“A vast silence reigned over the land. The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness,” (London). This is not the idea of a normal place to travel. For 22 year old Chris McCandless it’s a dream. Chris disappeared after his college graduation to go live out his dream. He hitchhiked from his home in Annandale, Virginia all the way out to Fairbanks, Alaska. A couple years after his death, Jon Krakauer wrote a book about his adventure called Into the Wild. His adventure has caused many debates. I agree with most Alaskans, Chris McCandless is a fool.
Chris is stubborn, irresponsible, and an idiot which resulted in him dying. He didn’t tell anyone exactly where he was going, just that he was leaving. “During graduation weekend he casually mentioned to his parents that he intended to spend the upcoming summer on the road as well. His exact words were ‘I think I’m going to disappear for a while,’” (Krakauer, 21). No one thought anything of this and a couple days later he disappeared. Why would people, like Krakauer, think this is a smart, heroic move? This is the first mistake out of many that Chris made.
It all came from his parents. He has made these many mistakes from his parents. It started off with them ignoring the fact that he was telling them he was leaving. “His exact words were ‘I think I’m going to disappear for a while.’ Neither parent made anything of this announcement at the time, although Walt did gently admonish his son, saying ‘Hey, make sure you come see us before you go,’”(21). Why would they not immediately act on this? Any normal parent would be concerned about their child if they said that. Then again Chris is very stubborn, which brings me to my third example.
“‘Chris was good at almost everything he tied, which made him supremely overconfident. If you attempted to talk him out of something, he wouldn’t argue. He’d just nod politely and then do exactly what he wanted,’”(118-119). This brings me to my third example of why Chris is a fool. Even if Chris told someone about his trip, they would probably try to talk him out of it but he wouldn’t listen. He still would have died because of how stubborn he is. He took everything too literary which lead him to his death. What is heroic about that? The way he thinks makes him a fool, not a hero.
As for the people who look up to Chris, who knows what is going on in their heads. Most people find it unfair that critics hate Chris because he made a few mistakes and died in result of them. Before Chris left for his trip, “he would shortly donate all the money in his college fund to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger,” (20). While on the trip he would abandon his car, burn the money he had left, and continue with little more than a rifle, 10 pound bag of rice, and some books. People believe that this is a courageous move to do and that a lot of people can’t do what he had done. Do you know why people can’t do what Chris had done? They don’t want to get killed! Think about it. All he had was a rifle, 10-pound bag of rice, and some books to read. That is not much for a couple of months in Alaska with no one around, no item to contact help, nothing around. Why do these people think that he was courageous, it’s lack of common sense.
Many people who agree that Chris McCandless was a hero say that critics are only against Chris because he was unprepared. I proved that wrong. Chris had no back up when he got in trouble, his parents let him go, and he was very stubborn. People have no idea that there is much more foolish actions, including that he was unprepared. Why do they think that Chris is a hero? He did not make many minor mistakes. He made many mistakes which became a big mistake that no one can undo, death. Just remember the top rules that any normal thinking person knows. Don’t go without telling someone exactly where you are going, always make sure you have enough supplies, and bring two or more companions.
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