Thursday, April 15, 2010

If McCandless Survived

If Chris McCandless had not died on his journey and did make it out of the wild alive I'm not quite sure what he would do. Near the end of his journey McCandless started to refer to himself by his given name again, instead of his chosen name of Alexander Supertramp. This was shown in the letter he left before he died when he went to go find berries. The use of his given name makes me think that McCandless was done with his adventures and trying to find himself. If he made it out alive I don't think that he would continue his journey. Also, conquering Alaska was his ultimate goal so I do not think he would continue to travel to new places he had not been because his life goal would be satisfied.
I do think that after making it out of the wild Chris would visit or at least contact the people that helped him along his journey. There were several people that Chris stayed in contact with until he got to the Stampede Trail. The fact that he kept contact throughout his journey makes me believe that he would want to maintain contact after his journey, especially to tell the tale of his accomplishment. I believe he would also find his sister and tell her about his journey because he had been very close to his sister. She was the person he always talked to and confided in. This is shown in Chapter Thirteen when McCandless' sister Carine talks about their relationship and the stories she had about them. Chris also told Carine that she was " the only person in the world who could possibly understand what [he] was saying" (129).
I do not think Chris would contact his parents. He journey was not only an escape from society but also an escape from his parents. After finally finding peace within himself I don't think McCandless would want to go back to what caused him to leave in the first place. I also do not think Chris would go back to school. He did complete college but I think his ambitions stopped there. If he wanted to continue his education I think he would have used that as his escape instead of traveling. Continuing his education would be what his parents wanted not him. I do think Chris would find a short term job though. Chris seems to get restless after being in one place for too long. This is shown by him being constantly on the move throughout his journey and not settling down for a very long period of time. I think that this is part of Chris' adventerous nature, so he would have a part time job and live in a simple apartment similar to that when he was in college. After a year or so I think Chris would move somewhere new and find a new job and home, and continue to repeat this.

1 comment:

  1. Great response Kristen. I had a difficult time choosing what Chris might do as well. I like how you use the portrayal of his name towards the end of his life as information to make a decision about Chris' future. Alaska as Chris' ultimate goal is interesting, and after that achievement he may have been through with adventures like that. Chris might go out of his way to contact family, but I'm not sure if he would tell about his travels. Anyways, I agree that he would probably contact his sister first before the rest of his family and friends, as their relationship was closer. I see where you are going with the rest of his life, and I couldn't agree with you more. There's no doubt in my mind that Chris wouldn't go back to school or talk to his parents. He would jump around from place to place as sort of a continuation of his adventures.

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