Friday, February 5, 2010
Blog Prompt #3
After reading slightly more into the book (there is still a considerably amount of story to be told), the extra pages have only served to solidify my opinion of him. One aspect of his personality that I didn't mention in my essay is that he is incredibly honest, sincere, and an all-around good guy. I find that admirable, and respect him for it, but he still was just a city boy completely out of place in the wilderness. At the end of chapter 5 then that lady (forgot her name, don't care to look it up) said that she thought Chris would be fine because he had managed to jump the border and paddle through mexico on canals and rivers. While it's true that those were not everyday activites and not everybody could do them, they were done out of desperation. And it's not too hard to survive in a warm climate in a country with very little social and economic organization, he likely stole everything that he ate (i could be overspeaking here, but i'm on a role so ignore it). In alaska it is a much different situation. If you are out in the middle of a national forest, and the shit hits the fan (have i used that phrase before?) then it isn't necessarily possible to just walk out to the road. When he got in the shit, he stayed in it, and there wasn't a way out. He just didn't have enough information going in, and he didn't have a way to get that information, because he was born in the city.
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McCandless was a good guy; his intentions however were out of the norm. Krakauer gives little (none actually...) as to how well McCandless prepared for his venture into Alaska. He doesn't mention him reading any sort of travel guide or anything so that McCandless would be prepared for what he would have to face in the wildnerness in Alaska. Besides the fact that he didn't have much with him physically (food, a bigger rifle, etc.) when he first got there, he didn't seem to be as knowledgeable as he could've been either. Both of which are vital to stay alive.
ReplyDeleteYa I agree. Chris does seem like a really nice down to earth guy. But I don't think he realized what he was getting into. Alaska is an insane place to just go and live off the wild, especially if he had grown up living in the city. I don't understand why he was not so prepared.
ReplyDeleteHaha this post made me laugh. But yeah, I definitely do agree. I really do think McCandless is a genuinely an all around good guy, and after reading the first few chapters I really felt for him and thought it was really sad that he didn't survive. Although I still think it's sad, I just feel like he could have prepared himself a little more and not turned down all the offers he was given from the people he met along the way.
ReplyDeleteHe is a good guy and he seems like he could be a great friend and all, but he is stupid for putting himself into the wilderness. He couldn't take a few more supplies to help survive? Did he WANT to die? I thought his purpose was to get away from society, but dying would get him nowhere..
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