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Into the Wild

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A Hopeful Prodigy Led Astray
Chris McCandless was a well-rounded student and athlete who lived in a wealthy neighborhood in Washington D.C. His father, Walt, already had another family and kids when Chris was born. Chris found out about his father’s secret family when he visited his hometown after graduating from high school. Discovering this at such a delicate age, Chris became furious with his parents, especially his father. He abandoned his career in law and decided to travel to the Alaskan mountains and camp there alone. Being part of a secret, hidden family led Chris to shift his focus from his parents and career in law and seek replacements for them in the form of nature, Francis and Westburg.
The similarity between Chris's personality and that of his father was one of the problems; similar people tend to grate on each other, especially when one is in direct authority. Chris felt that his parents, while meaning well, didn't understand the ideals that he had learned from Tolstoy or Thoreau, and that they were addicted to the pursuit of material wealth just like everyone else in society. Instead of speaking with them and finding common ground, he rebelled in a passive-aggressive manner. When he finally started his journey, he resolved to never contact them; sadly, he held to this resolution until it was too late.
McCandless "talks the talk" in a way that alienates fewer listeners than one would predict, but he "walks the walk," too — which may account for the fact that so many of those he encountered continued to listen. Westerberg muses on the relationship between McCandless and his father, suggesting that "Alex" " . . . just got stuck on something that happened between him and his dad and couldn't leave it be." Apparently this was true. Walt McCandless was stubborn and controlling. Christopher McCandless was stubborn and independent. In a letter to his

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