Chris McCandless Proves to be a Hero

            After at least a hundred days in the wild and his starvation eating him alive, Chris McCandless took a farewell picture of himself in front of bus 142. One of his hands was raised in a brave goodbye and the other held a sign that read, “I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!” In the picture Chris’ face was almost skeletal but if he had pitied himself for the mistakes he had made at all, he did not show it. He was smiling in the picture, and there was no mistaking in the look in his eyes: Chris McCandless was at peace (Krakauer 199). To me this story puts all the critics to rest.  Chris McCandless did not walk into the wild on a suicide mission; he went into the Alaskan wilderness to be with nature. I admire Chris McCandless for many reasons, but especially because he went into the wild to be with nature, survived as long as he did without killing himself, and was not a materialist person.

            I admire Chris McCandless because I know he went into the wild to be with nature. I know this because the story Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer has many examples of his love of nature. One example is when Krakauer says, “Although McCandless was enough of a realist to know that hunting game was an unavoidable component of living off the land, he had always been ambivalent about killing animals” (166) Jon Krakauer said this after Chris had shot the moose. At first Chris was excited that he would have food, but his excitement soon turned into regret. McCandless felt so bad about killing the moose that he spent six days trying to get anything edible out of the animal. I think that this story shows how much Chris cared about nature and how much he really does appreciate it.

            I also admire Chris McCandless for the way he held on and survived as long as he did. In the novel Into the Wild, Krakauer tells stories about men like Chris who tried to survive out in the wild by themselves. One thing many of these men ended up doing was killing themselves because there was no hope that they would make it out alive. I respect Chris for not killing himself because he believed that the gift of life was precious and should not be taken for granted. Even Chris’s mother said, “He must have been very brave and very strong, at the end, not to do himself in” (202). I think this proves that Chris did not enter the wild on a suicide mission--he was just too weak to get out.

            Furthermore, I value the fact that Chris was not obsessed with material things. “Immediately after graduating, with honors, from Emory University in the summer of 1990, McCandless dropped out of sight. He changed his name, gave the entire balance of a twenty-four-thousand-dollar savings account to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet. And then he invented a new life for himself (Author’s Note).” The story of McCandless is one that shows his true love of nature and just being with the things that truly matter in life. For Chris it did not matter if he had the latest iPod or Xbox, Chris just wanted to be with nature and enjoy the beautiful world that God created for us. Chris’ not materialistic attitude is the last but not least thing I admire about him.

            There are many people similar to me that praise McCandless for going out into the wilderness and attempting to live off the land. Chris’ theory was that you should only bring with you want you can carry in your backpack at a dead sprint. Bt with all those that respect Chris there are just as many that think he was stupid to try and live off the land without being prepared. One man said, “Entering the wilderness purposefully ill-prepared and surviving a near-death experience does not make you a better human, it just makes you damn luck (71).” I disagree with this man because I do not think Chris entered the wild purposefully ill prepared. Chris did not have the plan to go into the wild with a microwave, a television, an oven, a refrigerator, and a mattress; he went into the wild to escape reality and to just be with nature. In conclusion, No I do not believe Chris came into the wild purposefully unprepared, I think he came into the wild with the hope of living off the land. 

            Chris McCandless went into the wild to be with nature, he survived a long time and he did not kill himself, and he was not obsessed with material things; for these reasons, I admire him. Yes, maybe Chris wasn’t fully prepared but his intentions were good.  I want to you to now be inspired and read the story Into the Wild if you have not already but mainly I what I want you to get out of Chris McCandless’ story is to be unique. As Chris showed us we all do not have to follow the same pattern, we can have our own ideas and we have to freedom to express them.