hjbkn.

He should be criticized for the pain he caused his family, and the selfishness he showed towards them. His parents loved him and had worked hard for years to give him all the opportunities he was afforded, but he shrugged them off without even a "thank you, but this is something I need to do."
He wasn't a hero, he was brave. He was smart but not wise. He went on a personal journey, and miscalculated the power of nature. If he had lived, we wouldn't be discussing this, and death does not make someone a hero. If he had brought a map with him, he would have lived. He rushed into something without good planning, for selfish reasons and died for it. He's no hero, but I do respect him.
He should be respected because he was brave and followed his youthful idealism to a level that most people wouldn't dare. It probably didn't hurt that he was never truly 'poor'. No matter what happened, he would always have the safety net of having wealthy parents and a college education under his belt.

stubborn, irresponsible

“During graduation weekend he casually mentioned to his parents that he intended to spend the upcoming summer on the road as well. His exact words were ‘I think I’m going to disappear for a while,’” (Krakauer, 21)

One may say that Chris McCandless was an arrogant fool considering the decisions he made throughout his short life. Others may say he was an incredible inspiration and should be honored beyond his death for his choices. McCandless may have made some questionable choices within his journey, yet he was nothing less of an inspiration to those who feel that they have not ‘found themselves’ and deserves respect for the impact he has made. Although he is respectable, he also had ample flaws that may have led him to his tragic ending.

Instead of being seen as narcissistic and arrogant, McCandless could be seen as an idealist. He believed that reality was past the everyday life that he was living, and he could find reality within a transcendent phenomenon. Although he was told multiple times not to go through with the lone journey to Alaska, McCandless stuck to his decision and did not take into account the advice he was given by many. Unlike most, McCandless was not influenced by the people in his life. He strived on his own idea of life rather than what is taught and learned throughout society. The indifference McCandless felt in his everyday life was what led him to pursue his inspirable journey that was scrutinized by Krakauer and others.

Even as a youth, McCandless showed signs of being an idealist. Walt McCandless, Chris’s father, took Chris on a backpacking trip every year. One year Walt took Chris and his youngest son to climb Longs Peak in Colorado. When they reached an elevation of 13,000 feet, Walt decided it was time to turn around. “Chris wanted to keep going,” Walt recalled. “He was only twelve then...If he’d been fourteen or fifteen, he would have simply gone on without me (Krakauer page 109).” This ambition Chris displayed to climb the mountain even when he was young showed his different outlook from most younger children to the more challenging aspects of life. This must have been a point of.