Based on this argument, McCandless had all the reasons to leave the city and live in the forest. Krakauer insinuates that McCandless was probably a “pilgrim…he was not incompetent or an outcast” (76). Moreover, McCandless opted to live in solitude at the heart of an Alaskan forest due to the influence of another Thoreau’s short story, Life without Principle.Īs aforementioned, McCandless was a traveler therefore, he chose to follow his dreams and pursue the things he treasured most viz. Thoreau posits, “The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right” (7). The only alternative that he had was to live in forest with minimal human interactions.Īs aforementioned, McCandless had idiosyncratic logic, and living in the forest was one of his personal decisions, which he did not expect everyone to agree with just as Thoreau believed. He chose to live a solitary life that would prevent him from seeing human injustices. Therefore, his outrage led him to leave and live in the forest.
Into the wild book chris mccandless full#
American governance was full of injustices that McCandless loathed. Moreover, by the time McCandless entered university, he had developed “a sense of outrage over injustice in the world at large” (Krakauer 96). This stubbornness, coupled with Thoreau’s philosophies, gave McCandless the impetus to go on and live in the forest. Krakauer notes that McCandless was “stubborn and hot-headed” (45). Therefore, the only way he would ‘practically withdraw’ his support for the government was to live in forest where he would, neither pay taxes nor see violation of human rights. By paying taxes, he would support this governance, something contrary to his beliefs. McCandless understood this principle very well and decided not to be a part of the government that was violating human rights. “All men recognize the right of revolution that is, the right to refuse allegiance, to resist the government…” (Thoreau 10). Thoreau believed that the only tool that people would use to correct the government where necessary was conscience and rebellion.
Thoreau insisted that citizens had the right to resist and rebel against the government, and this must have gotten well into McCandless’s heart. Therefore, to show his displeasure, McCandless opted to live in solitude where he would not see the irregularities and injustices that stained governance because, according to Thoreau, these are the only ways a person could rebel. The baggage of being governed by a government without the verve of one living man. McCandless, “shed unnecessary baggage” (Krakauer 20). However, why did he need freedom? This is because, as previously mentioned, governance had never measured to Thoreau standards, an influential figure in McCandless’ life. In his Journal, McCandless says he “basked in his newfound freedom” (Krakauer 19). The issues of bad governance and discrimination towards blacks stand out clearly in Thoreau’s arguments, and this might have angered McCandless, something that made him feel like a prisoner to the government. Thoreau talks of the American government as one lacking, “the vitality and force of a single living man for a single man can bend it to his will” (Thoreau 4). Probably McCandless was displeased with the form of leadership in America at that time. McCandless Purpose in LifeĪs exposited in Into the Wild, McCandless went missing sometimes in April 1992, probably due to the influence of Thoreau’s writings for instance, in Civil Disobedience, Thoreau talks of government being at best when it rules not. Civil Disobedience and Life without Principle.
Based on his journal entries and the books he read coupled with ideas he shared with others, it is evident that McCandless was greatly influenced by Thoreau’s writings viz. The book explores people who influenced McCandless like Jack London and Leo Tolstoy, among others. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer tackles McCandless’s life, starting with the discovery of McCandless dead body in a bus, Krakauer takes a journey back into McCandless life as a graduate through his disappearance to his survival and eventual death in the Alaskan forest. Chris McCandless does not pass as an ordinary person no, he is a complicated person living a life defined by his principles, not by society.
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