Chris Mccandless Research Paper
Mallory Donoghue
Mr.Smith
English II Honors
1 November 2012
Many people have come to the conclusion that Chris McCandless’ untimely death was a result of his arrogant nature or a possible psychological disorder. However, his death was caused by a simple mistake, his lack of geographical knowledge, and his desire to find himself. When Krakauer’s moving article in Outside magazine was published, copious amounts of hate mail was received regarding McCandless’ cause of death. Initially it was believed that he mistook two similar plants, the wild potato and the toxic wild sweet pea, then accidentally poisoned himself when consuming their seeds. Alaskan residents dubbed McCandless as “ignorant” and “unprepared” for supposedly confusing the similar plants. After further research Krakauer discovered that McCandless was poisoned by the wild potato plant’s seeds, which were not described as toxic in any published text. This ill-fated blunder does not show incompetence specific to McCandless, as most people would have made the same decisions. …show more content…
Several of them, including John Waterman and Carl McCunn, were similar to Chris, but in pivotal ways their stories were deviating. John Waterman was severely traumatized and obviously mentally ill. Chris was neither of those things. Additionally, Chris was not expecting to be rescued after making a dim-witted mistake, like Carl McCunn. Krakauer stated that “It is not unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders.” Chris may have lacked some common sense, but conceited qualities did not contribute to his downfall. His drive to push himself past his limits contributed to his demise, not
Mr.Smith
English II Honors
1 November 2012
Many people have come to the conclusion that Chris McCandless’ untimely death was a result of his arrogant nature or a possible psychological disorder. However, his death was caused by a simple mistake, his lack of geographical knowledge, and his desire to find himself. When Krakauer’s moving article in Outside magazine was published, copious amounts of hate mail was received regarding McCandless’ cause of death. Initially it was believed that he mistook two similar plants, the wild potato and the toxic wild sweet pea, then accidentally poisoned himself when consuming their seeds. Alaskan residents dubbed McCandless as “ignorant” and “unprepared” for supposedly confusing the similar plants. After further research Krakauer discovered that McCandless was poisoned by the wild potato plant’s seeds, which were not described as toxic in any published text. This ill-fated blunder does not show incompetence specific to McCandless, as most people would have made the same decisions. …show more content…
Several of them, including John Waterman and Carl McCunn, were similar to Chris, but in pivotal ways their stories were deviating. John Waterman was severely traumatized and obviously mentally ill. Chris was neither of those things. Additionally, Chris was not expecting to be rescued after making a dim-witted mistake, like Carl McCunn. Krakauer stated that “It is not unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders.” Chris may have lacked some common sense, but conceited qualities did not contribute to his downfall. His drive to push himself past his limits contributed to his demise, not