Christopher McCandless and the Mistakes That Killed Him
By: Megan Rink
Going into something dangerous and unprepared is a good way to get yourself killed. Chris McCandless was a man who followed his dreams and wanted to find his meaning in life which is what I admire about him. But he went into his dream unprepared and unintelligently. Christopher McCandless went into the wild with no idea what was ahead of him, which inevitably was his downfall in life, and I can’t help but think how selfish and stupid he was to go into something like that alone and unprepared.
Even though I don’t feel Chris went in on a suicide mission I do think he went in totally unprepared without any care that his family would be very hurt if anything happened to him. All he had with him was, “…a ten-pound bag of rice. His gear seemed exceedingly minimal for the harsh conditions of the interior… Alex’s cheap leather hiking boots that were neither water proof nor well insulated. His rifle was only .22 caliber… He had no ax, no bug dope, no snowshoes, no compass” (Krakauer 5). He was going into these harsh conditions with nothing that would really help him survive for very long. These little things and his unpreparedness was the death of him, and I can’t help but think how selfish he was to do that to the people who matter most in his life. He must have known to some extent that these minimal things would not let him survive
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out there for very long, and even with his family out in the world somewhere, I don’t think he cared.
Secondly, he didn’t study up on the area he was walking into. The Teklanika River was one of his mistakes he could have avoided if he had studied more. The river is usually easier to cross in the winter, which is when Chris crossed, but in the summer the melting snow makes it almost impossible to cross. When Chris got to the point where he didn’t know how much longer he could stay out there, he decided to go back. When he got back to the river though there was no way he would be able to cross without dying in the process. “… As the glaciers and snowfields at the Teklanika’s headwaters thawed in the summer heat, its discharge would multiply nine or ten times in volume, transforming the river into a deep, violent torrent that bore no resemblance to the gentle brook he’d blithely waded across in April”(163). As you can see he didn’t study up on the conditions of the area that would later come, which in the end contributed to his death.
Lastly, I think another stupid thing he did was not talking to anyone in his family and telling them where he was. If he had called someone in the family who was looking for him they may have found him before he had died. They especially would not have felt so much grief because they would have been on better terms with him and know his situation. If Chris had told more people about his family he may be alive, because they may have cared enough to find them and let them know where Chris was. Like Gaylord Stuckey said, “After he left, I thought, ‘Oh, why didn’t I get his parents’ phone number and call them myself’” (160)?
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Many people think Chris was very brave and smart to do what he did. I do think he was brave and followed his dream, but what he did and how he did it was stupid. Many people oppose the negative by saying how brave and noble it was going out and trying to survive. Billie
says, “Many people have told me they admire Chris for what he was trying to do” (203). I believe Chris did follow his dreams like many people do and I admire him for that. What I don’t admire is that he went into his dream so unprepared and ignorant. Many people may think this is the greatest thing someone could do to find themselves, but I believe it is just stupid to do it the way he did.
Chris may have inspired many people and done what he had always wanted, but he didn’t do it the right way. He was selfish and unprepared. I think you should always follow your dreams no matter what they are, but do it safely and the right way. Don’t be careless and reckless the way Chris was or you may never fulfill your dream.
Work cited
Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. 1996
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