Chris McCandless Mental Illness: Critical Essay

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McCandless Awe-inspiring or Foolish

Throughout the book Into, The Wild Chris McCandless is known to be a wacko reckless idiot and is also known to be courageous and heroic. However, does a courageous person go out into the wilderness knowing that the outcome will be fatal? People viewed him from different perspectives and also have a broad range of opinions of this young man. Some deemed him to be incredibly dim-witted or a man that simply just followed his heart. Evidence shows that Chris McCandless is actually a mix of both. The first opinion that described McCandless was brainless, idiotic, and extremely foolish. Many passages from Into The Wild can support this outlook. Chris McCandless is very stubborn and arrogant. 

Chris McCandless fails to see reality and that is one of his tragic flaws this is what ultimately leads to his demise. Chris McCandless doesn’t accept help or advice when given to him. Jim Gallien, a union electrician, gives Chris a ride to Denali National Park. “He wasn’t carrying anywhere near as much food and gear as you’d expect a guy to be carrying for that kind of trip. Gallien also tries to persuade him from going on the expedition because he knows the danger that Chris is blindly trying to walk into. Gallien- an accomplished hunter and woodsman who is experienced in living in the wild is convincing him not to go into the land especially since he is ill-prepared for the expedition. “But he wouldn’t give me an inch. He had an answer for everything I threw at him. 

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Chris McCandless is very delusional, this is proven when he runs away from his old life and creates himself a persona (Alexander Supertramp). He bases all his ideologies and gets his notions on how life is supposed to be lived from books, and authors, Chris also lacks common sense. Wayne Westerberg another person meets at Carthage, South Dakota. Westerberg is very fond of the boy but he even said that Chris has his problems. “Sometimes he tried too hard to make sense of the world, to figure out why people were bad to each other so often. A couple of times I tried to tell him it was a mistake to get too deep into that kind of stuff, but Alex got stuck on many things. He always had to know the absolute right answer before he could go on to the next thing. Westerberg tells the reader that Chris is arrogant just by the latter phrase. The passage also tells the reader how much Chris disliked the world and the society he lived in. 

Chris McCandless is also inconsiderate and selfish towards his family. Chris left his family in despair and in worry. Chris decides to go on a road trip that he normally takes during his breaks, only this time he didn’t return to his parents nor did he let them know his whereabouts. This is a very despicable act because his parents trust him so much to let him go out for a road trip and the least he could do is at least call them every now and then instead he divorces them as parents and calls them idiots all because they're trying to do their jobs as parents.“I’m going to divorce them as my parents once and for all and never speak to either of those idiots again as long as I live, I’ll be through with them once and for all, forever. In conclusion, Chis McCandless was being reckless as he previously stated he knew the consequences of this journey could be fatal but he didn’t take that into consideration and ultimately he died of starvation.

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Chris McCandless Mental Illness: Critical Essay. (2023, October 27). Edubirdie. Retrieved November 2, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/chris-mccandless-mental-illness-critical-essay/
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Chris McCandless Mental Illness: Critical Essay. [online]. Available at: <https://edubirdie.com/examples/chris-mccandless-mental-illness-critical-essay/> [Accessed 2 Nov. 2024].
Chris McCandless Mental Illness: Critical Essay [Internet]. Edubirdie. 2023 Oct 27 [cited 2024 Nov 2]. Available from: https://edubirdie.com/examples/chris-mccandless-mental-illness-critical-essay/
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