Intro to McCandless (MB1)

Into the Wild- Jon Krakauer


Before I began reading Into the Wild, I did some of my own research on Christopher McCandless. It was less about trying to gain a better background knowledge for reading the book and more because I was genuinely interested in knowing more about McCandless. I watched various videos on YouTube and read some articles regarding McCandless' story and experiences.

My research gave me varied results. Some articles painted him as a pioneer who was brave and achieved feats that most people only dream of. Other articles focused on McCandless' "inherent ignorance," exhibited by his lack of preparation for his dangerous expedition. 

This debate is even highlighted by Krakauer in the Author's Notes section at the beginning of the book when he writes, "My convictions should be apparent soon enough, but I will leave it to the reader to form his or her own opinion of Chris McCandless." It will be interesting to see what my opinion of McCandless is after reading the book's entirety. While I respect McCandless' fearlessness and his concept of freedom and independence, as someone who has spent a significant amount of time hiking through rugged terrain in Colorado and Wyoming, one thing that I have come to learn is that nature is unforgiving. 

Here's a short video about McCandless that provides some good background information

Image result for christopher mccandless
Photo of McCandless next to the famous Bus 142


Also, my mom was telling me that one of her friends went to Emory University with McCandless so that's pretty cool, I guess.

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