Into the Wild: Prompt Two

Christopher McCandless was fully justified in hurting his friends and family by choosing his own course in life because he never intended on hurting anybody, he thought that nobody would even miss him, he was planning on coming home and his family and friends respected what he was doing and were excited for him

McCandless never thought that he would hurt anyone because he figured that nobody would even care if he disappeared. “…And now he’d slipped painlessly out of Ron Franz’s life as well. Painlessly, that is, from McCandless’s perspective-although not from the old man’s.” McCandless clearly believed that he hadn’t made an impact on people, so he figured that nobody would really miss him or feel hurt if he died. This thinking was a bit oblivious and maybe even a bit inconsiderate on his part, he honestly didn’t realize that people loved him so much, so he really wasn’t at fault for hurting them.

McCandless never intended on hurting anyone. Just the opposite, he had intended on coming home to see all of them. “He seemed to have moved beyond his need to assert so adamantly hi autonomy, his need to separate himself from his parents. Maybe he was prepared to forgive their imperfections; maybe he was even prepared to forgive some of is own. McCandless seemed ready, perhaps, to go home.” McCandless had never intended on dying. If he had intended n going into the woods to die then he would have been at fault for bringing pain to his family and friends. He wanted to go home and tell all of his loved ones about his amazing experiences what a wonderful time he had. He might not have always agreed with his family, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to hurt them.

McCandless not only lived his life to the fullest but inspired others to live their lives to the fullest as well. McCandless showed an eighty-year-old man what life could be if he just lived the way he did. Before he met McCandless, Ron Franz was practically agoraphobic. He rarely left his house and seemed completely stuck in the past. McCandless showed him what life could be just by living life himself. “You had a wonderful chance on your drive back to see one of the greatest sights on earth, the Grand Canyon, something every American should see at least once in his life… Don’t settle down and sit in one place. Move around, be nomadic, make everyday a new horizon… he moved out of his apartment and set up camp on the bajada. Franz occupied McCandless’s old campsite, just past the hot springs.”

Even McCandless’s parents, Billie and Walt, understood his decision to live in the woods. His father, Walt, even said: “I didn’t know how I was going to react to this, but now I’m glad we came. This brief visit, he says, has given him a slightly better understanding of why his boy came into this country.” Although they were still hurting, when McCandless’s parents saw the place of their son’s death, they felt strangely at ease. They went into the Alaskan woods and saw what their son had seen, amazing experiences and the magic of self-discovery. If anybody could blame McCandless for bringing pain upon his loved ones, it would be his parents. But not even they could blame him after seeing the place that he loved.

Christopher McCandless lived an amazing life and had experiences that most can only dream of having. Nobody can blame him for wanting to live his life to the fullest, for that was all he was trying to do, live. His death was completely unexpected and unplanned, it was not his fault. He would have gone home but in order to get there he would have had to cross a river with a strong current and he knew that he wasn’t a good swimmer. He didn’t go home because he WANTED to live. He never wanted to hurt his family and friends, that’s why he didn’t go home that day. Christopher McCandless was fully justified in hurting his friends and family by choosing his own course in life because he never intended on hurting anybody, he thought that nobody would even miss him, and he wanted to go home.