Materialism In Into The Wild

1545 Words7 Pages
Christopher McCandless is a man that decided to leave all his prized possession and abandon the world of materialism that he comes from to venture into the wild. Committed to letting go of all connections to his past life, McCandless changes his name to Alexander Supertramp. On his journey, McCandless meets many people that he leaves an impact on. Of those people there is Wayne Westerberg, whom McCandless work for and who becomes the father that McCandless never had. Another person who McCandless keeps in touch with throughout his journey is Jan Burres. McCandless also meets Franz who sees McCandless as a grandson feeling extreme paternal instincts towards him especially since he lost his family to a drunk driver. McCandless meets these people…show more content…
McCandless refuses to have a symbiotic relationship with his environment, When Gallien picked McCandless up he noticed that “Alex‘s backpack looked as though it weighed only twenty- five or thirty pounds which struck Gallien -an accomplished hunter and woodsman– as an improbably light load for a stay of several months” (Krakauer Into the Wild 4). Gallien is an expert when it comes to the wild, unlike McCandless who only read about it in novels. He realizes that McCandless is not prepared for the wild in terms of food, clothes or skills, but McCandless still believes he can take on the wild. This emphasizes his stubbornness and arrogance in character. After living in the wild for a while, McCandless wants to head back to civilization, setting out on foot he comes across an obstacle, which is the river that he crossed coming in, which grew in size from April to what was now July. Unable to cross the river to get home, McCandless writes, “Disaster. … Rained in. River looks impossible. Lonely, scared”(Krakauer Into the Wild 170). McCandless witnesses the power and strength of nature, as well as its ability to create fear and kill.The immensity of the wild makes McCandless feel lonely and scared. McCandless anticipates that he would be able to overcome any obstacles he encounters however, his view is beginning to change as he realizes that he is not invincible and that nature kills those who are unprepared. Later on as resources dwindle, McCandless begins to see the threat of death as he writes in his journal, “death looms as serious threat. Too weak to walk out, have literally become trapped in the wild. – No game” (Krakauer Into the Wild 195). McCandless confesses that nature is stronger than man with its extreme unpredictability. McCandless is unable to come to terms with his environment and walks into the wild thinking that he can defeat nature, only to have nature prove
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