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)