Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a retelling of the journey of a man, Chris McCandless, who went against social expectations by traveling into the wild (See what i did there?). McCandless was born into a wealthy family and was expected to go to college and have a successful career. Instead, he traveled around America alone. He traveled to Alaska to embrace nature, and it cost him his life. But Jon Krakauer shows that we can learn from the unique human being that was Christopher Johnson McCandless.
McCandless was driven by the very basic need for adventure that has becomes less prominent as humans become comfortable with their surroundings and lose the need to see different parts of the world. McCandless was different, since he never could stay in one place too long. It is quite possible that McCandless felt that the many practices of society were pointless, and he wanted to get away from the looming pressure of social expectations. No matter how he specifically viewed society, his distaste for it cost him his life.
While McCandless' story is an example of how adventuring can prove to be fatal, but perhaps that is not how it is meant to be interpreted. Maybe his story really shows how humans should strive for more than just an average life. Christopher McCandless was completely happy with his life before it ended. Maybe people are meant to see more of the world than we really do. The world is full of beauty an amazement, and we just have to struggle a bit before we find it, and if you do find it, it is well worth the struggle.
