Did you hear the one about the guy who gives his money to a charity that feeds people, walks into the wild, and then starves to death? Chris McCandless. He grew up in an upper-middle class environment in the suburbs of Washington, DC. After graduating from college, he donates his $24,000 trust fund to Oxfam, gets into his car, drives away, and doesn’t tell anyone where he’s going. For nearly two years, he’s gone. He changes his name to “Alex Supertramp” and hitchhikes through the US like a vagabond. Why? He wants to go to Alaska so that he can live off the land.
And, live there he does. For 113 days.
Chris McCandless’ body was found by moose hunters. He had walked into the wild without telling anyone exactly where he was going, with no formal outdoors training, and with no foolproof plan to provide food, shelter and clothing for himself. It appeared that he had starved to death out there in the wilderness. “McCandless was not something special,” says a ranger, Peter Christian, who worked in the park near where Chris McCandless died. Ranger Christian says that he’s used to young men coming to “America’s last frontier” without properly preparing themselves. He calls McCandless death “just stupid, tragic, and inconsiderate … If he had a good map he could have walked out of his predicament.”
McCandless‘ story brings the word hubris to mind. A Greek word, hubris is arrogance boosted by excessive pride. It’s exactly the kind of overconfidence that leads to a person’s downfall. If Chris McCandless was alive, two days before next Valentine’s day, he might have gathered with his friends, family, and loved ones as he filled his cheeks with air to blow out the candles on his 40th birthday cake. But, he’s not alive. Fifteen years ago, he died at the age of 24 somewhere near the Denali National Park in Alaska.
As tragic as Chris McCandeless story is, it’s also inspiring. (Hell, who doesn’t want to run away and completely escape from all of the world’s bullshit every now and then, right?) Posthumorously, McCandeless inspires writer Jon Krakauer to create a brilliantly-crafted article titled, “Death of an Innocent”. Krakauer developes the article into a book titled “Into the Wild”. Sean Penn (yep, that Sean Penn) turns the book into a screenplay for the movie that I saw last week. See how that works? It goes from Chris McCandless to Jon Krakauer to Sean Penn to the big screen and, here on funkybrownchick.com, it goes from me to you. Chris McCandless is today’s Manly Monday pick. Feel free to use the comment section to share your thoughts on Chris McCandless’ decision to chuck it all and live in the wilderness: Sad and stupid? Or, sad and inspiring?
Links and credits: Excerpted quotes from Ranger Peter Christian are from this document available at George Mason University. Image of Christopher McCandeless and full text of Jon Krakauer’s original article are available at Outside magazine.
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this story about this guy…very impressing…
in my opinion he did something very important…important for himself…think about what he would have become if he’d not turned his back on this freak and sick civilisation…i’ll bet you 5 bugs that it was the right thing to do…
i am on a hike myself…not that hard….but that is just because i don’t have the will and strength to do it like this…
he cut down his ID and drivers license and i made something like a special insurance for travellors…how weak is that!?
anyway…
i think everyone should go on a journey…everybody in his special way…
@ Clair: You said, “Go and find yourself but always remember where you came from.” I think that’s a great lesson for everyone. :)
@ Donnie: You mention, “It is only after we have lost everything that we are free to do anything.” I like that quote. It’s similar to, “The things you own end up owning you.” (Fight Club)
@ Dee: Yeah, the “WALKING away from his FAMILY” thing was kind of hard to swallow.
@ Janine: You mention, “His story has clearly touched something in all of us.” I think that holds true whether people agree or disagree with the choices he made.
@ STL: Dude, what’s wrong with having sex? ;)
@ Steve: Thanks for the link!
@ MJ: Thanks for your comment. :)
@ Jøhn: You said, “i think everyone should go on a journey…everybody in his special way.” Good point!
I think selfish or not, this was something HE felt he needed to do, needed to be done, and i truly believe that his intentions were to rid the demons within- in his own way. I think he truly realized while he was there that “HAPPINESS IS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED”. He wanted to go home, maybe not to ma and pa ,but back to civilization. Do I think he would go back YES. But I believe he found what he was soul searching for, and it ended in absolute sad tragedy by mistaken berries.
Sad to see an absolutly brilliant mind-gone like a gust of wind, and only to find out about it on the big screen. Wonderful movie.
No idolization here, but just a sad reminder that there are people who feel like they need to just up and leave civilization. That love or real people aren’t needed in daily lives. Sad.
Iam going to with the “Moron” comment. I saw the movie and my
thought was he was feeling sorry for himself. His mean and rotten
parents got a divorce….How dare them not show him love? how to
solve this issue? Run away …I mean go on an adventure into the
wild…It will solve all your issues and prove your so smart.
I think I would have liked Chris as a person. It is fine to be
be angry with people and have hurt feelings but he did not deal
with the issue well. The movie made me sad…obviously I wanted
him to make it out of the wild.
It's amazing how all you “normal” people are quick to judge. Why does everyone assume he is 'running from' rather than running to? It's very rare that someone actually follows their heart and soul, rather than someone elses heart.
Hypocrisy is all over these comments…that's my opinion.
he was once lost….. then he found himself…. the rest is between him and Him…..
lamesabassman………… some are just that way…….
No doubt most people criticizing him are sitting on their fat, well fed asses, driving their Lexus, Beemer, or whatever. They haven’t a clue what he stood for as they’re all wrapped up in their selfish, materialistic behavior. Arrogant fuckers can go to hell.
Chris, where are you now and where did you grow up? i posted through this thread with intelligent responses, grew up piss poor and worked hard to feed and cloth myself. Your response as well as those who still believe Chris Mc was some sort of visionary because he bucked the trend are the dangerous side affects of romanticizing reckless behavior. It’s not ‘fuck tha police’ every time someone sticks their middle finger up and says I’m not doing what ppl want me to – you want to know about true rebels read “three cups of tea” by greg mortenson or “all souls” by michael patrick macdonald. these guys are rebels, making change and sacrificing for a purpose, not some selfish desire to spike their own adrenaline.
grow up – be responsible for your community and make a difference for other people then you can criticize you asshole.
Running??? Selfish??? Arrogant??? There’s nothing wrong with what this young man did… He made a choice, a brave choice. The consequence is very sad, yet, inspiring at the same time.
Reading all of your thoughts is the real tragedy. Condemning someone for living there own life, is that the country you really want to live in???
Most of you couldn’t survive without your cell phone for a day.
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