A girlfriend, or even a close friend, might balk at living on rice and wandering in the wild for months.
Although Krakauer rejects McCandless' refusal of all aid as a form of suicide, it seems justifiable in interpreting McCandless' determination to push aside all attempts to make his journey safer as a kind of unconscious misanthropy, or hatred of humanity. Having people care about him would have meant that he would have to take more responsibility for his safety. The farther away he pushed people from him emotionally, the more risky his behavior could become. Much like alcoholics or drug abusers' self-defeating behaviors, McCandless' embrace of asceticism and risk could be interpreted as a way of keeping people emotionally and physically distant. Only a person with no social responsibilities can burn money, refuse to send regular letters and postcards, and take from the world only as much as he needs for a day. McCandless loved humanity in the abstract (hence the donation to Oxfam) but wanted minimal contact with individual humans.
On a personal note, how were you affected by reading McCandless' story? What insights did you gain into your "self"?
Despite his seemingly suicidal recklessness, I identified with McCandless. So much of modern life seems false. We spend so much time dealing with 'disembodied' aspects of the world, making virtual connections through the Internet or dealing with bureaucracies that are...
Maybe he thought because he loved the wilderness so much that the wilderness would love him back and not kill him. He knew there was a chance he could die, but he didn't think it would really happen to him. The book Chris bought that told about wild plants he could eat didn't say anything about the wild potato seeds being poison. Chris had been eating fairly well up to
McCandless Journey Hero McCandless' Journey to Discovery and Heroic-Sanctity In Into the Wild, Chris McCandless embarks on several different movements -- wandering, questing, the pilgrimage, the going-forth. At times, he seems to have a goal, and at other times he appears to have none. Therefore, it is difficult to define Chris as a traditional hero of the monomyth. The major flaw in doing so is to miss the reality of Chris's "journey"
In fact, the exercise of liberty is oftentimes one of the principle producers of unhappiness. People tend to relish and utilize their freed will by thinking doing so will make them feel felicitous. On the contrary, many times free will can actually account for scenarios that are counterproductive to happiness, which is why Gilbert writes "We have no trouble anticipating the advantages that freedom may provide, but we seem blind
I prefer lying down on my back, with my feet flat on the ground and my knees up in the air, although I have done the same basic technique sitting up as well. I close my eyes and consciously relax every part of my body, starting with my toes and working my way up, through the legs, hips, torso, arms, neck and even face. At the same time, I
Supertramp' is McCandless' literary alter ego. In his writings, McCandless portrays himself as a kind of spiritual pilgrim in the last, pure place on earth -- the Great White North. Writing under a different name allows McCandless to distance himself from the very real risk he is taking, and also the callousness he shows towards those who try to help him on his journey. He refuses all aid because
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