Why Is Chris Mccandless Wrong In Into The Wild

Words: 534
Pages: 3

In the novel Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, Christopher McCandless was a young man with a consuming desire to free himself from the shackles of society. In his journey of doing so, he makes many decisions that have a substantial impact not only on his own life, but others as well. While some of his choices seem rash and foolish, it is clear that a common theme in this novel is that Chris is smart and not as ignorant as some believe. Furthermore, Krakauer wrote an article in The New Yorker that emphasizes that Chris did not die due to incompetence. There is controversy regarding some incidents, such as the potential of Chris misidentifying a caribou for a moose, that Krakauer goes into detail to show that Chris was actually correct in his actions. …show more content…
Krakauer also goes on to defend Chris against hateful remarks and criticism saying “he was sufficiently skilled to last for sixteen weeks on little more than his wits and ten pounds of rice.” (Krakauer 182). The authors push for the fact that Chris really was competent is clear in the article as well. He further clarifies that McCandless’s death was not the result of him misidentifying potatoes, but rather an unknown toxin led to his death. The work of Ronald Hamilton supports the author’s “conviction that McCandless wasn’t as clueless and incompetent as his detractors have made him out to be” as there was no way Chris could have been aware of this toxin (Krakauer). The novel follows McCandless’s journey as he travels and survives on his own providing explanations showing that Chris is not an arrogant idiot, but rather quite a skillful