Into The Wild

2 Pages 477 Words

Exploratory Essay
By Kristy Gates
When I first started reading “Into the Wild,” I thought to myself, “Why exactly is this boy leaving everything that he knew and loved to go on this journey?” Put himself in complete danger by hitchhiking his way ALONE to Alaska. He gave up all of his possessions and the $25,000 that he had saved up to charity. What was the point? In the end, it shows that the only way that this story could’ve turned out, was him lying dead and decomposing and found by a moose hunter. How else could the story have turned out besides that way? McCandless had nothing. Nothing at all, nothing to support himself in any way whatsoever.
In the beginning of this book, there is an author’s note, basically telling everyone the story plot and what will, in the end, happen to this young man on his way to “living off the wild.” It tells his real name, Christopher Johnson McCandless, also, it tells that he had given $25,000 in saving to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself.
Chris McCandless came from what most people would like to call a “well-to-do” family on the East Coast. The boy was probably no more than 19 years old, but was on his way to a life of his own by hitchhiking to Alaska into the wilderness. He graduated from Emory University in the summer of 1990, but shortly afterwards; McCandless was not seen for quite some time by his family and peers. He had invented a new life for himself by now wandering across North America in search of himself. His family had no idea where he was or even where to start looking.
McCandless was a stubborn young man and did not mesh well with what was considered modern society. He was captivated by the writings of Leo Tolstoy. He admired how the great novelist had a life of wealth and privilege.
Chris McCandless was out in the wilderness for sixteen weeks. In the end, ...