Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild is a story about a man who has a deep desire to find meaning in the world. Christopher McCandless, an Emory student and graduate in 1990, sets out to find Alaska. He plans to live only from his environment and limited material resources. While he is wandering and hitchhiking, he meets a variety of interesting characters who fuel his ambitions, while others try to stop him. McCandless finally makes it to Alaska. There he finds many obstacles and struggles in Alaska’s environment. Jon Krakauer, the author, emphasizes “hunger” in his interpretation. Krakauer displays actions motivated by Romanticism and a misguided mental quest for self realization by juxtaposing emotional and physical hunger.
Christopher McCandless has a deep desire to find meaning and rejects all aspects of modern society. McCandless grew up in a rich, young world with wealthy people. McCandless’ interest in justice and social truth grew as he was surrounded by stereotypical youth activities. “More and greater numbers of classes he took addressed social issues like racism, hunger in the world and inequalities in wealth distribution” (Krakauer, 123). McCandless was exposed to new ideas, principles and he began to question his life direction. This is the moment that Christopher McCandless first saw the spark in his great adventure. Billie says that Chris couldn’t comprehend how anyone could go hungry in this country. “He would rave about such things for hours’,” (113). Christopher learns from his classes that the civilisations around him have been corrupted. Christopher becomes more aware of the nature and injustices in the world, and his responses change. McCandless comes to the conclusion that he has to physically get out of civilization. McCandless said that he was always hungry for knowledge. He was not like most people and he believed in living by his beliefs. It is easy to mistake this quote for a selfless, heroic belief system that the protagonist uses, but his true belief system demonstrates self-involvement. Christopher decides to leave the society he strongly believes is wrong, rather than using his talents and ideas to create a world he believes morally just. Krakauer contains a passage from Walden, Life in the Woods (page 117) that McCandless highlighted. “Give me the truth, rather than love, money, or fame. McCandless shared this quote because it was his true environment prior to his adventure. He felt a part in society and longed for more meaning in life. Christopher is determined to find that role outside society and not make his contribution to society a one of worldly success. McCandless’s emotional hunger for self definition and validation drove him to his goal. He believed in natural living’s healing power for people who doubt their existence and he dedicated himself to this journey. “We [Jan Burres and Christopher McCandless] started to talk. He was a good kid …. He was also very hungry. Hungry, hungry, hungry. But …. happy. But he was really happy. The repeated use of “hungry” in the text draws the reader’s attention to its metaphorical meaning. McCandless was happy because of his “big adventure”. It fulfilled his longing for a simpler way of living, with no distractions and without the need to feel compassion from others. Romanticism was romanticized, in a sense, by the adventurer. McCandless tells people that he longs for Alaska’s wild west. This imagined scenario is what McCandless sees, and he soon realizes the difficulties he faced with society are being replaced by the extreme, harsh problems of the wilderness.
Maslow’s hierarchy, which is a system that ranks human needs, can explain the difficulties Christopher McCandless faces in the wilderness. The physical foundation of human need is oxygen, food, water. McCandless went in search of these elements, but was not able to secure them. “‘I figured that he’d do fine […] but I didn’t know if he would become hungry so I just let him walk along the highway. “That’s the normal thing for a person to do” (Krakauer7) Self-actualization refers to the top of the hierarchy. Humans must fulfill all basic needs starting at the foundation. McCandless did not include large portions of each category that is self-actualization. Every human is able to determine the importance of each need and how they relate to their actions. McCandless’ attempts to resolve his moral dilemmas led him to ignore his true needs. He also lost sight of his security and livelihood, which ultimately resulted in his death.
His thoughts are no longer clouded by society’s judgments and become more clear as Krakauer begins to slowly die. “Some people who have survived starvation report that the extreme hunger disappears and the terrible pain is gone. The suffering is replaced with a feeling of sublime euphoria, a calm, coupled with transcendent mental clarity.” (Krakauer, 198). McCandless’s death is an example of literary irony. McCandless’ metaphorical hunger to find worldly meaning disappears only after he has become literally, physically starving. While many readers might view his death negatively or label him a failure it actually means that he is one step closer to success if he has the right ideas. His journey ends when it becomes clear that he didn’t deliberately die, even though he did not intend to. Christopher McCandless is fed by physical starvation.
Christopher McCandless’s adventures are a demonstration of humanity’s desire to find meaning in life. The environment in which he found truth was not the right one for him, but his own thoughts. He shows the futility of a physical search when a mental quest leads to self-discovery. Krakauer’s use metaphorical, metaphorical and physical hunger in his life highlights the difference between human wants and needs.
