society. Cheryl decision were led because of the passing of her mother and family drifting apart, losing grip with the idea that her family is practically gone, she succumbs to heroin and slowly falls into a dark abyss. For these reasons, she decided to embark onto a long journey into the Pacific Crest Trail and escape it all. In contrast, Christopher McCandless was facing family issues aswell, with parents who ask too much from him, and his lack of interest in modern day society. He felt sick and undermine during his final college years. In addition, the discovery of his father secret family was the most shocking thing to happen to him. This in turns becomes the main factor to his decision to embark on a journey all across the United States and leave behind no trace of him, so his family can just forget that he ever existed. In short, both Chris and Cheryl stories lead up to different conclusion, but the progression through the journey are close to being the same, with minor differences. In Cheryl view “I didn't feel sad or happy. I didn't feel proud or ashamed. I only felt that in spite of all the things I'd done wrong, in getting myself here, I'd done right.” (Strayed 106). As her Cheryl journey was coming to a finish, she had realized how long it took for her to get where she is now. Appreciating all the help she got from the numerous strangers throughout her journey, and the memories formed from it. She had finally realized why life was worth living, in the end she rejoins society and gets her life together. In comparison, Christopher McCandless journey led him to meet and change the individuals he got to meet, The only difference is that, he didn’t take help as much as he needed. Which is what led him to his death, with no way to call for help and rations slowly being eaten away. He has nothing to do but wait it out and hope for the best, these are the issues he faced nearing the end of his journey. In addition, he had the choice to grab extra supplies and was offered to be bought gear for his trip into the alaska wilderness. Sadly he did not agree to it and this is what led him to his demise.
In contrast Cheryl was given and accepted multiple help throughout her journey.
It seemed that while Chris had given up on society and civilization, Cheryl felt that she needed to see it in a different a light, which showed after her completion on the Pacific Crest Trail she had remarried and rejoined society. She had found her ways and had written the book “Wild”, giving her a better understanding of what life really means and what is needed to live it. Unfortunately, for Chris, he wasn’t given the chance to rejoin if he had decided to after his long journey. But from Jon Krakauer understanding, Christopher had no intent to rejoin it, he had finally found peace through his long hikes throughout the Continental U.S, finding joy in meeting people who the average person would not associate with over the fear of being out of the ordinary. These were the things that made Chris and Cheryl different and what led up to the conclusion of each of their stories. While both of them were similar it showed that Chris wasn’t as open and prepared for his journey as Cheryl
was.
deciding to leave everything behind after facing personal grief towards family members and society. Cheryl decision were led because of the passing of her mother and family drifting apart, losing grip with the idea that her family is practically gone, she succumbs to heroin and slowly falls into a dark abyss. For these reasons, she decided to embark onto a long journey into the Pacific Crest Trail and escape it all. In contrast, Christopher McCandless was facing family issues aswell, with parents who ask too much from him, and his lack of interest in modern day society. He felt sick and undermine during his final college years. In addition, the discovery of his father secret family was the most shocking thing to happen to him. This in turns becomes the main factor to his decision to embark on a journey all across the United States and leave behind no trace of him, so his family can just forget that he ever existed. In short, both Chris and Cheryl stories lead up to different conclusion, but the progression through the journey are close to being the same, with minor differences. In Cheryl view “I didn't feel sad or happy. I didn't feel proud or ashamed. I only felt that in spite of all the things I'd done wrong, in getting myself here, I'd done right.” (Strayed 106). As her Cheryl journey was coming to a finish, she had realized how long it took for her to get where she is now. Appreciating all the help she got from the numerous strangers throughout her journey, and the memories formed from it. She had finally realized why life was worth living, in the end she rejoins society and gets her life together. In comparison, Christopher McCandless journey led him to meet and change the individuals he got to meet, The only difference is that, he didn’t take help as much as he needed. Which is what led him to his death, with no way to call for help and rations slowly being eaten away. He has nothing to do but wait it out and hope for the best, these are the issues he faced nearing the end of his journey. In addition, he had the choice to grab extra supplies and was offered to be bought gear for his trip into the alaska wilderness. Sadly he did not agree to it and this is what led him to his demise.
In contrast Cheryl was given and accepted multiple help throughout her journey.
It seemed that while Chris had given up on society and civilization, Cheryl felt that she needed to see it in a different a light, which showed after her completion on the Pacific Crest Trail she had remarried and rejoined society. She had found her ways and had written the book “Wild”, giving her a better understanding of what life really means and what is needed to live it. Unfortunately, for Chris, he wasn’t given the chance to rejoin if he had decided to after his long journey. But from Jon Krakauer understanding, Christopher had no intent to rejoin it, he had finally found peace through his long hikes throughout the Continental U.S, finding joy in meeting people who the average person would not associate with over the fear of being out of the ordinary. These were the things that made Chris and Cheryl different and what led up to the conclusion of each of their stories. While both of them were similar it showed that Chris wasn’t as open and prepared for his journey as Cheryl
was.