Inspiration to Others

"Two years he walks the earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist.  An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road" (Krakauer 163).

Type: Inspiration or Fool

Chris McCandless has become known as many different things, but to me he has become an inspiration. It takes a lot of strength to stay true to yourself and cut out the main source in life that is usually your support, your family. Chris did this when entering the wild. He had the courage and desire to voyage into nature alone. Chris, who changed his name to Alex, wanted to set his own destiny rather than have it be defined by his family and their mistakes or by what the world wanted him to be. It is very admirable how driven Alex was to stay true to his beliefs and actions. He wanted to be freedom from any deceit around him. I relate to Alex because I feel more at home and relaxed in nature. Although he should have better prepared himself for his journey, I still believe that he has inspired many people to follow their own dreams in life rather than what others try to force upon them or what the world tries to conform them to be.

Family Deception

"he was very to himself. He wasn't antisocial- he always had friends, and everybody liked him- but he could go off and entertain himself for hours. He didn't seem to need toys or friends. He could be alone without being lonely" (Krakauer 107).

Topic: The Dynamics of Family

Growing up in an environment where everything happening around you was contradicting itself, it makes sense why Chris McCandless learned at a very young age to be so comfortable enjoying his own company. With his parents fighting and lying all the time, Chris and his sister Carine, became very close. They were able to count on each other when anything was going wrong. Through all of the deception his parents put him through, he grew apart from people and wanted to have nothing to do with what society said was correct. Nature was always a way for Chris to escape his hectic home life. When entering the wild, it was a sense of freedom in every possible way. He started fresh, away from his parents, society, lies and everything in between. Changing his name to Alex, he wished to start a new adventure with no distractions to just enjoy the natural beauty of earth and life. His family drove him to a point where he did not even want to have their same name. As a child, your surroundings usually rub off on you and you usually act the same as the people around you. Alex on the other hand had it rub off on him, but in the opposite manner. He despised everything his family did and portrayed, so he set off to start his own destiny.

Dangerously Adventurous

"He wasn't carrying anywhere near as much food and gear as you'd expect a guy to be carrying for that kind of trip" (Krakauer 4).

Topic: Travel Advice

Entering into the wild alone, you would expect someone to prepare themselves with all the correct equipment to survive. Against all odds, Chris McCandless did quite the opposite. With his driven mindset and love for nature he was ready to conquer anything and everything that came his way. Even with his incredible adventurous and strong mentality, mother nature found a way to defeat Alex. You can be the smartest and most diligent person but if you do not prepare yourself with the correct supplies you need entering an environment with extreme weather conditions, you will not be able to endure your surroundings. Alex was so adventurous and curious about life that he was almost reckless when planning his trip. My advice to Mr. McCandless would have been to keep his outstanding mindset of wanting to go experience life in freedom around the world, but to think better before he did so. He should have thought about and prepared for situations that he could have possibly gotten into and how to better himself for survival. Even if he planned better for himself and possibly could have survived longer, I believe that Chris lived out his last days as he should have, doing what he loved in freedom and away from the bondage and scars of his past. Hopefully people learn from his mistakes but also learn to have the same zest for life Chris, also known as Alex, had.