The Chris McCandless Story: The Author’s Perspective

English II H, Section 1
27 February 2014
The Chris McCandless Story: The Author’s Perspective Christopher Johnson McCandless was an American hiker who adopted the alias Alexander Supertramp and ventured into the Alaskan wilderness in April 1992 with little food and equipment, hoping to live simply for a time in solitude. Little did his family and friends know, but when Chris stepped into the Alaskan wilderness, he would never come out alive. Jon Krakauer documents Chris’s journey and the people he met on the way to his final destination. He struggled throughout his chronicling of Chris’s life to determine what drove Chris to leave his family and friends and go into the wild. Krakauer interrupted McCandless’ story with fragments of a narrative drawn from his own youth and experiences because he knew he could help the reader better understand the reasons why Chris went into the wild. Jon Krakauer interrupted his documentation of Chris McCandless’s life with a story from his own past because he understood Chris’s reasons to go into the wild because of their common personality traits. In their obsessions to go out and prove themselves, to survive extreme conditions and to live through the life-or-death situations they encounter for the reward of a rush of adrenaline, both the author and his subject show themselves to be extremely independent, impulsive, and ambitious. In the author's words, they had "a similar intensity, a similar heedlessness, a similar agitation of the soul" (155). One of the reasons for both men's aptitude to follow through with their spontaneous plans seems to be that each one is bent on proving something – either to themselves or to those around them. At one point, Krakauer mentions that "the thought of returning to Boulder in defeat wasn't very appealing" (146), a thought which seems to be one of his main motivators in the climb up Devil's Thumb. In a similar fashion, McCandless often refused help from people he met on the road, hoping to prove to himself that he was capable of surviving on his own. Admittedly, there are distinct differences between the two, and there is no telling what type of person McCandless would have ended up being in his later years had he survived longer. The similarities in their lives and relationships make it easy for Krakauer to understand Chris to some extent, and he is trying to use his knowledge of Chris to better explain the reasons why Chris went into the wild. By having another perspective of a person who had experienced similar situations and feelings to Chris, Krakauer helps the reader make better guesses about Chris’s decision to leave society and live deep in the Alaskan wilderness. This is because he can relate to the similar struggles Chris went through, for example, their struggle with their fathers, and they both went into dangerous situations in the wild. This is important because Kraukauer would have insight into the motives and ideas Chris had when going into the wild. Krakauer may have also included the story from his youth to help the reader understand why Chris went into the wild because of their similar adventures. Both men went into the wild, risking their lives and rebelling against their families, especially their fathers. Despite their similar motivations to go, only one survived. The failure of Chris's journey seems to stem from the youth's inability to accept less than what he deems as complete success, rather than a lack of supplies or knowledge. In comparison, Kraukauer proceeded on his journey with a reasonable amount of supplies, but possessed no knowledge of the northern face of the Devil's Thumb since no one had ever climbed it (134). The only reason Jon was able to walk out alive from his journey is that he was able to accept a different form of the victory he desired. By climbing the southern side of the Devil's Thumb, Kraukauer allows himself the joy of reaching the peak, while still understanding his mortality and limitations that hindered his northern failure. Chris was unable to deviate in such a way, causing one of the major shortcomings of his ill-fated Odyssey. Both young men had been arrogant and did not think out their plans out properly. This was made clear about Krakauer when he stated, “as I formulated my plan to climb the thumb, I was dimly aware that I might be getting in over my head. But that only added to the scheme’s appeal. That it wouldn’t be easy was the entire point” (135). Chris shared this mindset, choosing to go to Alaska, one of the hardest places to survive in America. Although full of resources, Alaska is spread out, and it would take days to find another human in the unforgiving woods. Krakauer wanted to help shed light on the reasons why Chris went into the wild. As a result of the striking resemblances to their stories, Krakauer may have been very similar to Chris as a young man, thus perhaps knowing what Chris was thinking when he isolated himself from the rest of the world. Krakauer interrupted McCandless’ story with fragments of a narrative drawn from his own youth and experiences because he knew he could help the reader better understand the reasons why Chris went into the wild; they had similar personality traits and Jon Krakauer had gone on a journey similar to Chris’s. Despite their many similarities, there is one key difference: Jon Krakauer survived his adventure whereas Chris did not. Sadly, Christopher McCandless went into the wild to discover that “happiness is only real when shared”(189), something he found out far too late. He went all that way to discover that something is only really worth experiencing if you can share it with someone else. Chris McCandless wanted to know what it was like to live off the land in the wilderness, choosing to go with only ten pounds of rice, a rifle and a book on wild plants. He found out what it was like to live in the wilderness, lonely and hard. He had an arrogant vision of himself as someone who could survive with barely anything but the clothes on his back. He wanted to explore the unexplored and discover a life without responsibility, possessions, people, or money but in doing so, he went to his death.