Into the Wild: Chris McCandless by SteaVen Becker

What was CHRIS McCANDLESS like?

sgbecker25 — 2013-02-04 00:31:53 UTC

“He was congenial and seemed well educated.” pg.5

congenial- friendly

What was CHRIS McCANDLESS like?

sgbecker25 — 2013-02-04 00:35:26 UTC

"an amiable kid who said his name was Alex McCandless.”

amiable- good-natured

He's looking pretty stoked about his kill! :)

sgbecker25 — 2013-02-04 00:39:09 UTC

I'm sad he wasn't very prepared for his journey/adventure in Alaska :'(

sgbecker25 — 2013-02-04 00:42:20 UTC

A QUOTE FROM CHRIS

sgbecker25 — 2013-02-04 01:01:00 UTC

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes form our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."

A QUOTE FROM CHRIS

sgbecker25 — 2013-02-04 01:06:08 UTC

"might be a very long time before I return South....I now walk into the wild."

Sadly, he wasn't very close to his parents.

sgbecker25 — 2013-02-04 01:10:46 UTC

Chris was friendly!

sgbecker25 — 2013-02-04 01:14:03 UTC

He had somewhat of a temper.....

sgbecker25 — 2013-02-04 01:16:55 UTC

“McCandless’s face would darken with anger and he’d fulminate about his parents or politicians or the endemic idiocy of mainstream American life.” pg.52

What I Think

sgbecker25 — 2013-02-04 01:20:48 UTC

Well, in all honesty my first thoughts on Chris and this book were much like the thoughts of the critics who criticized Krakauer. I thought that Chris was just one of those know it all who thought he could educate himself about the outdoors and survive with as little as possible. I actually have a cousin sort of like this, always talking about the outdoors and how he’s trained himself to hunt and survive. After reading chapters 8 and 9 my opinions on Chris changed. These chapters showed some of the other “kooks” who fit the same profile of Chris I guess. In the chapters Krakauer, by telling the stories of these other lost men, compared and contrasted the actions and behaviors of these other men as opposed to Chris. I think that showing the similarities and differences of these men was Krakauer’s purpose for these chapters. They were very important to the overall story I think, so that you could see and tell the difference between Chris and every other, possibly crazy, guy that lost his life out in the wild. For instance Chris and Gene Rosellini were both pretty intelligent men, but made very different choices. Rosellini barely wore and clothes in the wild and Chris at least wore the normal clothes he had. John Waterman and Chris both lived in Fairbanks at one point but experienced very different adventures. However I think that people see these little similarities and automatically think that Chris was just like all these other guys and don’t take the time to really understand his reasoning for the lifestyle he lead in his last years.