Mazariegos, 1

Lesley, Mazariegos

English

Ms. Kopaitich

Block: 6

December 10, 2018

Was Christopher McCandless Inspiring or Idiotic?

Standing up for your ideas and beliefs is important. Christopher McCandless followed his

ideas and many had an opinion over his decisions. Was Christopher McCandless inspiring and

courageous, or was he reckless and idiotic? I believe that Christopher McCandless was

courageous and inspiring for following through with his ideas and beliefs, and for being

determined.

I believe that McCandless was inspiring because when he left for his adventure he

donated 25,000 dollars to charity, when he could’ve easily burned it like he did to the cash in his

wallet. In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer states, “Shortly thereafter, he donated the balance of his

bank account to OXFAM” (125). He could’ve easily gotten rid of that money in another way and

instead he donated the amount of 25,000 dollars to OXFAM. This makes him inspiring because

not everyone is willing to give up that amount of money just like that. Christopher was very

inspiring for the fact that he also wanted to challenge himself. Jon Krakauer reports,“He had a

need to test himself in ways, as he was fond of saying, “that mattered” (182). He always

challenged himself because he thought he was capable of doing many things. According to the

quote, McCandless thought that testing yourself mattered. He was inspiring for putting himself

up to a challenge because not many people like to leave their comfort zones, unlike Christopher.
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McCandless was courageous because how many people would actually last as long as he

did in the middle of Alaska with the resources he had? In chapter 17 of Into the Wild, Roman,

one of the explorers says that he admires McCandless because yes, he wasn’t prepared, but he

admires the fact that Christopher tried to live off the land. He bets that most of those people

criticizing McCandless have ever done something like him for more than a week. The fact that

Christopher was able to survive for as long as he did living off the land is very courageous

because he stood with his ideas and went into the wild determined. He was also very courageous

because he knew the chances he was taking going into the wild unprepared, with the little

resources that he had and was still up for the challenge. Jon krakauer claims,“According to the

moral absolutism that characterizes McCandless’s beliefs, a challenge in which a successful

outcome is assured isn’t a challenge at all” (182). McCandless thought that a challenge wasn’t a

challenge if a good outcome is guaranteed. In the quote, Jon is trying to say is that McCandless’s

beliefs went according to the idea that a challenge wasn’t a challenge if it was easy or a

successful outcome is guaranteed. This makes Christopher courageous because he was

determined to go through with something which he had no knowledge of the outcome, he had no

idea what the results were going to be, but he just wanted to test out his idea, and that’s what he

did.

Christopher McCandless was courageous and inspiring because he lived his life how he

wanted no matter what people had to say. In chapter 17 of Into the Wild, Andy, one of

Christopher’s friends from the Woodson High cross- country team, says that Chris had been born

into the wrong century because the freedom and adventure he was looking for was one this

society didn’t offer. He’s inspiring because he was looking for so much more, and went out of
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his way to look for it. He was also very inspiring because what we say has a struggle towards the

end of his life, he saw it as the results of his ideas. Jon Krakauer asserts, “... McCandless penned

a brief adios: “I have had a happy life and thank the lord. Goodbye and may god bless all”

(199). This piece of evidence supports the idea that McCandless enjoyed and made what he

thought was the best of his life. He enjoyed living the way he did. He was courageous for living

in a way he thought was right.

Krakauer communicates that many believed Christopher was idiotic and reckless. In

chapter 17 of Into the Wild, Jon explains how some people dislike Christopher for dying in the

wilds of Alaska because McCandless lacked pieces of equipment deemed essential by many

Alaska citizens. People who were explorers like McCandless went into the wild prepared with

guns, a map, a compass, proper clothes, etc. Christopher went into the forest in conditions which

many would called insufficient, this would make him idiotic for believing that he could survive

with very little resources in a place where certain tools are needed. Yes, McCandless went into

the wild with little food, and little resources, but that was the whole point of his experiment to

see if it was possible to live off the land completely. McCandless wanted to live off the land, off

the food he could hunt and gather, off of very little needs. Christopher lived by the idea that a

challenge wasn’t a challenge if a successful outcome was guaranteed, he walked into that forest

not knowing what the outcome would be, but was determined the whole way through. Jon

Krakauer states, “living in the interior bush for an extended period, subsisting on nothing except

what you hunt and gather- most people have no idea how hard that actually is. And McCandless

almost pulled it off “(185). Roman, one of the explorers, admires Christopher for his ideas, and

in some way defended him from all those who criticized him, and judged his decisions. The fact
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that he wanted to live completely off the land makes Christopher very inspiring and courageous

because not everyone would go into the forest unprepared, not knowing what could happen in

there, with determination, excitement, and following their ideas and beliefs.

I conclude that Christopher McCandless was courageous and inspiring because he was

determined about his ideas and beliefs. Christopher was inspiring because when he left on his

journey he donated 25,000 dollars to charity, because he lived his life the way he wanted, not

influenced by others. He was courageous for taking on the challenge of living completely off the

land because he wanted to prove his ideas and thoughts. Following your beliefs and acting upon

your ideas is important because it’s your choices what make you unique, Christopher

McCandless had his unique way of living, own ideas and beliefs that made him who he was,

inspiring and courageous.