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Chris Mccandless Journey

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I believe that Christopher McCandless was not a crazy person, however, he may have been incompetent in the sense that he was unprepared and rash in his decision making. Throughout the novel, the author, Jon Karakauer, explained the life of Chris McCandless and his last journey in the American west. Krakauer describes McCandless’s journey with so much detail and information provided by his loved ones that it’s clear to suggest McCandless was intelligent, stubborn, and unprepared during his lifelong adventure. Throughout the novel, Krakauer pieces together the puzzle that was Christopher McCandless’s life. While most of Chris’s family was in utter confusion and grief as to why Chris would leave without a trace, Krakauer discovered why and …show more content…
Various examples throughout the novel explain how Chris was unprepared for life in the wild and was much too confident for life on his own. Chris did as much as research as possible for his trip but he was still stubborn. He refused to have any source of tools such as a map, compass, or means of saving food when game was scarce. Chris only had a rifle gun, a small knife, boots he borrowed from a friend, and shelter that he was fortunate enough to come across in the wild. Even friends of Chris knew he would have a hard time surviving in the wild, “He wasn’t carrying anywhere near as much food and gear as you’d expect a guy to be carrying for that kind of trip,” (4). This immediately shows Krakauer and the readers that McCandless was in way over his head and was ill prepared for his trip from the start. Another important characteristic that is a major factor in Chris’s thinking and logic is his intelligence. Chris was incompetent when it came to survival of fittest but he was book smart and it was his strongest trait. Chris’s intelligence allowed him to understand and sympathize with many poetic and literary works. Chris enjoyed literary works so much he began to take them too literal which became fatal for Chris. His actions may have been outrageous to average people but to Chris, a devoted admirer of literary works and authors, this was simply the meaning of life that he was determined to

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