In Into the Wild, Chris McCandless was a young man from Virginia who loved living his life alone. During an adventure in Alaska, Chris ran into trouble and died. Although Chris' death is a horrific event that will remain etched in the memories of his family and friends, it could have easily been avoided. If Chris had been smarter he would have thought about his preparation, his motivation and the possibility that he was mentally ill. He could have lived in the Alaskan wilderness, survived his adventure, and returned home safely. If Chris had been better prepared, he could have survived and lived the life he wanted in the Alaskan wilderness. “His rifle was only .22 caliber, too small a caliber to rely on if he wanted to kill large animals like moose and caribou, which he would have to eat if he hoped to stay in the country very long. He had no axe, no insecticides, no snowshoes, no compass. (Krakauer 5) Since in the first two pages, Jim Gallien had pointed out that his supplies were not sufficient to sustain a long period of time in the wild, this should have been a wake-up call for Chris even before he went into the wild. desert. In Roberts' article titled "Jon Krakauer + Sean Penn: Back Into the Wild", Roberts cites Krakauer's original magazine article speaking to the hunters who found Chris' body. “The guy didn't know what the hell he was doing up here” The hunters didn't know Chris personally and didn't meet him in person and could only tell from the evidence that Chris McCandless wasn't fit to live in the Alaskan wilderness. Seeing that Chris did not have a solid relationship with his father, he was driven by anger to go to the wilds of Alaska, he may have survived this adventure, or even... middle of paper... If he had been smarter, he would think about his preparation, his motivation, and the possibility that he was mentally ill. I don't blame Chris completely because his friends and family could have stopped him from going if they saw that he might have a mental illness then they could have stopped him from going and they would have saved his life. Works Cited Kleinfeld, Judith “¨McCandless: Hero or Dumb Jerk¨.”, July 20, 2001. Web March 27, 2014. Krakauer, Jon . In the wild nature. New York: Anchor, 1997. Print.Roberts, David “Jon Krakauer + Sean Penn: Back to the Wild.” National Geographic and Web. 29 March 2014. Cristiano, Pietro. "Chris McCandless from an Alaska park ranger's perspective." http://nmge.gmu.edu. Np, nd Web.Medred, Craig. “Science of the Far North.” Into The Wild: the false inner being -. Np, 13 October 2007. Web. 26 March. 2014.