Character Analysis of Into The Wild Essay

Into the Wild

The beauty of this country is becoming part of me. I feel more detached from life and somehow more gentle. And so it turned out that only a life similar to the life of those around us, merging with it without a ripple, is a genuine life, and that an unshared happiness is not happiness, HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED. Into the Wild is a novel written by Jon Krakauer which talks about the life of Christopher McCandless. He was a young college graduate who was known for being intelligent in schools, but was also known to be stubborn at times as well. He was fascinated with the wilderness and enjoyed the outdoors. His parents were successful and had apparently played a role in his life decisions. At the beginning of the novel, I believed that his parents were to blame for Chriss decision to abandon his family and not start his career, However, I came to the conclusion that his parents were actually victims as a result of McCandlesss disappearance.

Throughout the novel, my opinion of Chris and his parents changed and varied. In the beginning of the novel, I thought that his parents were pushy parents who always wanted their son to work hard and take life seriously. Both his parents were successful and had jobs and a business that provided enough money for the family. His parents treated Chris fairly, but were not always able to provide the attention that their children felt they deserved. This is why I first believed that his parents were bad parents, but later I began to understand that sometimes parents need to focus on their careers so that they can support their family.

Chris had tried to satisfy his parents by attending college and also had tried to make them proud. I remember sitting there when he gave dad the telescope, said Carine, Chriss sister. This was just one of his attempts at trying to please his father. From this I assumed that Chris wanted to have a good relationship with his father, but it didnt seem to work out. Since his parents were successful, they wanted their son to go to college so that he too could have a better life. They were demanding at times, but were also generous with Chris, they had offered to buy him a car, but he refused to accept any gifts from them. I think that his parents were doing the correct thing by expecting him to gain a college education and work hard, but Chris felt as if they were trying to buy his respect. I dont think it was his parents fault for his decision to abandon them because it was a decision he made by himself.

I also thought that his parents werent good parents to Chris because he had discovered something about his father. Chris pieced together the facts of is fathers previous marriage and subsequent divorce facts to which hadnt been privy. This led me to believe that his parents had been keeping secrets from him. I also believed that his father was a bad parent because of this, but later began to change my mind as I learned more about Chris. Chris could have talked to his parents about the information he had discovered so that they could resolve their issues. He chose to escape his problems by setting off on a journey which he knew would be difficult. I viewed this as trying to escape his problems rather than try to resolve them, which is why I believe his parents werent to blame.

Christopher McCandless was a unique and intelligent man who had problems like most of us. He chose to cope with his pain and try to escape his problems by leaving to Alaska. Chris had successful parents who had good paying jobs, but did not necessarily give their children support they wanted. Even though his parents werent the best of parents, I dont believe that it ws fair for Chris to leave them after they raised him. I believe that his parents were the victims because Chris should have tried to resolve their issues in a more justified manner, such as talking to them about his feelings and how he felt about them.