Essay about Wild: Katmai National Park and Preserve and Timothy Treadwell

Submitted By caverill2
Words: 337
Pages: 2

There comes a point in every man or woman’s life where they feel overwhelmed, unfulfilled, or depressed. In most cases it works out on its own where it either blows over or adequate yet reasonable change is taken but for Timothy Treadwell and Christopher McCandless a true escape was the only option. Both men have different stories to tell: one a rehabilitated alcoholic discovering the only thing in the world he feels gives him purpose, the other an unfulfilled young man traversing North America in a quest for a life away from the mundane and material world. While separate incidences, both stories show that in a quest for a better life, carelessness and arrogance give way to death in Alaska.
Escape came to Timothy Treadwell in the form of bears. Year after year for thirteen summers he fiercely “guarded” and “protected” the bears of the Katmai National Park in Alaska. Whether the bears needed protection in the first place or whether he was doing more harm than good is debatable, however it can be argued that his true purpose in Alaska was not of helping bears but was he was deeply disturbed man haunted by a world of rejection and alcoholism. He often spoke of not understanding the world of men, and that he felt more at peace in the wild.
To say Christopher McCandless disliked his life is an understatement. As soon as he graduated from college he donated all of his money and hit the road, not telling a single person where he was going or when they would hear from