Who Chris McCandless Really Was

            After searching for videos on YouTube about Chris McCandless, I learned new untold stories about Chris which changed my views on him. The many YouTube videos told me about his childhood and other information pertaining to his family and personality.

            Chris grew up in a supposedly, “well to do” family, although his house was a normally sized middle class house for that time. He went to high school and received impressive grades and was also quite the athlete, we know that. Chris did cross country and is still remembered by his school for his elite performance and drive to do the best that he could. His drive was something that not many other people his age had. His mental toughness showed through with everything that he did. No matter what the obstacle was, he was going to persevere through. But that doesn’t mean that he didn’t like to have fun. His coach for cross country described him as a normal, fun, corky teenage guy. It wasn’t until college when he suddenly had weird personality issues.

            Chris attended college at Emory, where he took a philosophy class that brought out another unseen side to him. His freshman year roommate said that Chris would take pages of notes for the duration of a single class period. His roommate went on to say that Chris never verbally participated, but would always dive deep into thought by taking notes. Chris’s unseen personality was brought out when he was caught extremely drunk in his dorm room. Chris wanted to go out to another bar for another drink, but then realized that everything was closed. He then went on by saying that he wanted to rob a liquor store. Chris, who always seemed like a caring person, wanted to cause harm to society by robbing a liquor store. This completely contrasted with his former high school personality traits, as being a corky and fun teenager who aspired to be the best that he could be. Having the intent to rob a liquor store was not the person that Chris had worked so hard to become. He was also described as a person that was always awkward while interacting in social situations, which is a reason why his roommate believes he wanted to venture out into the wild.

            The video that stood out to me the most was titled, “Things you may not know about Chris McCandless.” It was of course about the unknown knowledge about Chris, but more importantly, the unknown details about his death that recently surfaced. Apparently, when the law enforcement found Chris’s body, they were not able to spot his back pack that was in the bus with him. In his back pack was identification and 300 dollars, which was more than you needed to survive in the wilderness. This new evidence showed that Chris had indeed planned on coming back from the wild and had not given up by burning all of his identification and money. Authorities had traced Chris’s movements back to a cabin, which had been ransacked  along the trail leading to the bus that he eventually resided within. McCandless needed supplies in order to survive, and he was not afraid to do what was necessary in order to live to see another day.

            Chris’s life, from birth to death, seemed like he hadn’t quite found who he really was. That is why he did cross country in his early years, to challenge his mind, body, soul, and to learn who he was going to be for the rest of his life, which is also why he was so engrossed in his philosophy class and why he abruptly changed when he was drunk. Chris thought that by going away from civilization, and journeying on a great trek, that he would become the ideal person that he always dreamed of becoming. Although it didn’t come to a happy ending, Chris found the person that he had always tried to learn to be and was ready to return to civilization to share with everyone who he had finally become.