Chris McCandless

After watching a few videos on Chris McCandless, the main character from Into the Wild, I noticed that there are multiple views on Chris’ actions and intentions during his trip to Alaska.  In the first video I watched, “Things you may not know about Chris McCandless,” Will Forsberg speaks about the destruction of the cabin located not too far away from the bus that McCandless was staying in.  In the book it mentions that someone with knowledge on bear destruction claimed that it could have been a bear, but there were other things that led them to believing it was Chris.  Will Forsberg has a different opinion though.  He claims that it had to be Chris due to things such as the dissemblance of the stove which yielded no destruction.  Throughout the book, all of the mysteries of Chris are portrayed in a fashion that doesn’t make Chris seem like a bad person, but at the same time they allow you to have your own opinion which may be that he is.  The difference in this video comes easily because Forsberg claims that it had to be Chris’ that caused the destruction in the cabin.

                The next video that I looked into was called, “Chris McCandless’ youth and student years.”  This video provided much more detailed and accurate information considering Chris’ roommate from his freshman year in Emory was able to give lots of valuable insight as to who Chris was.  The information in this video completely avoids any blame on Chris’ actions unlike the first video, instead the viewer gets historical background on what might have led Chris to do what he did.  Along with Chris’ roommate, the person that made the video also had a chance to interview Chris’ track coach throughout high school.  He recalls Chris as a very good runner and athletic kid, but at the same time had signs of a “quirky” kid who had a mind of his own.  Personally, I believe that these background descriptions give people who are interested in the story a stronger opinion on the gray areas of Chris’ journey. 

                Finally, the third and final video I watched was an interview of Billie McCandless, mother of Chris, at the spot of his death.  I believe this final viewpoint gives the truest feedback considering Chris was raised by his mother, therefore inferring that she would have the most knowledge about him.  Billie explains an unusual part of Chris that we don’t see much of in the book.  Billie talks about a trip with herself and Chris and she states, “Chris learned how to appreciate being with people, happiness is best when shared.” This seems shocking to ones who may have just read this book because besides his few jobs throughout the west, Chris couldn’t stand being around people for too long, yet his mother knows that isn’t completely true.  A little while later in the interview she continues on the topic and says that a big part of Chris’ downfall was probably the fact that he had no one to share this happiness with.  Out in the wild you can see some absolutely amazing things, but with no one there to see it as well, your story becomes less interesting.  Overall, these three YouTube videos provided some new and different insight on Chris McCandless and his journey into the wild of Alaska, where he ultimately found his resting place.