Essay for Finding Yourself in the World

Finding Yourself in the World As we mature into adults, we begin to observe more of the world around us and gain a greater feel for our place in society. How we were raised contributes greatly to our worldview. From Krakauer’s novel Into the Wild, we learn about the life of Chris McCandless and how he questioned the moral standards of the society he lived in. In a search for the true meaning life, Chris set out on his own leaving behind all of his belongings for the Alaskan Wilderness. From his adventurous life, we learn that unless we are free from the contradictions and hypocrisies in our lives, we can never truly pursue happiness and live a complete, fulfilling life. As Chris struggled with his perception of truth, he cites how the hypocrisies he found within his own family spurred his personal journey. Growing up, Chris greatly valued his personal moral values; seeing the many world issues such as hunger and the apartheid in South Africa made him want to take action. He would rise to any challenge that was presented to him, insisting on receiving little to no guidance or instruction as he preferred to do things his own way. Chris continued to develop these high ideals for himself as his father expected from him (Krakauer 109). As perfect of a child as he may seem, he struggled with the emotional tension between his parents, how the threat of divorce made him distance himself from them (107). What truly spurred Chris to leave his family was his prior discovery that his father had continued to foster his family from his first wife, creating a great resentment towards his parents (121). What makes Chris different was his tendencies to internalize the many issues he struggled with; discussing or arguing with his parents never seemed to be an option. Both Walt and Billie McCandless became worried of the emotional distance with their son; the lack of trust showing as Chris dismisses their attempts to talk with one another. Without any attempt to express his anger, he slowly became more bitter over time and tried to distance himself from his parents, often cutting off communication with them for extended periods of time until his ultimate journey to leave them behind. Krakauer includes how it is common for teens to be “harsh judges when it comes to their parents, disinclined to grant clemency [as they] see things in black and white” (122). What makes Chris unique is how strict he was in his criticism of his parents’ actions; their hypocrisies proving to only anger him even more. In his silent eyes, they were undeserving of forgiveness. Given time and a slow process of reconciliation, I do think that it would have been possible to ease Chris’s bitterness towards his parents and repair their fractured relationship. If he did have the courage to speak up and express how he truly felt to his parents, he could also begin to develop a healthy social well-being. They could facilitate his curiosities with nature and in doing so, his pursuit of a happy, fulfilling life. If he had developed a healthy relationship with his parents, he may have led a completely different life as his arrogance to remain independent proved to be his ultimate demise. As a result, Chris became more critical of the society around him, how there was no chance for society to be “perfect” when so many contradictions such as the income gap and materialism were left widely accepted or ignored. His trust in society’s capability to progress and accommodate his great moral standards was lost over time. His own unique decision was to leave the comfortable, structured path of wealth and education in favor of a personal journey where he controls every aspect; his choices determine his survival. His philosophy is derived from Thoreau: “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth” (117). While his choice is widely regarded as a selfish one, his objective is shared by everyone: to find the meaning of life that both fulfills his every need and fosters his personal growth. His letter to Franz discusses how “So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future” (56). To Chris, the sense of adventure and risk is crucial to experiencing the greater beauty in life. Because of his innate sense of independence, he insists that his journey be completely his own; taking full benefit and consequence of the choices he makes. Initially he did prove to himself that he could find a means to survive as he lived off of “rice and what marine life he could pull from the sea” (36). As he distanced himself from society, he maintained his personal moral standards: he never stole, he never cheated, and he never lied for his own personal benefit and survival. If needed money for supplies, he worked odd jobs as he traveled to buy them. Ultimately, he became overconfident in his ability to survive on his own and overlooked many of the preventable dangers that could have saved his life in the Alaskan Wilderness. The irony of Chris’s decision to go on his personal journey is how much he could have done to correct contradictions in society in the same amount of time. As he was brilliant for his age, his capability to push for causes he believed in could have introduced great social changes. Instead, his sense of rebellion against the many conflicts in his life may have denied this alternate fate. Chris’s journey to Alaska created a great sense of exhilarating, personal fulfillment; how he can independently support and fend for himself. Through the difficult challenges presented to him with each passing day, he finds satisfaction by overcoming the difficulties of surviving on his own. Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychologist, discusses this phenomenon as one of the greatest ways we can find happiness: complete immersion in a task that equally matches our abilities (Haidt). The feeling of earning money through hard work at Westerberg’s grain elevator and doing any job necessary supported his philosophy of being self-sufficient (62). During Chris’s final days in Alaska, one of the books he reads is Doctor Zhivago, noting how “Happiness only real when shared” (189). I would imagine that his note marks the beginning of the true acceptance of human community and intimacy. As he had been alone for so long, I believe he may have experienced greater feelings of loneliness and fear as the possibility of death grew. It would be consistent with how much overconfidence and arrogance he demonstrates over his journey to Alaska, creating a new desire to share happiness with others. While surviving alone in the Alaskan Wilderness had its own romantic allure to Chris, it proved to be too great for him. His final days left him starving and weak, resorting to an SOS note for help. In doing so, he abandons his created identity as Alex Supertramp and signs the note as Chris McCandless (198). His final choice to be Chris McCandless again demonstrates his understanding how close he was to death and his willingness to return back to society. It is sad to learn how the true meaning of life that Chris was searching for was not in the Alaskan Wilderness but among the people he had left behind. I believe that during these final days, he also found the courage to forgive his parents because he deliberately chose to change back his name so that he can be recognized. It represents his willingness to return to society and reach out for help, something that he never preferred to do. While he may not have found happiness in Alaska, he passed away with the final words that he has led a happy life with the last photograph of him bearing a smile. Chris’s personal journey across the U.S. gave him the ultimate freedom to live according to his own moral standards, free from the many contradictions he experienced in the society he came from. Despite its tragic end, we learn from Chris’s life how important it is for one to lead a complete, fulfilling life. He calls us to take the initiative and seize the opportunity to do so. The concept of finding your flow from Csikszentmihalyi’s research enables one to live like Chris; being fully immersed into meeting the daily challenges for survival. Without fulfilling experiences and freedom from the hypocrises of society, we cannot truly pursue happiness.