By: Kelly “kMac” McCloskey
To most people, canoeing down the Colorado River into Mexico with nothing but a backpack or camping inside of an abandoned bus for 112 days in the Alaskan bush seems to be impossible and crazy; but to Chris McCandless, it was everyday life. In the novel Into the Wild, John Krakauer describes Chris McCandless’s life before he died in the Alaskan bush in 1992. Between photographs, journal entries, friends, and family, Krakauer was able to share McCandless’s astonishing story with the world. Many people became annoyed with McCandless’s story, and they thought of him as another guy who, “didn’t know the first thing about surviving in the backcountry,” (Krakauer 178), but I don’t think that that is true at all. I believe Chris McCandless was a hero in disguise that fulfilled his dreams of living in the wild.
Chirs McCandless, between his life and death, is a complete inspiration to me. After Chris had died, people thought he was stupid and lacked common sense all because he didn’t start a forest fire to save his life. Chris’s sister, Carine, stated to Krakauer, “Chris would never, ever, intentionally burn down a forest, not even to save his life” (Krakauer 198). This shows that Chris wasn’t stupid or lacked common sense. To me, if Chris would have started a forest fire, people would have hated him more! Chris didn’t want to harm the environment to save his own life, and I think that people should appreciate that. But, of course the people of Alaska turned it around and tried to make Chris look like an idiot for not starting a forest fire, which clearly didn’t make any sense.
Also, many people tried to make McCandless look like he was mentally insane for living off the land in Alaska for 2 years straight without anyone else by his side. Carine also explained that, “He was very to himself. He wasn’t antisocial- he always had friends, and everybody liked him- but he could go off and entertain himself for hours. He didn’t seem to need toys or friends. He could be alone without being lonely”(Krakauer 107). If Chris was mentally insane, then he clearly wouldn’t have had friends and people would have said something from the beginning. But, all because Chris wanted to live off of the land, by himself, but everyone claimed that he was crazy and insane. No one took the time to think, What if he was just extremely independent? What if he was fulfilling his dreams? What if he was trying to prove something to himself and the world? Instead of thinking about the positive things Chris might have been trying to do, everyone wanted to jump to the most common negative perspective: Chris McCandless must have been insane. But, he definitely wasn’t.
In Chris’s final journal entry, he wrote: “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED” (Krakauer 189). This completely proves that Chris McCandless understood that he needed other people in his life, and that he couldn’t live on his own forever. He wanted to be around people and he wanted to share his accomplishments with people he loved and cared about. I think that his last journal entry proved a lot about Chris and how even though he loved nature and traveling, he also loved people and society. He might not have fit in as well as most people, but he definitely fit in somewhere. He had family and friends he knew he could go back to at any time, and he also knew that his travels meant a lot to him. In the end, Chris obviously missed people and felt the need to be a part of society.
Even though I believe Chris McCandless was hero, most other people don’t agree. Since Chris died in the wild, people believe that he didn’t do anything outstanding and he couldn’t take the Alaskan bush. Also, many people think that just because Chris didn’t save anyone’s life or help anyone, that he wasn’t a hero. When Krakauer wrote his book about Chris, people responded the letter saying that he was stupid, dumb, and he had no idea what he was doing. Some people might think this of McCandless, but I don’t believe such a thing.
As you can see, McCandless was a heroic in a unique, but obvious way. People should honor Chris, because he taught people that their dreams are possible and that they should go for them. He may not be the usual hero people think of, but he is definitely a hero in his own way. Chris McCandless deserves the honor and respect like any leader.
No comments:
Post a Comment