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Maddie Bell

Mr. Smith

H 11 ELA

22 December 2023

The Great Adventure of Chris McCandless

“Happiness only real when shared” (Krakauer 189), is what main character Chris

McCandless remarked after leaving society completely to go out into the Alaskan Wilderness. In

1992, McCandless, fomally known as Alexander Supertramp, decided to stray from society

trying to find the true meaning of life. Overtime, it becomes evident to him that happiness is only

genuine when shared with others, however, sadly he is too late to this realization and passes

away before returning to regular life. Author Jon Krakauer uses a non-linear narrative in Into the

Wild, causing the reader to, at first, have a general understanding of Chris McCandless and his

bold decisions; but as his childhood information is revealed, the interpretation is reshaped by

providing context to McCandless’ decisions allowing the reader to have a deeper and clearer

understanding of his morals.

McCandless shows signs of rebellious behavior while on his journey, however,

throughout the book, it becomes evident to the reader these were the morals he grew up with. In

the beginning of his journey, McCandless abandons his yellow Datsun after driving down a

permitted road and becoming stuck due to a flash flood. Although McCandless had a deep

connection to the Datsun, his abandonment illustrates defiance against the law because he is

incorrectly disposing of his property to continue his journey. Despite this being illegal,

McCandless believed “that he answered to the statutes of higher order that as latter-day adherent

of Henry David Thoreau, he took as gospel the essay ‘On the Duty of Civil Disobedience’ and
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thus considered it his moral responsibility to flout the laws of the state” (Krakauer 28). Henry

David Thoreau, a known philosopher, wrote the essay Krakauer alludes to, Thoreau questions

why individuals should have to follow government policies if they believe the policy is immoral.

Although McCandless doesn’t point out a specific issue he has with government policies, he

resonates with Thoreau’s concepts, believing that individuals should have the right to govern

themselves. Connecting back to the original cause of his journey, McCandless left civilization to

find inner peace and experience the true meaning of life, and being influenced by Thoreau to

disregard the law allows him to do so. However, as the novel progresses it becomes clear

McCandless’ developed his carefree way of living from an early age, and following On the Duty

of Civil Disobedience only enhanced his belief in these morals. During highschool McCandless

had consistently maintained good grades, receiving A’s in almost all subjects. Although, physics

unfortunately was the only class he had ever finished with a F in because he had refused to

follow the teachers rubric. As Chris was very self-sufficient, he believed the teacher’s technique

“was a stupid rule and decided to ignore it. He did his lab reports, but not in the correct format,

so the teacher gave him an F” (Krakauer 109). Even though this situation was such a small piece

of McCandless’ life, when put in context, it can be used to help explain his personality and

thought process behind decisions he makes on his journey; like abandoning his car. Krakauer’s

usage of a non-linear narrative causes the reader to make a general assumption about

McCandless and his decisions, but as more of his childhood information is revealed, the

assumption is reshaped and justification behind these decisions becomes clearer. Using the

quotes mentioned above, Krakauer introduces McCandless’ deviation from the law before he

explains McCandless’ childhood experience. After gaining information on his time in

highschool, the reader is able to better comprehend the morals he had growing up. It’s learned
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that Chris was stubborn and grew up completing things his own way, therefore as he became

older he maintained these personality traits. In both situations, McCandless disregards rules

which represent his subtle rebellion from society, and as the reader progresses in the novel this

aspect becomes apparent.

Krakauer’s choice to include events from McCandless’ childhood later on in the book

reshapes the reader's interpretation of his personal choices; when reading later sections, it

becomes apparent that McCandless was very independent from a young age. From an early age,

it was evident to Walt and Billie that Chris was very capable of making decisions for himself.

McCandless believed the only right way to live was his, and he expressed this very clearly. At

the age of twelve, his parents had taken him and his siblings on a hiking family vacation in

Longs Peak Colorado. Due to the change in altitude, it became harder for Walt to continue

climbing. However, McCandless was determined to finish the hike, Walt had exclaimed “‘Chris

wanted to keep going to the top. I told him no way. He was only twelve then, so all he could do

was complain. If he’d been fourteen or fifteen, he would have simply gone without me’”

(Krakauer 109). Despite the warning his father had given about the following route, “‘Chris was

fearless even when he was little . . . he didn’t think the odds applied to him’” (Krakauer 109).

Considering McCandless had believed the odds didn’t apply to him, it gave him a sense of

determination, allowing him to live fearlessly and independently. Although, as he grew older,

certain decisions he made about his education can be explained through the traits he gained as a

kid. From the beginning, Walt and Billie had extremely high expectations for McCandless and

his college experience. Due to his success throughout high school, his parents had expected him

to attend law school, in hopes to hold Chris to this expectation they had set aside money for

funding. However, “what Walt, Billie, and Carine didn’t know . . . was that he would shortly
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donate all the money in his college fund to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting

hunger” (Krakauer 20). Despite the plan his parents had for college, Chris chose his own path,

leaving civilization, on a journey, to find peace. Within the book, Krakeaur presents these events

out of order, creating an impact on the reader. As mentioned before, including McCandless’ older

life before information from his childhood causes the reader to interpret his lifestyle and

character a certain way. Specifically, knowing Chris had donated the money without knowing his

background, may cause the reader to view him as greedy. However, Krakauer changes this

assumption by including childhood experiences, following a non-linear structure. Revealing that

McCandless had always been independent and self-determined can change the perspective a

reader had from earlier in the novel.

With Into the Wild, author Jon Krakeaur utilizes a non-linear narrative structure that

initially gives the reader a general understanding of Chris McCandless and his ambitious

choices; however as his childhood is revealed, the reader’s interpretation of McCandless’

morality is deepened and clarified. Although Chris himself wasn’t successful in returning to

society to share his findings, his story is used to illustrate the importance of sharing happiness

with others.
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Works Cited

Krakeaur, Jon. Into the Wild

Skill N Foundational Proficient Advanced

Y

Thesis Establishes Specific mention Effectively

a basic of structural makes a claim
claim elements (and) incorporating a
Includes some complex idea;
aspect of author’s contrast, cause
purpose/ readers and effect, etc.
interpretation

Claims Makes a Previous (and) Previous (and)

statement Somewhat Considers the
that considers the thesis of the
requires thesis paper
evidence to Effective use of
support transition
words/phrases

Evidence Some Includes multiple Includes a

evidence pieces of variety of
relates to evidence/ specific,
the thesis examples that meaningful, and
clearly relate to well-chosen
the thesis and evidence that
individual claims relates to the
Includes multiple thesis
pieces of
evidence in each
body paragraph

Analysis Sometimes Accurately Explains

identifies identifies and well-selected
structures conveys points of
Somewhat structures comparison
explains Explains how among
how evidence evidence and
evidence supports topic their connection
supports sentence of to the thesis
topic individual
sentence paragraphs
and thesis Explains how
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evidence
supports the
thesis of the
essay

MLA Format Some Heading is No errors in

elements correctly MLA format
missing or formatted
some errors Pages are
in MLA numbered
format Most in-text
citations are
correctly
formatted
Works Cited:
each source entry
is in correct MLA
format

Conventions Shows Most quotes are All quotes are

evidence of correctly correctly
basic integrated integrated
proofreadin Follows essay Shows evidence
g organization of careful
Shows evidence proofreading
of proofreading

Fluency Simple use Demonstrates Strong use of of

of use of grade level vocabulary,
vocabulary vocabulary, diction,
Simple diction, sentence sentence
sentence structures structures
structures Accurate use of
unit specific
vocabulary
(non-linear,
epigraph)