I'm writing a paper on McCandless and why I think he dropped everything to go into the wild. What does /lit/ think?
I think it was a combination of a psycho-neurotic tendency present in many young males, coupled with the fact he felt his parents were oppressing him, and the fact he seemed to be attempting to build upon his moral character.
his decision was obviously the result of a major existential crisis and disconnection from our modern society.
>>7748228
Same reason my cousin decided to go train hoping and couch surfing across Canada when his wealthy parents could have easily sent him to some pretty fine places.
>>7748228
Because he was a self-important retard who thought Walden was the coolest thing ever. Feeling disconnected from modern society is one thing, but throwing everything away to cavort around in the woods because you think it'll be "meaningful" somehow is straight-up retarded.
>>7750361
edjie
I always thought it was a heavily veiled suicide
>>7748228
I think he was a hipster idiot that got what was coming to him, and he didnt even have the decency to die with dignity. My favorite parts of the book were the testimony of a guy who gave him a ride to a spot on the side of the road with no winter gear at all, and the pathetic begging for help in messages.
A great book if you like schadenfreude.
>>7750391
I think you need to reconsider human idiocy
>>7750361
'Meaningful' is a terrible word selection here.
>>7748228
>coupled with the fact he felt his parents were oppressing him
Everything I read about him suggested his parents were above average people who loved him dearly and gave him everything he asked for, including space and freedom.
>>7750395
This. Lots of people don't realize how much work and attention to detail it takes to live without a house in the kinds of places McCandless was trying to live, but those people at least don't then try to move to the wilderness without learning first.
>>7750405
>giving a child space and freedom
Should've sent him to work at the sheet metal factory instead.
>>7750419
I would have had a lot more respect for him if he left his upper middleclass family to work in a ball bearings factory in central nebraska and live in a converted studio apartment.
He couldn't take the pressure.
Given the choice, would you rather die like McCandless or Treadwell.
Reminder that McCandless wasnt just sick, he was starving too.
>>7750435
I hear when you're starving and freeezing to death, it's actually supposed to be comfy because your body tries to ease itself when it's that far gone or something. When you're mauled to death by a bear it's painful and that's it.
>>7750435
Treadwell. I just go home. He really fucked up, nothing but bad judgement. I don't feel bad for the girl who died either, she dug her own grave by being unable to identify Tim's illness.
>>7750451
Not to mention I'd rather get my ass eaten by some qt trap than a chad bear.
>>7750460
Tread well could at least survive in the wild for months on end. I couldn't figure out how he funded his trips tho.
He likely fantasized about being a ''lone wolf'' all alone in the wild. Probably thought he'd be out there until old age, thought it would make him stronger. It's easy to think things are easy and not so bad, but when it happens... They can be much worse than you thought they could ever be.
Nature is cruel and he found this out very quickly.
I have no doubt he felt some form of regret in his last moments, or the last couple of days at least.
7 days without food and you'll begin to think about eating anything. You'll go mad. You'll crave any form of satisfaction but are denied over and over. You can't even masturbate.
You'll think about eating wood. You'll think about eating grass. You'll think about eating people. Hunger does strange things to the mind.
It's been glamorized to death but honestly, I think he probably realized he fucked up. In his last couple of days, unable to move, no energy to walk... Hoping someone would come and find him... I would put money on it that he was dreaming of being rescued. He was probably psychotic too.
He likely thought that it was easy because on paper it seems easy. You know, he was probably thinking
''Yeah I might starve for a bit, now and again... and I'll be alone but what the hell, it's not that bad, I'll survive...''
He went out into the wild, thinking he'd become the ultimate lone wolf nature man, animal, whatever... He probably died hoping to be rescued by a stranger, or maybe someone he knew.
He went full circle. He died in debt to himself.
>>7750483
He also used the bus as a crutch. He was a pussy with no conviction.
He didn't even pitch a tent alongside a river to supplement his diet with fish or pack a hunting rifle. What he did was pure hubris or suicide
>>7750497
Lots of young men died or had to be rescued trying to do what he did in Alaska, mostly fresh veterans of WW2, Korea or Vietnam. Alaskans who observed them said that they all thought they could get by without following the advice of the locals to kill everything they could get their hands on and store it because "I've had enough killing."
The story of McCandless isn't even original.
his sister already wrote a book.
he was abused by his parents.
pretty much the standard homeless person reason
>>7749036
From what I've read this seems pretty close to the mark. He was clearly an intelligent guy who struggled to relate to people and one day just got sick of everything and made his life an adventure.
>>7750483
I don't think this is true. It's been a while since I read it, but I'm pretty sure he was planning on returning fairly soon after. He came to believe that humans were inherently social beings and needed other humans to be happy.... 'happiness means nothing unless shared'.
>>7750405
His father used to beat his mother in front of him and his sisters. Also refused to help his other family financially. That affected his childhood and adolescence.
