Was Chris Mccandless Crazy

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John Krakauer writes, “He wasn’t a nutcase, he wasn’t a sociopath. Chris McCandless was something else.” The question is what exactly Christopher McCandless was. I believe that Chris was not crazy, but he was somewhat incompetent. There are several facts from “Into the Wild” that support this opinion. The first reason is because Chris was so sensitive, he was affected by some of the romantic writers that he read. This can be seen several times throughout Chris’s journey. He called himself a “latter ay adherent of Henty David Thoreau”, and because of this he, “considered it his moral responsibility to flout the laws of the state.”(28) McCandless took these writings to heart, leading him to believe that he should live his life in such fashion. …show more content…
This leads the reader to believe that he was not crazy at all, though maybe a little incompetent. Jim Gallien even said this as he says, “the more we talked, the less Alex struck me as a nutcase. He was congenial and seemed well educated.” (5) He had a lot going for him, but he had plans for himself that would eventually lead to his demise. It is very clear that socializing was not a problem for Chris. In fact, he may have even had a reason for being so sociable. Burres says, “Sometimes I think it was like he was storing up company for the times when he knew nobody would be around,” (45) showing the exact reason. This shows that maybe Chris had a clear idea of what he was doing all along. He stored up company for when he was alone in the wild.

Unfortunately, he did not store up enough, as he often got lonely while he was out there. In the end, it is clear that Chris may have been a little incompetent but he was not at all crazy. Based on these facts Krakauer’s assessment of Chris was correct. “He wasn’t a nutcase, he wasn’t a sociopath, he wasn’t an outcast.” It is now very clear what exactly Christopher McCandless was. He was simply a man seeking happiness in the corrupt world around him. The fact that he actually found this happiness proves that he was not crazy at