Into+the+Wild

The book is an expansion of an article from a 1993 issue of Outside magazine called "Death of an Innocent."

 The hitchhiker introduced himself as Alex. "Alex?" Gallien responded, fishing for a last name.

 "Just Alex," the young man replied, pointedly rejecting the bait. He explained that he wanted a ride as far as the edge of Denali National Park, where he intended to walk deep into the bush and "live off the land for a few months." Alex's backpack appeared to weigh only 25 or 30 pounds, which struck Gallien, an accomplished outdoorsman, as an improbably light load for a three-month sojourn in the backcountry, especially so early in the spring. Immediately Gallien began to wonder if he'd picked up one of those crackpots from the Lower 48 who come north to live out their ill-considered Jack London fantasies. Alaska has long been a magnet for unbalanced souls, often outfitted with little more than innocence and desire, who hope to find their footing in the unsullied enormity of the Last Frontier. The bush, however, is a harsh place and cares nothing for hope or longing. More than a few such dreamers have met predictably unpleasant ends.

Here's a video of the bus media type="youtube" key="PZARLvsC0Vg" height="390" width="480"

Some hail McCandless as a hero, while others think he was mentally ill. Krakauer lauded McCandless saying, ''It would be easy to stereotype Christopher McCandless as another boy who felt too much, a loopy young man who read too many books and lacked even a modicum of common sense. But the stereotype isn't a good fit. McCandless wasn't some feckless slacker, adrift and confused, racked by existential despair. To the contrary: His life hummed with meaning and purpose.''

This article from the //Anchorage Daily News,// however, says the opposite: Remove Krakauer's well-meaning conclusions from Into the Wild and what is left is a portrait of a schizophrenic. The onset of mental illness in Chris McCandless is textbook classic.  Early in his 20s, he severs all ties with friends and family for inexplicable reasons. He burns his cash. He takes off on a wild flight to nowhere. He confesses, in his own words, that he feels extremely uncomfortable with society.  His journals show him to be at times delusional and paranoid. He exhibits a litany of bizarre behaviors, including the failure to bathe. A college graduate, he never holds anything but temporary and meaningless jobs. He has trouble at one because he refuses to wear socks.  The writings he leaves behind sometimes appear fogged by hallucination. He sets off for a Alaska with fanciful thoughts of what his journal proclaims as 'THE FINAL AND GREATEST ADVENTURE. THE CLIMACTIC BATTLE TO KILL THE FALSE BEING WITHIN AND VICTORIOUSLY CONCLUDE THE SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE.'