Analysis Of Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

Jamaica Kincaid once said “I think life is difficult and that's that. I am not at all - absolutely not at all - interested in the pursuit of happiness. I am not interested in the pursuit of positivity. I am interested in pursuing a truth, and the truth often seems to be not happiness but its opposite.” People are often living their lives in the big cities seeking for truth and happiness, but as Kincaid said, you cannot have both. In Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, a young man named Chris McCandless decides that he’s not interested in what society has to offer him. He ventures out, leaving everything behind, to enhance his life. Chris McCandless was a selfish and ambitious person who went into the wild in search of happiness and truth.
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McCandless was the typical straight out of college kid who wanted something more- an adventure. He was selfish for only thinking of himself when he made many of
McCandless’ motive for seeking truth was influenced by his parents materialistic lives. He disliked it even more when his parents tried to force their lifestyle upon him, as he even announced to his parents two years before graduation that he would no longer give or accept gifts. “Chris has only recently upbraided Walt and Billie for expressing their desire to buy him a new car as a graduation present and offering to pay for law school if there wasn’t enough money left in his college fund to cover it… “I can’t believe they’d try and buy me a car.” he later complained…(20-21).” Chris wanted something more than what society had to offer him. He was seeking truth about himself- he wanted to challenge himself and see what he can accomplish on his own. McCandless was also seeking happiness because he wasn’t happy with his life and where he was headed if he stayed. Chris McCandless did find answers in his journey but not happiness. He found that living in the wild isn’t as easy as his favorite books make it out to be. His Alaskan adventure was inspired, in part, by Jack London’s Call of the Wild. He tried to follow in the footsteps of some of the authors he idolized, like Thoreau and London, which is ironic because he failed to realize that these authors wrote fictional narratives. His answer for happiness was summed up in one of his last journal entries, “He was right in saying that the only certain