Essay: The story of Chris McCandless

The story of Chris McCandless and his obsession with living an extremely simplistic life and being self-reliant is quite peculiar. McCandless’ story is discovered, read, and seen by many since 1992. Though very inspirational, Chris McCandless’ journey showcases two types of lives: a dangerous and barbaric lifestyle, and a romantic vision of nomadic independent freedom. Many wish to risk their lives in hopes to experience living life a little differently.
The journey he embarked on in the Spring of ’92 was very impressive to view and read about. He was young, intelligent, arrogant, schizophrenic, and overall a hypocrite. As we know Chris is a young man, corrupted by a dark past, which ultimately leads him to his death in the very end. His other half, if you will, pursues a life in which he is wise and in tune with nature. Supertramp is the adventurous figure we all wish to be, the one that Ron, Chris’ friend in the very end, even goes as far as to compare him to Jesus. We are actually able to see Supertramp in the movie “Into the Wild,” figuratively healing Randy, again, showcasing him as a spiritual leader. He rejects society and everything they speak of so much, that instead of listening to the individuals whom he meets, he instead sheds wisdom on them. No one was able to save him, sadly, he was destined for death. It is certain that he had no idea it would impact the world as much as it did.
Although the journey is inspirational, it is very dangerous, but people proceed to attempt at defying the impossible. Since 1996, there have been numerous instances of people dying on the Stampede Trail. For some reason, people keep visiting the bus, only to be faced by the deadly Alaskan woods. The reason for this is, after some research, is because people want to arrive at the same conclusion as McCandless did, but they forget to recall a lot factored into Chris surviving that long, and a lot factored into Chris arriving at the point he did. When we look at the story more realistically and factor everything in, we can all come to the conclusion that all Chris needed to do was to simply share the “real love” that he mentions at the very end, with the people that were in his life. To emphasize the situation a little more, he made himself suffer to the point where he physically and mentally could not endure it anymore, he broke himself down. This story is sad, and we see that when he can barely even write “love is only real when shared.” He threw away a life he once controlled for immature reasons. Going on the adventure to feel the same way Chris did, in the end, is possibly the most idiotic form or therapy ever, it is suicidal.
In my opinion, I believe that Chris McCandless’ journey is just another example of a tragic story, due to childhood experiences and a mental health disorder. Though it can be perceived as a story worth risking your life to commemorate, it really is not. McCandless is not a martyr, he is a victim, and I believe that’s the misconception. If he would’ve tried to be a little more realistic and try and fix things with his parents, or others in his life, things would have been different, and his horrific story would seize to exist.