McCandless in the book Into the Wild

McCandless in the book Into the Wild
Chris McCandless is the main character in John Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild. McCandless is a libertarian who believes in the power of free will. Despite his strict moral compass, McCandless believes that his parents would have alerted and informed him of the existence of a second family instead of keeping it away from him. He argues that he would have been considerate if his parents had informed him prior and therefore perceives this as an act of hypocrisy that should not be tolerated.
Betrayal was the turning point that forced McCandless to rethink his moral motivation. Chris was a fan of direct action, and this is what instigated his move to drive away most of his friends and keep his parents away. His libertarian character is evident when he prompts his parents to think and believe that he was interested in studying law. McCandless was adventurous and preferred being given an opportunity to choose what is right for him. According to McCandless, “Happiness is only real, when shared” (Krakauer, 129). This explains why he gave out his hard-earned cash, $25000, to charity and made a decision to leave his birthplace for an adventurous mission to pursue his personal philanthropy. Everyone admired McCandless ability to ultimately live by his beliefs despite warnings from those close to him.
McCandless rebellious nature to the society, his parents, and close friends echoes his libertarian character. He held personal beliefs, opinions, views, and perspectives that were different from those of others.

McCandless stood and acted by his principles by depicting stubborn traits for actions he deemed undesirable. The society was “poisoned by civilization” and housed chains that veiled the doctrine of free will (Krakauer, 112). McCandless, therefore, believed that deviating from the societal norms was the only route to achieving freedom of free will.
Chris is a loner who always craved for social isolation. McCandless always dreamt of having an independent life with “ultimate freedom” that is free of control by the society and other stakeholders (Krakauer, 122). McCandless acted out of his selfish claims without taking into account the concern of his family. McCandless always linked his motive with the natural setting which defined the ultimate platform for self-realization. His interest in naturalist literary works is drawn from his connection with nature. A natural setting sets the best platform to realize individual goals on a free will basis. Chris McCandless advice that if a person needs something in their life, then they must reach out and seize it.
The move to Alaska was meant to maneuver the encroaching constraints of capitalism in the society. McCandless believed that his fortunes and treasures might be located in the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. He also believed that “The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun” (Krakauer, 40). Due to self-belief, McCandless carried very few supplies as he was ambitious that the minimal he had would push him to find a solution. Reality dawned on McCandless very late where he was forced to write a goodbye message few minutes before his demise.
McCandless is a deterrent and believes that he can handle any hurdles set along with his course. He is ready to face the stampede trial of the Alaska wilderness despite warnings from concerned persons. In the quest of reinventing himself, McCandless is forced to change his name to signify a new start. His new name,” Alexander Supertramp” was a motivating factor towards the realization of his personal goals in his adventure. He acknowledges that “The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure” (Krakauer, 40). McCandless recognizes the efforts by other American Literature characters such as Huckleberry Finn, Ishmael and Nick Adams who disowned the societal norms and expectations to emerge victorious and fruitful.
Work Cited
Krakauer, Jon. Into the wild. Anchor, 1995.