Into the Wild

Analysis about Christopher

Throughout the course of the book, does Christopher McCandless finds himself, or loses himself. (talking about his mental life) 

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I would submit that Chris looses himself. Chris lets his parents think that he is interested in law school, but instead, after graduating with honors, he donates his $25,000 savings anonymously to charity, gets in his car, and drives away without telling anyone where he is going, abandoning the use of his real name along the way. He never contacts his parents or sister, Carine, again. No Chris was not justified in treating his family the way he did. Despite the romanticism to his cause (whatever it was) he also caused his family great pain and suffering. A post card here and there to his sister only confounded their psin and sense of loss. Chris, in many ways was selfish. McCandless’s quest for ultimate freedom is not rooted in selfishness; it, in fact, comes out of largely noble desires. It is still inherently selfish, however, because it means acting for the individual over society, which is designed to protect everybody. Ultimate freedom means being accountable to no one but oneself, and thus, even if McCandless usually intended to act for the greater good, he has only his own limited perspective on what will truly lead to the greater good. It isn't until his last moments when he realizes what most of us already know, people need other people to function in society.