Blog #5

Just as everyone else in the world Chris McCandless has some positive and negative personality traits. I believe Chris's greatest positive personality traits include:
devoted
giving
adventurous
Being adventurous caused Chris to want to go out into the wild and take this journey. When he made his decision to go into the woods, there was absolutely no way he was going to flake out. He set his mind on the idea and didn't want to give up on it. Chris was devoted to the thought of going into the wild on his own. Before and during his journey Chris gave and cared for many people. I believe Chris has a genuine heart, he just doesn't show it.
Chris's negative personality traits include:
rebellious
irresponisble
reckless
Chris was very reckless and did whatever he wanted even if there were bad consequences. Chris's irresponsibility caused him not to be prepared while he was in the wild. I believe Chris's rebellious spirit caused him death. If he would have listened to everyone and would have done what people told him. He might still be alive.
I think Chris's greatest personality trait that weighed out the rest would be his rebellious trait. I think with this trait, the readers see him as someone who doesn't like authority. Chris wants to be his own person and not someone else.
Part 2:
 Both of them set out on an adventure (135). They were crazy (138). They both had a sence of  unpreparedness; however, Krakauer was more prepared that Chris (139). They both were hard working.  Krakauer went to the most difficult place to climb (135). They both had distant relationships with their fathers and families. (147).
Krakauer did not die on his journey. Krakauer got lonely (138). Also, Chris was umprepared and had lack of supplies.  Krakauer was afraid (140).

Blog #4

My reaction towards Chris working at Mickey D's wasn't very extreme. To be honest, I did not think anything of it. I just thought the guy was running low on money so he wanted to get some extra cash by working for it. But now that I think about it, maybe there was a deeper reason for working at a resturant that is as famous as that one. Chris might have worked at Mickey D's to make a statement of some sort. An experiment almost, to see the reaction of people towards a homeless man working at a fast-food chain like Mickey D's.
Chris's co-workers described as a distant and strange kind of person. It seemed like Chris didn't like them either. He kept to himself and did his part just like the others. Im not gonna lie and make myself seem kinder and nobler then what I am. Let's be honest if I was working with Chris I would think he was a freak show. I wouldn't treat him differently just because he has less then me, that's not who I am. If a man who talked about nature all the time and didn't like wearing socks worked with me I'd think he was off his rocker.
Chris, Jan, and Bob were people with a simialr nature outlook. They seemed to have a lot of things in common and I think that's why they clicked well and stayed in contact after Chris set off for Alaska once again.
Franz was affected by Chris more extremely because it seemed as if Franz was just striving to get a son figure back into his life. He needed someone to take care of and love and to get that feeling in return. When Chris died it was just as if his own son had died all over again.

Into the Wild Blog #3

20 different things about Chris that I learned:
1. Young                                          11. focused
2. High-Strung                                 12. determinated
3. confident                                      13.  He never gives up
4. immature                                      14. He always has to find an answer to everything
5. ignorant                                        15.good morals and values
6. adventurous                                  16. giving
7. rich                                               17. misunderstood
8. he likes to talk about traveling     18. wants to be independent
9. educated                                        19. struggles with who he is.
10. has little common sence              20. hardworker
     I believe Chris's first intentions were to be a different person for a while. I guess he wanted to try out being a different person. See a different perspective of someone else other than himself. His relationship with his parents seem vague at this point. His parents don't listen to what he is saying to them. They are giving him "things" that he doesn't exactly need or want. They are struggling to buy his affection. I wasn't very surprised when I read Chris's note to his parents. I kind of expecting it to read something along the lines of what it said.
     For someone to take that much of an extreme action with their life, they must have had a life-changing or near-death experience. There is a reason for everything. No one randomly thinks to themselves, "Hey, why don't I give away my life savings, burn everything in my wallet, and go hang out in the woods for a bit." It just doesn't happen, unless an event occurred that we don't know about. Like in the old westerns, Chris could have robbed a bank, but got away with it because the sherrif told him to leave the town by morning or regret it forever. Clearly, he picked leave the town but took it to a very dramatic measure and burnt his money along with his identity. Someone could have pulled an Insception and planted an idea into his mind while sleeping to start new and begin a fresh start. But, he couldn't get the idea out of his mind until he actually accomplished it or even tried. Chris also could have just gotten sick of being Chris. Chris being someone he wasn't or didn't want to be anymore. What it looks like to me is that Chris's parents created Chris other then Chris creating Chris. He could have just wanted to start new with a new life and name.

Into The Wild #2

     After reading chapter one I believe that Chris thought truely that survival was possible with what he had. He had food, a gun, and clothes on his back. Why wouldn't he survive? All Chris had to accomplish was to find some type of shelter to protect him from intruders or weather. Chris was a educated man, but it doesn't mean that he was educated in nature. I think Chris was wanting to exist in nature. Even if he had few supplies it does not mean exactly that he was asking for a death wish. For all we know he could have watched an episode of Man vs. Wild and wanted to try it out for himself. No one exactly knows yet. In my opinion, I don't think Chris was exactly "smart enough." Considering at the beginning, the man that picked him up desrcibed him as being around 19. Let's be honest with ourselves, when your a teenager your not mature; even though we all like to think we are. When imature, stupid mistakes are made and you think that you can take care of yourself. Clearly, that is what Chris thought he was going to accomplish. He had his mind set on going into the woods and living off the land and the equipment he had.
     In my opinion, I like how the author started the story at the end. I think his mission was so that we would predict why and how he died before we found out the real story. He accomplished the goal that might of set out to do. With what we would think what the end of the story is at the beginning of this novel, it grabs the reader's attention. When we continue to read we will always have his death in the back of our mind. The novel will have more twists and turns to the plot as we read.
     After reading the note that Chris left behind, it surprised me. I didn't expect to read or here that he died so soon. I remembered Mr. Roush giving us a "spoiler alert" and telling us he died and they found his body in a van before I read the chapter. But normally, I would have expected it to be in the middle or end of the novel. With this twist so soon into the book, it made my eagerness to finish the story grow. Questions filled my mind about what would happen next. The death so soon into the book raised my expectations for more twists into the story.

McCandless seemed to be just a small town boy looking for an adventure. He wasn't crazy or noble. Chris was just wanting to escape from the pressures of the world. Chris could have been sick of doing the same routine over and over again. His family could have been pressuring him to do what they wanted him to do and it might of been getting down into the depths of his soul; so far it caused him to crack. By cracking, he decided to get away from pressure and start over. So he set off to go into the wild. How people described him, they said he would sit and talk for hours about adventures and travels. (Pg. 16) Chris may have just wanted to go on one of his travels he has always talked about. Chris Candless might have been simply a dream chaser. Chris Candless may have went out into the wild so that he could find some answers to his own questions. On page 18 Westerberg talked about how he tried to make sence of things. If he didn't suceed right away he would stay on it until he figured it out. Chris might have went out into the wilderness to try to make sence of things. Getting away might have been the only answer to get what he wanted. I don't think Chris was noble or crazy for doing what he did. Chris McCandless was simply a man with a good education who wanted to live his life. He knew what he was getting into. (Pg. 6)