Into the Wild..(2) Christopher McCandless

Christopher McCandless is the protagonist of the story. He is quite an interesting character to be analyzed due to his irrational and insane behavior, as some people might consider.

Chris McCandless or as he calls himself "Alexander Supertramp" created a new life for himself by abandoning his family and upbringing and taking to the road for a nomadic existence.

The world have been very materialistic and people tend to focus more on themselves rather than the trillions of others in our world.

Christopher McCandless wanted to get away from today’s ways and he “no longer [wanted to] be poisoned by civilization” (Krakauer, 163) or be “unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his parents and peers, a world of abstracting and security and material excess, a world in which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence.” (Krakauer, 22).

He doesn't like the normal life of fame and wealth as he says "Rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth." and that's why he's been described as an authentic person.

His life was about "taking risks, experiencing nature and discovering ultimate freedom."

He hiked into the Alaskan wilderness with little food and equipment, hoping to live a period of solitude and almost four months later, weighing only 67 pounds (30 kg), he died of starvation near Denali National Park and Preserve.

His death was a real shock to those who met him in his extreme odyssey and newspapers published his sad story to the readers who were divided in their opinions. Some of them believed Christopher McCandless to be irresponsible. Yet to some, he was just a brilliant young man who went out to find himself.

However, the author Krakauer, who tracked his story for a long time, thinks that “McCandless went into the wilderness not primarily to ponder nature or the world at large but, rather, to explore the inner country of his own soul” (Krakauer, 183).