Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Yasmeen Miles
Mrs. Sanchez
ERWC
18 November 2016
To find meaning and depth behind ones actions is difficult because no one really knows
what the truth is. Many infamous men throughout time have embarked on a journey in hopes of
unveiling the truth. Many of those men have written pieces of what they believed was revealed to
them. Christopher McCandless, a man from Jon Krakauers Into The Wild, was a sane idealist
There is a distinct difference between the truth and a truth. The truth is factual and set in
stone. A truth is an opinion from varying perspectives. McCandless ...wished to acquire the
simplicity, native feelings, and virtues of savage life;...and to find amidst the solitude and
grandeur of the western wilds, more correct views of human nature and of the true interests of
man (157). He did not want the complexity that came with a materialistic world. Materialism,
according to Chris McCandless, should not be what defines man or human nature. Throughout
the duration of Krakauers novel, it is often asked why McCandless chose Alaska, of all places,
to escape. It is noted by the author that Alaska has long been a magnet for dreamers and misfits,
people who think the unsullied enormity of the Last Frontier will patch all the holes in their
lives (4). There is emphasis etched in the type of people who go to Alaska, making it safe to
assume Chris McCandless was both a dreamer and a misfit, despite him knowing it or not. There
is a sense of humility in knowing why Chris left, considering his abusive childhood, but many
Miles 2
see it as an act of idiocy because it was not just him who faced the abusive nature of his father.
McCandless was seen as a recalcitrant squint in his fathers eyes but he had resilience, chutzpah,
and volition. He was adamant about pursuing the truth and being out in the wild was the way
he saw the truth being handed to him because If the day and night are such that you greet them
with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more
starry, more immortal,- that is your success (47). This quote emits self-empowerment. Chris
McCandless extricated himself from the guilt of his family and the materialism society is tainted
with in order to find man's sole purpose in this world. One should not be viewed as having an
the materialistic society he currently lives in. Thoreau believed that Rather than love, than
money, than fame, give me truth...rich food and wine in abundance, an obsequious attendance,
but sincerity and truth were not; (117). This excerpt from Thoreau exemplifies the depth of
what McCandless was looking for. He needed to find himself and what he stood for before he
could find what man stood for. He was the guy who would ...try to convince every snowbird
who walked by that they should read Call of the Wild (44). McCandless was an avid reader who
was adamant about pursuing and preaching the philosophical intent behind every word of these
famous men. Materialistic assets meant nothing to him. He went into The climactic battle to kill
the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution...No longer to be
poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild
(163). This ties into the differentiating versions of the concept truth. Society seems to have
believed a truth that got them to be held captive by the throes of war. Thus, the downfall of
Miles 3
civilization. Money and fame are acquired assets not required, do not let them define the
individual.
Christopher Mccandless, a sane idealist who desired the truth and wanted to live in a
non-materialistic world, fell into an atavistic lifestyle for the better. An idealist is one who is an
advocate or practices idealism through art or writing. Art is undefinable which allows his actions
Thoreau and Jack London to grasp the meaning of man and nature. Nothing is ever truly