Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Funny post. He had 10 lbs of rice and a .22 rifle, that's it for his food. He planned to hike all the way to the Bering Sea, but only made it about 1/50th of the way. Gotta love his spirit, but he was just a bit out there with the realistic goals. Some people want to commit suicide on a deeper level than consciousness. I think this is referred to as suicidal tendencies maybe? I think he just wanted to die - he hated the world into which he was born. I think lots of people can relate.
It worked for him for 113 days. If he had lasted another 14 days he would have been saved. I don't think he was suicidal. He just ran into bad luck.
I love wilderness. I love the natural beauty, the challenge of testing myself, the feeling of smallness against the backdrop of Creation. I also recognize the brutality of the wild, which makes me appreciate my life in a civilized society of laws and social norms which (for the most part, no political replies please) steward natural resources, protect personal property rights, and provide a safety net for the unfortunate. I do not see anything inspirational about the conscious rejection of that to live (and die) by the laws of the wild. If that makes me conformist, then so be it.
Ah, no, I was referring to another poster that lost their bleep because we weren't all agreeing to condemn people who leave it all behind.
I get WHY Chris left home and did what he did but he never planned on dying out there is was always his goal to come home. He wanted to show his parents that you don’t need mo/material things, he wanted to shove that up their collective arses. I think his pride and indignation got him killed nothing else.
If he had processed that moose correctly, he would have been fine. He got in way over his head, and it happened quickly once he got up there!
This is the most sensible post that I’ve read.
It’s been a long time since I read the book, but I do remember that he killed a moose, but had no idea how to butcher and dress it, so nearly the entire moose rotted. He could have lived off that meat long enough to get himself out of there. He was starving, that’s why he started eating the seeds of the plant that apparently have a toxin in the seeds that messes up metabolism. Natives knew to eat the root of the plant, not the seed. He didn’t know this. Not all edible plants are completely edible, or edible in all seasons. He needed to be prepared for wilderness survival, part of which is knowing how to eat from the available resources, and he just was not prepared. This is just fact, not condemnation of this person.
He needed to be prepared for wilderness survival, part of which is knowing how to eat from the available resources, and he just was not prepared. This is just fact, not condemnation of this person.
Precisely. Chris McCandless's death was not due to bad luck. Bad luck would be having a tree fall on you while hiking, or encountering an aggressive moose and being stomped to death. He died of starvation, folks. That's not bad luck, that's inadequate preparation and inadequate skills. Indigenous people successfully made their living off that land for millennia, but that's because during their childhood they were carefully taught the skills needed to do so. You can't learn everything you need to know to make a living as a hunter-gatherer or a mountain man simply by reading a book or two. It takes literally years of learning and practice to master the needed skills.
Unfortunately, the young woman whose death launched this tread is another person who died needlessly due to inadequate knowledge and skills. The bus has unfortunately become a magnet for these types. Everyone would probably be better off if it was removed. Let Chris McCandless's memorial be the sense of adventure he's inspired in many people, not the rusted-out hulk which marks the place of his death.
I get WHY Chris left home and did what he did but he never planned on dying out there is was always his goal to come home. He wanted to show his parents that you don’t need mo/material things, he wanted to shove that up their collective arses. I think his pride and indignation got him killed nothing else.
I never once got the impression he planned to ever talk to his parents again. He was REALLY po'd at them. Of course this is all just info gleaned from the book and movie, but his writings and actions certainly point to my conclusion.
I never once got the impression he planned to ever talk to his parents again. He was REALLY po'd at them. Of course this is all just info gleaned from the book and movie, but his writings and actions certainly point to my conclusion.
Maybe, maybe not. Supposedly he wrote HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED on a page of his copy of Doctor Zhivago. Of course that might not mean he wanted to share happiness with his parents in the future, maybe it meant his sister, Carine?
I'm neither a psychologist or psychiatrist and have no idea what Chris's mindset was when he started hiking the Stampede Trail at the end if April 1992, was he crazy or insane, suicidal or have a death wish, all of the above, none of the above? If he did have a death wish and wanted to die out there, why did he write the SOS note asking for help?
Also, I do believe his living in the wild was only intended to be for 3+ months and he was going to go back to the lower 48, when it was all done. After his body was discovered, hidden in his backpack, was his wallet with various ID's and $300 in cash (3 crisp $100 bills). If he truly had a death wish, why keep the $300? Why not spend it on supplies or more food or give it away to a homeless bum?
Maybe, maybe not. Supposedly he wrote HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED on a page of his copy of Doctor Zhivago. Of course that might not mean he wanted to share happiness with his parents in the future, maybe it meant his sister, Carine?
I'm neither a psychologist or psychiatrist and have no idea what Chris's mindset was when he started hiking the Stampede Trail at the end if April 1992, was he crazy or insane, suicidal or have a death wish, all of the above, none of the above? If he did have a death wish and wanted to die out there, why did he write the SOS note asking for help?
Also, I do believe his living in the wild was only intended to be for 3+ months and he was going to go back to the lower 48, when it was all done. After his body was discovered, hidden in his backpack, was his wallet with various ID's and $300 in cash (3 crisp $100 bills). If he truly had a death wish, why keep the $300? Why not spend it on supplies or more food or give it away to a homeless bum?
I read the book and saw the movie, you think you are giving me info I've never seen before?
The mind is very complex, rarely are all parts in agreement. I believe deep down he didn't want to live, certainly not as part of modern society. You can believe what you want to believe. In the end it doesn't matter, we all die anyway just a matter of time.
Btw, he died in a terrifying and painful way, drawn out over a long period of time. I don't think his last words tell us much about his mindset leading up to the Alaska "adventure."
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
