Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

Words: 580
Pages: 3

The dictionary describes a hero as a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Therefore, Chris McCandless is no hero. He walks away from his responsibilities and family at home, he enters the Alaskan forest without alerting anyone of his exact location, and he leaves with little supplies. Throughout Into the Wild by John Krakauer, the author attempts to understand the life that Chris chose to live. Heroes are selfless and carry out their decisions predominantly for the benefit of others. However, Chris behaves out of selfishness when he decides to leave his family without informing them of his intentions to leave for Alaska. Consequently, Chris’s family was left in confusion for two years wondering about the whereabouts of their beloved son. Weeks after McCandless’s body was found, Walt wondered, “How is it, that a kid with so much compassion could cause his parents so much pain?” (Krakauer 103-104) His family endures so much pain due to his disappearance that Billie McCandless, his mother, breaks down weeping at the sight of her son as she studies pictures of him. By not saying goodbye to his family or giving them any closure are massive reasons that Chris is not a hero. …show more content…
His final vague letter to Wayne Westerberg said, “If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t hear from me again, I want you to know you’re a great man. I now walk into the wild” (Krakauer 69). This statement displays Chris’s youth and immaturity because he is not certain if he will survive in the wild. He doesn’t know if he has all the supplies he needs to continue to wake up every morning. In this sense, McCandless is a fool because he didn’t inform anyone of where he planned to spend his time in the wild, so if something went fatally wrong, no one would know how to reach