Ok, this morning I FINALLY finished my essay for
eng102. It’s a beast. Well it�..s not really that bad but for me it is,
and if you suck at English like I do. Yeah that kind of explains it.

If you wish to read the essay, please read on…

The essay was on John Krakauer’s book Into the Wild. Basically I
am saying how I didn’t like the book and Krakauer didn’t defend Chris
McCandless’s case very well at all in the book, enjoy.

In Into the Wild, the author, John Krakauer didn�..t defend
Chris McCandless�.. choice to venture into the wilds of Alaska very well
at all. John Krakauer portrays Chris as an adventuresome young man,
when, in reality, Chris was a person who took advantage of society.
Chris was a self-centered and selfish boy who wanted to live on the land
in Alaska and killed himself doing it.

When Chris McCandless left home following his father�..s birthday
party, he didn�..t tell his parents where he was going; Chris just
walked out. He had found out that he was a bastard from another family
member. Chris�.. parents, Walt and Billie, weren�..t married when Chris
was born. In fact, Walt was still married to his first wife. This upset
Chris terribly, because Chris felt his parents had lived a lie and not
told Chris the truth about his conception. Chris maintained that he was
always close to his sister, but he also punished her by never contacting
her, much less his parents while he was on his adventure. A man who
risked his job to give Chris a lift to Alaska in the RV he was
delivering for his company even went as far as to give Chris his credit
card number and begged Chris to call his parents. Chris always had time
to focus on his own life, but he never had the time to care about anyone
else�..s. I feel that Chris never forgave his parents. When Chris
decided it was time to rejoin society, but discovered he couldn�..t
leave the way he had come due to a summer snow melt, Krakauer believes
that Chris would have returned to civilization and contacted parents.
But in his little journal writings, Chris never indicated that he wanted
to communicate with family members.

When Chris set out on his journey, he told people his name was
Alex McCandless. This was most likely done to prevent his parents or
family members finding him. Upon beginning a job he would put his name
down as �..Alex�.� and note that he had forgotten his Social Security
Number. Only while working at McDonalds in Bullhead City did Chris use
his real name and his Social Security Number. When he was in Bullhead
City, Chris also opened up a savings account at a local bank. Chris had
succeeded in erasing his existence; a private investigator hired by
Chris�.. parents didn�..t even find him. In effect, Chris lived as
though he didn�..t have any family; he was on his own.

Chris�.. true colors showed many times, as he was very selfish and
self-centered. Chris encountered wonderful people who helped him in many
ways; then, out of the blue, Chris would announce he was moving on. Jan
Burres was the first friend Chris made. He watched her book stand at a
local flea market in return for provisions that she gave him for his
trip. Without regard for Jan�..s needs and feeling, Chris left for
Bullhead City where he worked at McDonalds. After a while, Chris quit
and left again saying he had enough of the area and needed to get the
�..hell out of town.�.� Next, Chris met Ron Franz while he was
hitchhiking to camp from a nearby town. Chris was living about a half
mile from a place where about two hundred people lived out of their
cars. Over the next few weeks Chris and Ron became good friends. They
would frequently talk, and Ron, being a skilled leather smith, taught
Chris his skills. Then, with warning, Chris announced to Ron that he was
going to San Diego to save money for his Alaska trip. Ron offered to
give Chris money, but Chris wouldn�..t accept it. Chris did let Ron
drive him to San Diego. On the way Ron asked Chris if he could adopt him
to be his grandson. Chris just �..blew that off�.� and didn�..t reply
to the question. Chris took the ride and moved on with his life. The
effect of his actions on other people didn�..t seem to bother Chris one
bit.

Chris drove an old Datson, but upon deciding that he wanted to
start off on his journey, Chris ditched his car in Atlanta. From that
point on, Chris�.. mode of transportation was hitchhiking and jumping
trains. Krakauer never states that the methods Chris chooses to get
around were illegal or that Chris was bothered by his choices. I feel
that Chris really didn�..t seem to care about the rules of society and
that he believed his own way of life was superior to everyone else�..s.
In a letter Chris wrote to Ron Franz, he talked about jumping trains to
get to Oakland and getting caught. He went on to say that he just waited
a few more minutes and jumped onto the train later on down the line.
This shows that Chris had very little, if any, respect for personal
property. When Chris left South Dakota to head to Alaska, he stopped at
the side of the road and then hitchhiked north. A man with an RV stopped
and talked to Chris. He said he would like to give Chris a ride, but it
was against company policy; he just delivered RV�..s to Alaska. After
talking to Chris a while longer, the man decided to ignore the rules and
take Chris with him. Chris didn�..t seem to have a problem with the man
risking his job to help him out, even though Chris knew he was just
using the man for the ride and would then move on. In Bullhead City,
Chris lived out in the Desert. One day, when he was in the McDonald�..s
bathroom, a man asked if Chris was sleeping outside. This man told Chris
he had a place where Chris could stay, but there was a �..minor�.�
problem. The man didn�..t exactly own it. He told Chris to tone it down
and lay low, and he could stay there. Chris didn�..t seem to be
uncomfortable staying on someone else�..s land and did not even think to
ask permission. Chris lived by his own rules as determined by his
personal needs.

When Chris hitchhiked from California to South Dakota to work, he
told his employer, a farmer, that in April he wanted to leave for his
Alaska adventure. When April arrived, the farmer asked Chris to stay a
few more weeks to help finish the farm work, and then he would pay for
Chris to fly to Alaska. Chris refused. I feel that this was
inconsiderate, because this individual had given Chris a job, a place to
stay, and items to help him on his trip to Alaska. Chris did not even
consider returning the favor by working two more weeks. Just as he had
at McDonalds, in Bullhead City, Chris quit when he wanted to leave
without regard for the effect on other people. Chris got what he needed
from other people and moved on.

When Chris wandered into the Alaskan wilderness, he found the old
bus for shelter. Chris was not at all prepared to stay in the wild. The
only reason that Chris was able to survive for as long as he did was
because he found the bus, rather than the tent he had planned using. In
his short diary of notes, Chris wrote how it rained for over a week at a
time. If Chris would have had only the tent, he would not have lasted
that long. When moose hunters found Chris�..s body, and later on, when
John Krakauer and Chris�..s parents went to the bus, they noted that
there were small animal bones all over the place. Animal bones are a
part of nature, but they said the amount that there were scattered
around the bus was amazing. Chris�..s belongings were still scattered
about inside the bus. I feel that Chris didn�..t take care of the land
or the bus the way he should have. He didn�..t know who owned the land
he was staying on; he was a visitor. Being a landowner myself, I find
this extremely irresponsible. Chris showed little respect for the
property where he was just a guest.

In this book, John Krakauer calls Chris a boy. I feel that this
doesn�..t help Krakauer�..s defense of Chris�.. choices; it shows that
Krakauer doesn�..t think of Chris as a young adult making mature
decisions. Krakauer didn�..t think that Chris was adult enough to be
called a young man. He was a boy playing at the being a man with tragic
consequences.