Chris McCandless was a passionate youth searching for something. His humdrum existence, Krakauer suggests, encouraged McCandless's entry into the wild--- not just to escape from civilization but to discover himself.
Of his readings, McCandless enjoyed Tolstoy, London, and Thoreau so much that he highlighted many of their passages in his books. They were calling him. The comforts of every day life were not satisfying his need for adventure and enlightenment. McCandless felt concern and displacement with the disposition of our world and wanted to rid himself of it for a while. Maybe his step into the wilderness was an attempted mission to improve civilization--- "his need for a purpose." Civilization did not have a place for him--- surely the arms of nature would greet him with enthusiasm. .
McCandless entered the extreme Alaskan trail, crowning Jack London as king. His arrival and stay was to evoke clarity, without authority and without the advancement of technology. The philosophy McCandless took was that every day should be different, a new adventure. In a letter to Ron Franz, McCandless assures Franz, "If you want to get more out of life, Ron, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security.The very basic core of man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences." Not only did McCandless experience new terrain along with its beauty, but he encountered many people. Many lives were altered just crossing the path of McCandless. .
Krakauer's life was changed; he felt a connection with McCandless after he reported on the boy's demise. He identified with McCandless as the two shared an intense odyssey in which their problems didn't magically disappear but instead they came closer to understanding themselves. Each was uncovering his soul whereas most individuals are happy being ignorant. Instead of risking their securities some individuals exist without "distrusting the value of things that came easily.
