Informative Essay On Chris Mccandless

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Alvarez, German
Mr. Funkhouser
English IV CP, Period 4
10 May, 2015 Humans naturally feel pressured, whether as a kid trying to keep up grades for school, as an adult trying to get a promotion, or even as regular, everyday, human­beings simply trying to fit the status quo. Although mankind is faced with constant pressure day­in and day­out there is little done to fix these problems. Complaining and whining is not the correct way to solve social pressure, so what is? Chris McCandless asked the very same question.
Born, February 12th, 1968, to Walter and Wilhelimina McCandless, Christopher Johnson
McCandless was a young man with a bright future. Captain of the cross­country team in high school and graduating with ease. Chris proceeded to attend Emory University where he would
Natural disasters, car accidents, life­threatening medical conditions, painful procedures, exposure to community violence – all can have traumatic impact on the child” We can not be certain is any of this happened to Chris however there wouldn’t be much of a surprise. “Traumatic experiences can have a devastating impact on the child, altering their physical, emotional, cognitive and social development.”, continues to say the
Child Trauma Academy. Chris was always different from others, Chris liked to think outside the box. Or maybe this was Chris’ way to escape the emotional scarring of the past. Should Chris have faced the past head on or was he right in running away?
To a certain point McCandless’ story can be marked as ungrateful had the boy grown up with no emotional scars. Here there is a kid living a life in which many people in the world would envy, growing up in a well off family where money was no issue. McCandless was very intelligent, receiving no less than A’s in all but one class in high school physics. Belonging to
Having that kind of pressure would be a personal form of torture, being haunted by the fear of being inadequate. Feeling as though your best just isn’t good enough, knowing that if you

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failed the whole world would collapse. Chris grew up with this constant pressure in the back of his mind. Chris was tired of being told what was best without having a say in the choice, what road was better to take, so he made a new one. Chris demonstrated the Aristotle quality of Ethos, credibility, by the stature and respect gained with his studies. Chris seemed to have reached the top of the academic ladder but was he mentally mature enough to make a decision of such drastic measures? According to Deborah Yurgelun­Todd, “The frontal lobes of the brain which are responsible for high level reasoning and decision making aren’t fully mature until the early 20s”.
Chris was 24 years old when the decision was made to run off into the wild. Legally an adult and mentally mature, Chris knew very well what kind of situation lied ahead.
Was the pressure too much, causing Chris to go over the edge or was Chris fully aware of what he was getting himself into? Chris had a sense of adventure even as a young boy.