November 8, 2012
Journal 14

Chris McCandless

I am not sure how I view Chris McCanless.  I feel that Chris may have been a little foolish and idealistic.  He was also willful and focused on what he wanted to do.  He did not go into the wild with enough supplies, and he did not seem to think things through.  There was no indication that he thought about how he would find shelter and warmth in Alaska, and he had no escape plans.  It was by luck that he found the bus.  I think he should have had a plan B, first aid supplies, and a map.  He caused his family pain, and as a sister myself, I would not want to go through the rest of my life without my brother.  He took a huge risk, and it ended tragically.  However, I have a hard time saying the risk was foolish.  Chris seems like the kind of person who needed to take risks and escape society in order to be happy and truly feel alive.  His ill-fated adventure may have been what he needed to achieve true self-actualization.  He felt it was necessary and worth-while to go to such extremes to live his short life to the fullest.  Not everyone may agree with risking one's life to fulfill one's life, but Chris did.  Chris sought to live a higher form of life that he felt society could not give him.  He tried to be one with nature and experience its beauty.  He gained experiences he would not have had if he had gone with what society and his parents thought he should have done.  He lived out his dream of escaping society.  He may not have done the best thing, but he made a choice and stuck with it.  He saw it through to the end and showed what it means to truly follow a dream.  I can't decide whether I believe Chris was an idiot about his adventure, or if he figured out something I haven't.  I don't feel completely comfortable judging him.