Into the Wild Reader Response

In my opinion Alex (or Chris) was extremely excited for his trip but he wasn't prepared enough for it. It is ok to live off of the land and be a real trooper but in this case, it was not a good idea. He did not even have good enough boots. He burned his money which was a bad idea as well because before he did his Alaskan adventure, it would have been a good idea to keep it around. He was starving himself before Alaska because he had no money. "Alex allowed that it had been a couple of days. [since he ate last] Said he'd kind of run out of money" (pg. 17). Alex did not know what he was doing. He did know what berries to eat and such but he did not know about the one berry that killed him. He should have spent much longer studying Alaskan wildlife. Alex knew what it meant to be a hard worker and to be dedicated. He simply was dedicated too early, he threw himself into a project that was not meant for him. "If he started a job, he'd finish it. It was almost like a moral thing for him" (pg. 18). While Chris's (Alex's) morals were very sure and upbeat, he set his deadline too short (no pun intended). He should have waited another year or two just in Alaska to learn about the wildlife first hand rather than reading about it. I believe Chris would have known how to survive better if he had waited and had understood the gravity of the project he was undertaking. I also believe that Alex had some sort of defect though I'm not sure what that is, that caused him to not be able to think through situations logically. He had absolutely no way to get help or to help himself. He changed his name to start his life over. While this is a touching and riveting plot to a story, in real life it is dangerous. However, Alex did it anyways, "No longer would he answer to Chris McCandless; he was now AlexanderSupertramp, master of his own destiny" (pg. 23). If this is the way that Chris saw himself, as master of his own destiny, I also have to wonder if Chris had a superiority complex and if he thought himself to be powerful beyond the average man. We must read and wait to discover this. For now, it is all simple conjecture.