Emily's Essays and Short Stories

12-8-2021

Into the Grave
—an essay by E.P

In his mind, nothing could be more delightful than to live in solitude and enjoy the spectacle of nature, and sometimes read some book or other."
⎯Dead Souls, Nikolai Gogol(1842)

What's one thing that the works of Leo Tolstoy, Jack London, and Henry David Thoreau have in common? They were all found on the corpse of Chris McCandless. No, it wasn't a bookstore murder that brought his life to an end⎯it was his own questionable decisions. These decisions are so debated that Jon Krakauer wrote a whole book on Chris in 1996 called Into the Wild. In this essay, I'm prepared to tell you all how Chris McCandless tried to embody the ideals of the authors mentioned before⎯in more ways than what might meet the eye. I'll do this by describing that when he was in need; he held no remorse about going into society and taking up various jobs for money. Along with the fact that he did try to devote his life to simplicity⎯although he did end up in a very convoluted and complicated situation in the end⎯and how he attempted to convert a few other people to a life of adventure; which is also his own ideology.
At the time of his taking on work, he was known as Alexander Supertramp. While going by Alexander, he was a very hard worker; but a very hypocritical person. "Mr.Supertramp" would openly reject society⎯to the point where he donated all of his college money to a charity and got rid of all forms of his identification⎯but when he needed the help of society, he would come back, work, make money, then use the money to purchase necessities. All the while giving books⎯by authors that support his position⎯out to people and telling them basically how society is the problem, and that we should all live off the land. Although he did survive out in the frozen Alaskan wilderness for some time, he ultimately ended up dying prematurely. But, after the jobs and before his death; he wrote letters. He wrote letters to his past employer, to someone else who took him in for a couple of days; because he couldn't, or rather didn't want to, leave society completely. Much like the premise of Call to the Wild by Jack London. In Call of the Wild, Jack London explores the laws of civilization and wilderness. This is something Chris explores on his own, in his way of course. But he somehow found the middle ground in those laws and applied them to his life, bouncing from civilization to wilderness whenever he pleased⎯however he pleased.
Chris McCandless had tried to devote his life to simplicity, much like how Leo Tolstoy decided to give up his material possessions and live off the fruits of his labor. Although McCandless did end up getting rid of most of his possessions, save for a camera and a gun; his life was far from simplistic. Having no map, and no means of communication other than the letters he wrote to people; he was truly on his own. He had to rely on himself for food and water, along with warmth. But, that did not stop him for a second! In a documentary, we watched in class, it was noted how Chris would not do something if he knew the outcome of it. His father even commented on how independent he is or rather, 'was' might be the better word. Chris also looked up to Tolstoy more so than the other authors he brought along with him. This is for the reason that he and Tolstoy have a lot in common, and Chris appreciates his realistic views on life⎯or what Chris thinks to be realistic views⎯although he looked up to all the literary heroes he brought; Tolstoy was definitely the most inspirational to Chris.
Lastly; Chris tried his very best to impose his ideology onto others through his words, actions, and gifts. Like Thoreau, Chris wanted everyone to make it through all of life's days and hardships. Although I can't remember the quote word-for-word, Thoreau once said something about once we hit rock bottom, then we can appreciate the good life has to offer. Henry Thoreau's Where I Lived and What I Lived For also had a profound impact on the way Chris lived his life. Taking after Walden, when he said "for my part, I could easily do without... I think that there are very few important communications made through it." With the 'it' in this case, being the post office. In Chris' case, the 'it' is society. Much like what I mentioned before; Chris had managed to cut ties with all his connections. Although his main mental inspiration was Tolstoy, his actions are very much inspired by Thoreau. What I mean is this, a thing that Thoreau failed to realize was that the relationships that he did hold near and dear, needed the bare minimum of communication to keep them alive. He did not do this, instead; he just went and visited them in person. Absolutely zero communication on his end.
And that's what I believe Chris tried to achieve, but he obviously still had society's norms in mind with the letter writing.
To wrap this up; I want to shed some light on the fact that we can never truly know what is going on inside a person's mind or life, no matter how hard we try to understand their actions. Chris McCandless is a perfect example of this statement; because as much as we're trying to interpret him and his actions; he's trying to interpret the author's actions that he brought along with him. It's a paradox of interpretation, yes; but I find it crucial to make note of this when attempting to explain someone for them. It is a common idea that "actions speak louder than words," but actions are only half of what we need to get the full picture. And when there are no more words left to say, how loud are the actions?