Wild: A Chris McCandless Article
Last photo of Chris McCandless, pulled from a Reddit thread linked below.
Today, I give my opinion of the decades-long debate over Chris McCandless: romantic hero or inconsiderate moron?
To answer this, we must first ask ourselves whether he was lazy, fearless, or just crazy? Most people who have no experience living off of the land learn how to properly live off the land before going out and doing it, but not McCandless. It seems he had the idea in his head that the vagabond lifestyle was for him and he ran with it, literally!
I see a sense of urgency all throughout Chris McCandless’ story. He wanted to run away now, no time to sit down and plan.
It probably started with his home life, as it is highly likely his parents were abusive despite their attempts to discredit that notion. McCandless’ sister, Carine, published a book about their growing up called The Wild Truth.
This article from NPR discusses Carine’s account of their childhood and what may have motivated Chris to break off from his family. When he graduated college, he traded living comfortably for what he considered to be more exciting–hitchhiking all around and foraging for food.
McCandless is a romanticized figure because of this lifestyle. I think a lot of people wish they had the courage to abandon their jobs, homes, or general day-to-day life to do something exciting like this. I don’t think McCandless had very many fears, if any, entering into this lifestyle, as that is what holds a lot of us back from doing similar things.
What if it doesn’t work out? What if I have to return to my job? What if they won’t take me back? What if I become homeless? What if I get lonely? What if I starve to death?
Chris McCandless may not have even let those thoughts cross his mind as they would have held him back from doing what he wanted to do.
It is even said that he loved classic literature, such as Walden by Henry David Thoreau. A lover of classic literature myself, It’s pretty hard not to romanticize McCandless’ story, at least a little bit.
Plus, the Romantic Period of Literature in which Walden was published places a great emphasis on spiritual/emotional connection to one’s natural surroundings. Philosopher Isaiah Berlin says Romanticism is “a nervous preoccupation with perpetually changing inner states of consciousness, a longing for the unbounded and the indefinable, for perpetual movement and change, an effort to return to the forgotten sources of life.”
Chris McCandless embodies these values throughout his story. Even from a young age, McCandless’ colleagues noticed that he thought differently than most. He longed for change, not just from his home life, but from life itself. He wanted the individualism that Romantic authors portrayed in their works.
However, we can’t ignore the fact that he was not experienced in living off of the land and took no time to learn how to. He essentially depended on his ability to break into other peoples’ cabins and steal their food and money when he ran out. It wasn’t fair to those he stole from, who worked really hard to be able to buy their food and pay for their houses.
There is a point when scavenging for food stops being dangerous and romantic and starts being annoying and selfish. Chris had no idea what he was doing and did it anyway. It would have been admirable had he lived to tell about it, but since he is dead, he’s considered an idiot.
Still, as I said before, many of us wish we could run away from something. Maybe that’s not the best way to deal with difficulties in life, and yet a lot of people find themselves fantisizing about themselves living completely different lives.
Chris McCandless’ story is tragic, but I disagree with those who say he was stupid. He knew what he was getting himself into and took the risk, and it’s not his fault people romanticize his story.
He said it himself in his final note: “I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!” He didn’t regret what he did even though he suffered sickness, injury, and starvation in his final days.
This Reddit discussion on McCandless’ last photo and note shows many different opinions about Chris’ story, but I want to say that I agree with the people who say he lived and died on his own terms. Not many people understand that and are quick to brush him off as an idiot because his death could have been “easily prevented.”
And no, I don’t agree that it was suicide, but it was one of those “it is what it is” situations. McCandless was not going to let anybody tell him how to live, so why would he let anyone tell him how to die?
So, romantic hero? Certainly not. Inconsiderate moron? Nope. Just a man who wanted to get away like the rest of us? Yeah, and he had the courage a lot of us do not have, so his story will be told whether we agree with it or not.
Sources not cited above:
“Romanticism” Wikipedia article
“Romanticism” The Art and Popular Culture article