Chris Mccandless And Emory University
Emory University and its ties to Chris McCandless
In Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into the Wild, the final steps of Alexander Supertramp are recounted through his journals, interactions with others, and criminal record. However, the real story of Alex begins much earlier -- it begins in 1986. This is the year Alex, formerly Chris McCandless, enrolled at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. These college years shape the future of the young man by leading him to an odyssey where he leaves his family, to escape past demons and experience adventure. In June of 1986, McCandless graduated from Wilber Tucker Woodson High School in Fairfax, Virginia. Afterwards, he embarked on his first great journey. He packed himself and his possessions into his yellow …show more content…
Unlike joining fraternities and partying like most of his friends, he was a part of The Emory Wheel Newspaper as an editor and columnist. He most likely was a part of the school newspaper, because he wanted to spread his views to impact others in a positive way. McCandless “passionately argued the need to combat communism” (Peterson). This is because McCandless found himself greatly influenced by other writers, like Thoreau with transcendentalism. He hoped by writing against communism, he could help combat it by uniting people behind his beliefs. His other articles tended to relate to politics.
Chris found himself very vested in politics and founded the College Republican Club at Emory. He was Republican and absolutely loved President Reagan. During this time period, it is not surprising that he was a big supporter of Reagan. Under Reagan’s presidency, the Cold War ended and the economy boomed. In fact, he was so popular, that during reelection he received 525/538 electoral …show more content…
Due to the extremely high moral code Chris held himself and his parents to; he could not suppress their past grievances. By listening to Reagan address issues relevant to him, Chris probably felt like he was not alone with his family issues. This relates to Into the Wild, because family issues are what push McCandless to cut off his family and travel around the United States. Perhaps if he had taken action to resolve the family issues at hand as Reagan had urged, the McCandless family would be close knit and whole
In Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into the Wild, the final steps of Alexander Supertramp are recounted through his journals, interactions with others, and criminal record. However, the real story of Alex begins much earlier -- it begins in 1986. This is the year Alex, formerly Chris McCandless, enrolled at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. These college years shape the future of the young man by leading him to an odyssey where he leaves his family, to escape past demons and experience adventure. In June of 1986, McCandless graduated from Wilber Tucker Woodson High School in Fairfax, Virginia. Afterwards, he embarked on his first great journey. He packed himself and his possessions into his yellow …show more content…
Unlike joining fraternities and partying like most of his friends, he was a part of The Emory Wheel Newspaper as an editor and columnist. He most likely was a part of the school newspaper, because he wanted to spread his views to impact others in a positive way. McCandless “passionately argued the need to combat communism” (Peterson). This is because McCandless found himself greatly influenced by other writers, like Thoreau with transcendentalism. He hoped by writing against communism, he could help combat it by uniting people behind his beliefs. His other articles tended to relate to politics.
Chris found himself very vested in politics and founded the College Republican Club at Emory. He was Republican and absolutely loved President Reagan. During this time period, it is not surprising that he was a big supporter of Reagan. Under Reagan’s presidency, the Cold War ended and the economy boomed. In fact, he was so popular, that during reelection he received 525/538 electoral …show more content…
Due to the extremely high moral code Chris held himself and his parents to; he could not suppress their past grievances. By listening to Reagan address issues relevant to him, Chris probably felt like he was not alone with his family issues. This relates to Into the Wild, because family issues are what push McCandless to cut off his family and travel around the United States. Perhaps if he had taken action to resolve the family issues at hand as Reagan had urged, the McCandless family would be close knit and whole