Christopher Mccandless

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People tend to fit into two different categories-those who live life conventionally and those who seek the thrill in life. In “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, Christopher McCandless was a thrill seeker who challenged himself beyond the norms of society. Disgusted by society and materialism he escaped humanity to set off on a journey of self- discovery. McCandless willingly left his life behind and departed into the Alaskan wilderness by himself to explore and adventure into the wild. Although some may find his behavior to be purely based on hubris, his actions reflect his desire to be his purest self by testing the limits and risking it all for his endeavors. McCandless was not your typical adventurer he was well-educated and was driven to learn new things about others …show more content…
Others claim that his arrogance and stubbornness led to his downfall and ultimately his death. However, McCandless did not go on this trip completely blind, he planned this adventure and tried to do his best to survive with his capabilities. During his trip in Alaska he states “It is nearly impossible for modern man to imagine what it is like to live by hunting” (Krakauer 187). This quote conveys the struggle and challenge it was to survive and get food in the wild. Another factor that lead to his downfall was nature. Some argue that his lack of preparation and skills killed him. Yet people don’t consider the unpredictable forces of nature to be a cause, because in reality no matter how much one plans there are many external forces that affect one's ability to survive. With courage he went on a journey of self- discovery through the United States where he managed to find his purpose and survive an impressive one hundred and thirteen days in Alaska. Within every obstacle that was thrown McCandless’s way he did his best to adapt and cooperate along his

Into The Wild: Christopher Mccandless

Into the Wild follows a character named Christopher McCandless who decides to leave the comfort of his middle class life, and venture on a journey into the deep wilderness of Alaska. McCandless grew up in a home founded on lies, deception and neglect. Christopher’s father split his time living with two families, often leaving one family alone for weeks at a time, leaving his children to feel undervalued, and unappreciated. Additionally, Mr. McCandless beat Christopher’s mother and made the children…

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Christopher Mccandless In Into The Wild

experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts. (American Heritage® Dictionary) This is embodied perfectly in Christopher McCandless, Into The Wild’s main character. Throughout the film, we learn several of his positive and negative attributes. For example, at the beginning of his life, he is portrayed as a very ambitious young man; he is driven and determined to do things…

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Christopher Mccandless Research Paper

Christopher Mccandless is a crazy person for traveling from one place to another place to try to get to alaska and “lives off the land for a few months”. Christopher bag only weighed 25-30 pounds which i’m sure would be heavy to carry with him when he travels around the world to go to Alaska. The article and the movie show us that Christopher is brave enough to travel around to place to place and live in the wild to survive till he reaches alaska. Christopher Mccandless declares “ I don’t want to…

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Christopher Mccandless: A Tragic Hero

Christopher McCandless was born on February 12, 1968, and he died on August 1992. He attended Emory University, he grew up with a good family who had a high economic status. After graduating from college Christopher decide to go into the wilderness he wanted to live off the land. McCandless walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. Christopher spent two years of his life traveling around the country, he made this decision for the reason that he wanted to be free from the expectations…

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Christopher Mccandless Influence On Society

Christopher J McCandless was a college graduate that had decided to go on a wild adventure to Alaska and he also believed in not following of what society wants us to be like while he went on his wild adventure christopher mcCandless had made a lot of friends that will for ever remember him. He also defines transcendentalism because he tries to stand out and see society in a different way also thinks of how society should be like. In the article Death of an innocent he changed his name to Alex so…

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Christopher Mccandless A Narcissist Analysis

Christopher McCandless in Krakauer’s Into the Wild is without contest an epitomic example of an idealistic young man He is simply in rebellion of the values set before him by society and his family. McCandless may be thus considered so, and this conclusion may be brought forth by investigating how McCandless in turn interpreted his world. As we know, McCandless, obviously a romantic as indicated by the way he perceived works by various poets and authors- specifically Thoreau- viewed his environment…

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Christopher Mccandless: A Transcendentalist Hero

In the book Into the Wild, the author, Jon Krakauer, voices his opinion on why Christopher McCandless was a transcendentalist hero. Christopher McCandless is a transcendentalist hero because he did not comply with society, he influenced and moved people wherever he traveled to, and lastly he left his materialistic lifestyle to find what he thought was true happiness. In the last stanza of A Psalm of Life, this quote was used; “Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving…

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Christopher Mccandless: A Tragic Hero

varying beauties...by means of pity and fear effectuating its purgation of these emotions” (Potts 24). The movie, Into the Wild, directed by Sean Penn is a tragic story about an adventurer, Christopher McCandless, who wanders seeking solitude and serenity until he ultimately dies due to his headstrong persona. Christopher McCandless’s story tragically explores the importance of tolerance and sensibility. Sean Penn explores tragedy through the elements of a sense of catharsis, hamartia, and a reversal of…

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Christopher Mccandless: The American Dream

When Christopher McCandless left his privileged life behind for the wild he told no one of his pursuits. He abandoned his affluent family and elite education to become a vagabond. He left it all behind to follow in the footsteps of men like Thoreau to chase after man’s primal instinct of adventure. One with a daring mind struggles to survive spiritually in a small town such as my own. The environment that I reside in seems frozen in the American dream of the white picket fence fantasy. The cultural…

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Christopher Mccandless In Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

a man named Christopher McCandless or Alexander Supertramp. The setting of this true story novel reveals many of McCandless's values and how he has opposing ideas of the world that he is surrounded by. Throughout the first thirty pages of the book, Christopher jumps from place to place, as he makes his way through his hitchhiking odyssey. A lifetime discovery where he must challenge himself further than ever before in his life. In his Virginia lifestyle with his parents, Christopher was given a life…

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