One Selfish Indivual

“Seven weeks after the body of his son turned up in Alaska wrapped in a blue sleeping bag that Billie had sewn for Chris from a kit, Walt studies a sailboat scudding beneath the window of his waterfront townhouse. ‘How is it,’ he wonders aloud as he gazes blankly across Chesapeake Bay, ‘that a kid with so much compassion could cause his parents so much pain” (Krakauer 103-104)

Family Dynamics

This shows the problem of McCandless faces through the story thus far. I mean he seems to be a deeply compassionate person, and one of the biggest part of his two-year adventure was because his sense of selfishness. His risky actions over this time is deeply selfish, which causes pain to all those who love him, and especially his family, who for two years didn't  even know if he is alive. He almost seems to be trying to escape from the responsibilities of human relationships and his family dynamics; by going into the wild, alone, with no contact to the outside world. He obviously doesn't care about the feelings of the ones who love him the most, this family. This just goes back to my original statement that Chris McCandless is a fool.

Wilderness Common Sense 101

“Please return all mail I receive to the sender. It might be a very long time before I return South. If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again, I want you to know you’re a great man. I now walk into the wild”(Krakauer 55)

Travel Tips

I believe this is a pretty bad way to begin your travels, when you just all of sudden wander into the woods without telling a soul. That is not a good tip for traveling, being able to contact he people you love is essential. That is my #1 tip of traveling; warn your loved ones of intentions, whether you are just going on vacation, going on a cruise, or if you’re like Chris McCandless wandering into the great wilderness of Alaska. Tip 2, when going into the wilderness is prepare for the worst, meaning bring a first aid kit, a warm enough sleeping bag, and objects to defend yourself against an equal or greater power. Tip 3,  I believe is most important…NEVER GO ALONE, this seems like common sense, right? Well obviously not to Chris McCandless, when exploring the wilderness alone it is almost evitable the worst could occur and you are setting yourself up for danger. If you do happen to get in trouble there will be no one around you to help or get help; you will be stuck their helpless forced to fend for yourself.

This dude is CRAZY

"In April 1992, a young man from a well-to-do East coast family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. Four months later his decomposed body was found by a party of moose hunters"(Krakauer 1).

Fool or Inspiration

This is the first thing you read as soon as you open up this book, which pretty much sets up the entire plot of the book and going into this book without any prior knowledge; it was a pretty big bomb of confusion. First off let me address the fact that this is young man from a good family that all of a sudden just decided to bail on everything and hitchhike to Alaska. Doesn’t that seem at all weird and raise a bunch of questions; like is there more to the story, why did he do it , or like was he just dumb? Also to prove my point even more he decided to wonder into the Alaskan wilderness BY HIMSELF. Who in their right mind goes into the woods by themselves, minus well wear an “eat me” shirt like he was just asking to get killed by something. What I’m trying to say is you have to be a crazy fool in order to wonder into the woods by your lonesome self in Alaska.