Chris McCandless went “into the wild” because he was getting away from society. He finds nothing which appeals to him in society, it only comes from nature. He gives all of his money to a charity, he cuts up his credit cards and burns his social security card to begin his embark through the wild. Chris felt disillusioned to his parents and materialistic lifestyle.

I think that he was running away from society, however was running to a new lifestyle away from the society. He badly wanted to leave this materialistic world because it didn’t make him happy, so he definitely was running for something he wanted.

His journey ‘into the wild’ took two years. He left after college graduation and ultimately wanted to reach Alaska. On the way he stopped in many places, including white water kayaking in the Grand Canyon and a trailer park in the middle of the desert. He worked for a farming company to raise money for necessities in Alaska.

The theme of this movie is that man’s ultimate joy can be found in communion with nature. However, nature is a confusing thing--turning from friendly ally to cruel enemy in a wink of an eye. He is doing so great in Alaska in the beginning and a few weeks later he becomes to get really hungry. He goes to the source, which can be the edible plants in Alaska, which ultimately what kills him in the end.

If Chris would come to our class and talk I think he would tell us to do what our dream is. His dream was to go ‘into the wild’, to get away from society, lies and money. He would share that dream as well as what we could do to change that or just tell us to do whatever we want to in life.



Chris’s philosophy reached me in a way. I wouldn’t try to escape from society completely, but I agree that money doesn’t necessarily make people happy. Some aspects of society do make me upset and want me to escape, like the economy and politics. Why can’t everyone be on the same side of things and make things easier in life, but maybe sometimes the easiest route isn’t the best. A lot of things that Chris wrote down about happiness apply to me too. I would actually like to experience going out into the wild for a week or two, I think that that would be fun and open up a new world, a new lifestyle for me. I think that running away from my family wouldn’t be something I would do. My family is so important to me that if I were to go ‘into the wild’ I would tell them before hand. I would probably just say where I am going, not specifics, but I would definitely not leave without saying goodbye to them. I would like my life to be happy for where I am in life, rather than trying to find where he could be happy.