Death of Chris McCandless— Unfortunate or Inevitable
On September 6th, 1992, Christopher McCandless’s frozen body, along of his belongings, was found on a bus in the barren Alaskan wilderness. His death was a mystery to the world— even his family barely knew his motivation of living off in the desolated and uninhabited Alaskan land. An American nonfiction writer Jon Krakauer investigated McCandless 's belonging and interviewed his family, and composed a nonfiction Into the Wild depicting McCandless 's trip from his home to his cold grave. In the last chapter, Krakauer suggested McCandless 's death was resulted from consuming poisonous mold seeds. However, I believe the cause of his death is much more than just eating toxic seeds: McCandless …show more content…
According to Jan Burres, who McCandless met on the road, that "…London was his[McCandless 's] favorite. He 'd try to convince every snowbird who walked by that they should read Call of the Wild" (Krakauer 44). McCandless, overly addicted to this novel, would be called a fictional realist, who believed in the nonexistence that the author created. Rather to consider Call of the Wild as McCandless 's favorite book, it had slowly turned to one of his beliefs, his theory, or even his reality. Leah Dearborn discussed fictional realism in her article, stating that the United States is no more a physical object than Middle Earth is; it may be a country with land, and people, and a government, but what makes it the United States is an agreed upon ideal. In this case, the venturous life depicted by Call of the Wild is agreed upon McCandless 's ideal– "He was so enthralled by these tales, however, that he seemed to forget they were works of fiction, constructions of the imagination that had more to do with London 's romantic sensibilities than with the actualities of life in the subarctic wilderness" (Krakauer 44), said Jon Krakauer in his nonfiction investigating McCandless 's travel. " However, his belief has been often times not being understood or accepted by the society. One tramper said that McCandless "seemed like a kid who was looking for something, looking for …show more content…
“In coming to Alaska, McCandless… rid of the map. In his own mind, if nowhere else, the terra[earth] would thereby remain incognita[unknown]”( Krakauer 174). McCandless 's rare failures in his early ages built confidence, along with arrogance, in himself. This seemingly preordained outcome is reflected by and discuss in Jim Collins 's research Five Stages of Decline. McCandless was experiencing the first stage when he decided to venture the Alaskan wilderness without proper tools, life needs, nor even a map. At this very first stage of his decline, McCandless’s past accomplishment creates a sense of infallibility and misconception of future success. Soon after that, hubris sets in. McCandless 's enlarging hubris influenced his ability to judge the reality; He seemed to excessively overestimate himself in this ruthless wild, a place he was completely strange to. "Hubris born of success" is not only simply a research statement, but rather a theory that proved by many eminent historical events. One noteworthy would be Napoleon 's invasion of Russia in 1812. Until 1812, Napoleon has led French Army to numerous victories in war against European countries, including strong countries such as Austrian Empire and Prussia, and almost controlled regions like Italy and Spain. This unprecedented victory did not satisfy Napoleon, but instead grew his ambition of taking over the whole Europe
On September 6th, 1992, Christopher McCandless’s frozen body, along of his belongings, was found on a bus in the barren Alaskan wilderness. His death was a mystery to the world— even his family barely knew his motivation of living off in the desolated and uninhabited Alaskan land. An American nonfiction writer Jon Krakauer investigated McCandless 's belonging and interviewed his family, and composed a nonfiction Into the Wild depicting McCandless 's trip from his home to his cold grave. In the last chapter, Krakauer suggested McCandless 's death was resulted from consuming poisonous mold seeds. However, I believe the cause of his death is much more than just eating toxic seeds: McCandless …show more content…
According to Jan Burres, who McCandless met on the road, that "…London was his[McCandless 's] favorite. He 'd try to convince every snowbird who walked by that they should read Call of the Wild" (Krakauer 44). McCandless, overly addicted to this novel, would be called a fictional realist, who believed in the nonexistence that the author created. Rather to consider Call of the Wild as McCandless 's favorite book, it had slowly turned to one of his beliefs, his theory, or even his reality. Leah Dearborn discussed fictional realism in her article, stating that the United States is no more a physical object than Middle Earth is; it may be a country with land, and people, and a government, but what makes it the United States is an agreed upon ideal. In this case, the venturous life depicted by Call of the Wild is agreed upon McCandless 's ideal– "He was so enthralled by these tales, however, that he seemed to forget they were works of fiction, constructions of the imagination that had more to do with London 's romantic sensibilities than with the actualities of life in the subarctic wilderness" (Krakauer 44), said Jon Krakauer in his nonfiction investigating McCandless 's travel. " However, his belief has been often times not being understood or accepted by the society. One tramper said that McCandless "seemed like a kid who was looking for something, looking for …show more content…
“In coming to Alaska, McCandless… rid of the map. In his own mind, if nowhere else, the terra[earth] would thereby remain incognita[unknown]”( Krakauer 174). McCandless 's rare failures in his early ages built confidence, along with arrogance, in himself. This seemingly preordained outcome is reflected by and discuss in Jim Collins 's research Five Stages of Decline. McCandless was experiencing the first stage when he decided to venture the Alaskan wilderness without proper tools, life needs, nor even a map. At this very first stage of his decline, McCandless’s past accomplishment creates a sense of infallibility and misconception of future success. Soon after that, hubris sets in. McCandless 's enlarging hubris influenced his ability to judge the reality; He seemed to excessively overestimate himself in this ruthless wild, a place he was completely strange to. "Hubris born of success" is not only simply a research statement, but rather a theory that proved by many eminent historical events. One noteworthy would be Napoleon 's invasion of Russia in 1812. Until 1812, Napoleon has led French Army to numerous victories in war against European countries, including strong countries such as Austrian Empire and Prussia, and almost controlled regions like Italy and Spain. This unprecedented victory did not satisfy Napoleon, but instead grew his ambition of taking over the whole Europe