Dylan Day
Mrs. Moffat
English 5-6
11 January 2023 Was Chris Justified?
I believe that Chris McCandless is justified in not telling his parents for when he left into the wild. I believe that he should be justified in not telling his parents because of all the stuff they put him through when he was little. But one thing is that he should have at least told his sister Carine since they were closer then he was with his parents. But with his mothers affair and his two life living and abusive father it would make sense how he could go without talking to them for so long. So he should 80% be justified for not telling his parents that he went out to the wild without telling them so. Chris McCanless’s life was far from normal he had complicated parents, meaning his father was living 2 lives. Because he had a different family before Chris was born but he didn't tell Chris's mother or his sons or daughter, and with his father being abusive both verbally and physically. Then on top of that with his mother having an affair it made Chris upset and he really cut off talking to them, it tells us this on page 103 and 121. So you have to think that Chris had to be going through a lot of hurt to see both of his parents doing that. It also
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But he met a ton of great people along the way on his now well known journey that he tragically died on though those peoples names and Ronald Franz, Jan and Bob Burres, Jim Gallien, and Wayne Westerberg. These people helped him, some of them giving him a job or giving him food. When Chris met some of these people he wrote to his parents whenever he had stopped somewhere so there is that to one why he should be justified because he informed them enough as it
Chris just got up and abandoned his family and friends without telling them anything. His family cared about him so much, and his best friend
But it was showed that his relationship with his parental figures was not ideal and he refuses any gifts from them and then randomly disappears which apparently doesn't worry his parents. But maybe he was selfish for disobeying his parents' feelings to shower their son with love, maybe Chris was trying to show his parents that he could be independent on his own. One of the reasons why he didn't keep contact with his parents or the people he met on the way of his personal adventure was because he was afraid of their disapproval. In the epilogue, it stated that his parent really did care about him and it showed their friend when they were on the bus realizing their son was dead. The three people he befriended was Jan Burress, Ronald Franz, and Wayne Westerberg, they offered him help but he denied every offer they had.
Which to me means he was ready to leave, and if he's old enough to change his name and be who he wants he's old enough to leave. So my second reason why I think he was justified is his home life. When Chris was young his home life was very traumatic. His dad was very abusive to his mom and his mom only stayed because she had Chris with him.
Some people may think that Chris was not justified because he did abandon his family and he told nobody that he was leaving for alaska. He also left his perfect life and many people didn't understand why. On page 2 it says “Hey Guys! This is the last communication you shall receive from me.
Chris didn't know they were his half siblings thinking they were simply family friends until one year where he visited and discovered the exact nature of the “family friend”. The exact quote “Chris’s smoldering anger, it turns out, was fueled by a discovery he’d made two summers earlier, during his cross-country wanderings. When he arrived in California, he’d visited the El Sengundo neighborhood where he’d spent the first six years of his life. He called on a number of old family friends who still lived there, and from their answers to his queries, Chris pieced together the facts of his father’s previous marriage and subsequent divorce-facts to which he hadn’t been privy”. These factors are what would eventually create Chris’s abhorrence for money, in a quote from the book “I’m going to have to be careful not to accept gifts from them in the future because they will think they’ve bought my respect”.
Chris didn't really care about people's feelings so it was no surprise that he left everyone including his very close sister. His family was very distant to their children. Maybe that's the reason why he can't connect or refuses to connect to
Eli Eaton Mrs. Moffat English 5-6 11 January 2023 Was Chris Justified? Chris McCandless was an interesting kid, never really fitting into the roles of society, Though being vary smart, and being able to master anything he put his mind to, and was vary likable, he never had the urge to show off or be liked, the book Into The WIld by john Krakaer follows his life, from when he leaves his family without warning, and how he eventually ends up living in Alaska out of a bus. Many people have mixed views on Chris, they might ask “why would he just get up and leave without warning”? “Was Chris justified in leaving his family”?. Well I believe Chris was justified in leaving his family, though it might not have been the best decision, looking into Chris’s
Also that he left because his family was abusive in his childhood made him have trauma. Some other people might also say that he wants to find the peace that he could not find when he was a child. but I disagree with this just because he is a grown man it doesn't mean that he can't make poor decisions. And if he had trauma from his childhood he could just talk and try to make their relationship better or get some money from his dad and travel somewhere good and live in peace. and freedom doesn't mean that you can do anything Chris left without telling no one which did a lot of damage to his family and wasted other people's time and resources who wanted to find
The first reason to justify Chris is the fact that he was old enough to make that decision on his own. During the story of Walt—Chris’s father—it is very clearly stated that Chris was over 21 at the time he left for his journey across the country. “On February 12, 1968, Billie gave birth to a son.. Twenty-two years later, rangers from the National Park service would find..” (106).
He should have stayed home, he would have eventually found what he was looking for. But still to today no-one knows for certain what he was truly doing. I believe he was running away from his parents and their high control over his life. Therefore chris mccandless, in my eyes, was just crazy, he might of had a mental problem or something. To end, another important life lesson, never forget who you are and where you come from, for if you do, you can hurt the others around
Chris McCandless was selfish. He threw away his support system, undervaluing the importance of family, friends, community and the sacrifice they all put forth to make sure he was wanting for nothing. McCandless was uncompromising and inconsiderate of how difficult it was for his parents to provide him the best lift they know how to give. They were not perfect but made mistake and like a spoiled child he was unforgiving to their feelings along with many others along his journey of self discovery. Chris was incredibly selfish and immature by using every person along his way for his own personal goals to gain fulfill motives and to prove he was above the ideals of all of us ordinarily that work hard, follow rules, educate ourselves, live with
There is a lot of controversy about the death of Chris Mcanddles and whether he was justified or not in leaving his family behind without saying anything or telling anyone where he was going, so many are wondering if he was justified or not. I believe Chris was justified for several reasons. We learn about Chris’s rocky, unstable relationship with his parents. In the book, it says on p. 6 that "he hadn't spoken to his family in nearly two years. " This shows that something major happened between Chris and his parents because any normal person would've maintained contact with their parents even if they moved out of the house; most would at least have a phone number.
One big reason Chris wasn’t justified is he caused his relationship with all his loved ones to fall apart and hardly ever spoke to his family because they wouldn’t understand and Chris probably felt as if they’d try and stop him from an adventure. In talking with Jim Gallien, Chris told him “he hadn’t spoken with his family in nearly two years.” (pg 6). This shows that Chris doesn’t value his relationships because the amount of time he's away and lost contact doesn’t phase him.
Chris had a huge impact on everyone he knew, but he would not let them influence him or his decisions at all. He rebelled against his family because his father was too controlling. Later on, when any of his companions told him not to go to Alaska, or tried telling him to do anything that he did not want to, he would totally ignore them, and change the subject. As Krakauer writes in chapter 6, “McCandless…relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it. He had fled the claustrophobic confines of his family.
He wanted full disconnect from the world, fully he didn't want no contact with anyone. “The fact that Chris never bothered to let his family, specifically his parents, know where he was when he was gone for two years” (Jessica Robbins, 2012) she says she doesn't believe he did it on purpose but i feel like he did, the fact he found the truth about his parents is when he felt like his parents now feel about having no clue to where he may be i think he wanted to make his parents feel some of the pain he's felt so he hides himself from the very start. For instance, in the movie you