Into the Wild

Morgan Fansler

Book Review: Into the Wild

            “If you want something in life, you have to reach out and grab it.” If I had to pick a quote to describe Jon Krakauer book Into the Wild, this would be it. Christopher McCandless was a normal guy who was seeking adventure as opposed to his normal, conformed life. He didn’t care for the luxurious lifestyle and tried to avoid it. McCandless eventually was fed up with the life he was living a completely turned it upside down. He set fire to his money and cut up all forms of identification and set out on an adventure. I personally believe that the most amazing principle of this book is that he purely did this on his own. Nobody told him to go live in the wilderness and travel to Alaska for two years... he had the option to live a healthy, put together life.  He simply woke up one morning, deciding that it was time for change. People like Chris McCandless are the type of people I appreciate and seek to find in this word because they were born with a different outlook on the world. They take advantage of all the materials and beauties the earth presents them and embrace it all, every day. During his journey, Chris McCandless reached out and found safety in other people. He took note of the people that had the largest effect on him in the journal that he kept during his two-year traveling period. He wrote about the effects emotionally and physically from leaving society. He was hungry, he was lost, and most of all, he was lonely. Coping with these emotions must have been the hardest for him because they were so foreign and he could only blame himself. However, the sheer feeling of absolute freedom is what pulled him through. McCandless was one with the wilderness. He could start to relate to the wildlife around him as well as the nature that consumed him. Though he died on hunger in 1992, I can honestly say he died a free man with more knowledge of the earth’s offerings then most people in this world. It takes a real man to want to suffer for what he thinks is beautiful and fulfilling.