Chris McCandless Analysis

McCandless wanted to live an independent and self-reliant life. As a child, he grew up in a materialistic and dysfunctional family. Although he had a close relationship with his sister, Carine, Chris preferred isolating himself. It was unimaginably difficult for Chris to have a relationship with his father after he had found out about his father’s second family. Chris’s mother, Billie, didn’t have much of a relationship with him either.
For Chris, being alone was normal and part of his very day routine. As he got older he wanted more and more to live on his own and be in the wild. Chris and his family would go to the mountains every year to visit which gave Chris this love for nature. He wanted to live in his own Utopia, in the wild. McCandless wasn’t careless or delusional. He was determined, and focused on his task at hand; to, in his own words, “no longer be poisoned by civilization, and walk alone to become lost in the wild. He met many people through-out his travels owards Alaska, but didn’t stay too long to become attached to them. On April 28, 1992, James Gallien gave Christopher McCandless a ride to the Stampede Trail in Alaska where Christopher set out to begin in Journey into the wild. This was the last date that anyone ever saw Christopher McCandless alive. Walking into Denali National Park with a . 22 caliber rifle and a 10 pound bag of rice isn’t necessarily ridiculous, but expecting to survive an entire summer off nothing but the land and wild game certainly is.
Chris read many books by his favorite, Jack London being one. Jack wrote a book about the wild and the dangers of being in it, which is where Chris got some inspiration from. Chris carved the phrase “Jack London is king” in a tree stump near his campsite.. Chris writing that phrase shows that his quest went farther than finding himself. Chris wanted a connection with nature. He did what he was striving for and although his ending was tragic, he still did it by himself and without anyone or anything.