Chapter 4 ends with the following quote from McCandless' journal: "It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found" (37). Identify an experience from this chapter (or anywhere in the book) and explain what "meaning" you think Alex has found.
You may also want to apply this quote to your own life. Have you ever experienced what Alex describes? Are there personal experiences that have brought you to a feeling of "real meaning"? Explain.
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In this chapter McCandless spent about a month living basically in a canoe with hardly anything to eat other than rice and whatever food he could grab from the sea. Everyday to him was completely different; he had no routine and i think that is what he meant with that quote. He believed that living off the land when you have to work for everything and no day is the same and in being alone he found what he enjoyed most and that is living life to the fullest extent.
ReplyDeleteChris found meaning in living with almost nothing. Like Sam said, he was living off the land and had no routine. After abandoning his car in the desert, he started to travel with only what he could carry on his back. He met some people while hitchhiking that shared similar views on life as Chris and wandered around the West with no destination and only one purpose: to experience life. During that journey, Chris made so many memories and discoveries that he felt as though he had found true meaning in his life.
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ReplyDeleteChris' meaning dealt with having no set schedule, and nobody to tell him what he needed to do. This allowed him to continue on living off of close to nothing. Chris easily could have found a ranger and had him jumpstart the car for him, but if he did the ranger would ask him question after question. So Chris decided to leave it. Giving me the impression that he didn't want to deal with anyone, and just wanted to live his life hassle free.
ReplyDeleteChris found the meaning of happiness while living a life with almost nothing, and proving to himself that he could make it on his own without anybody's help. Towards the end of the book Chris writes, "No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild."(163). Chris wanted freedom from normal everyday life. He didn't want to deal with people telling him what to do and when to do it. By going off into the wild to live alone, he created a life with more adventure and freedom from society, and he discovered the joy of living life to the fullest extent.
ReplyDeleteEmily Mucher
In a letter to Ron Franz, McCandless scoffed "...a life of security, conformity, and conservatism." He advised Ron to "... move into an entirely new realm of experience."(57) By trekking through the continent Chris found meaning by escaping. In his previous world McCandless wouldn't have nearly drowned in the Gulf of California, almost died of heatstroke in the Mojave Desert, or seen the beauty that is Alaska. He would never have brushed with death in so many cases in just his one lifetime.
ReplyDeleteMcCandless spoke of "The experiences, the memories..." as being what made life worthwhile. The entirely new experiences and memories that he found for himself were used to patch over his old existence. He wanted to discover a new "meaning." Alexander Supertramp was the alter-ego he used in his alternate life. The joy he found was living in a way he never had before.
When I was younger I pretended I was Laura Ingalls from "Little House on the Prairie" or one of the Disney princesses. I wanted to be a movie star, live in a foreign country, have a different name. At times I wish I could be somewhere -anywhere- other than the small town I live in. I think we all have, at one time, been propelled to live a life other than our own. In one way or another.
As I see on the date of your comment, it was ten years ago. I hope you still use this account and are able to see my reply, because I want to say that I really like your response.
DeleteAs advice from a stranger on the internet hahaha, I urge you to make that adventure yourself. It has been ten years and this is too late, maybe you already found a way to get out of your small town! If not, please do!! Live as if there is no tomorrow, positively, and remember you will regret the chances you do not take.
Consider what makes you happy and win your contentment by living the way you feel is right :)
In this chapter, Alex really discovers the true meaning behind his words through his adventures into Mexico. Living with only what he could carry and what he could catch he lived to the fullest. He finds that the comforts of modern life are not necessary for a person to be happy, but instead a sense of accomplishment and pride are all a person really needs. In chapter 5 he tells Ron Franz that you enjoy life more without the money, attachments, and commitments of a conventional life style and that “nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.” (57)
ReplyDeleteI have found in the past that simple things are sometimes what bring me the most joy. The first time I went backpacking, joined a sport that I didn’t know anyone in, or made new friends at summer camp were times when I felt that something had really changed for me. Big events in my life such as graduating eighth grade and passing my driving test made me happy, but didn’t give me that sense of pride and satisfaction that some smaller events did.
What Alex says really makes sense: sometimes, it’s the small details of life that matter most. Alex found this by living a life completely different than the one he had grown up in. We can all find it by simply “living to the fullest”.
Chris McCandless went into the wild to seclude himself from society, to find happiness in nature and prove he could live off of it completely by himself. He wanted to live his life to "the fullest extent" and wanted no one to interrupt his dream. He felt that if he accomplished this, he could find true happiness. As he neared death, he circled a paragraph in Doctor Zhivago, "And so it turned out that only a life similar to the life of those around us, merging with it without a ripple, is genuine life, and that an unshared happiness is not happiness..." and Chris added "HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED." In the end, it turned out Chris ran away from the very thing that he was searching for.
ReplyDeleteMy life has been filled with experiences that come to the same meaning. For example, a summer vacation, you have a great time, you might have gone to the beach, you might have gone to an amusement park, or something else. When you come to think about it, how would have that vacation been if your friends and family hadn't been with you? It probably wouldn't have been as fun, if not at all. Happiness is only real when you share it with those you care about.
In this chapter, and the rest of the book, Chris proves that you don't need luxuries to be a satisfied, happy person. You just need a sense of knowing yourself and being able to persevere through difficult times. In this chapter, he was in Mexico, living in a canoe for the majority of the time, having to eat what he caught with his bare hands. He found a sense of accomplishment in that. He always found the bright side of every situation and never gave up. He definitely knew what was good for him and that didnt include the crazy fast-paced lifestyle of society. In my life, things definitely have more meaning and value to me if I work for it. An example of this is something as simple as earning money. It's so much different when I work hard and make money verses when my parents just hand me money. I'm definitely more careful and stingy about the money that I made because it brought me a sense of accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteAnnie Mishler
Honors English 11
As i read chapter 18, and about how chris's weakness and eventual death had come so suddenly, i realized Chris had never really shared many thoughts about his own death. However, at the very end of Chapter 18 his very very last note was "I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD GOODBYE AND GOD BLESS ALL". It was then that i realized the experience he most likely went through right as he knew it was his end. He realized he had had a happy life and was proud of it, and it made him a little bit more content with dying. He had found meaning in doing all that he had wanted to do in his life, and it let his life pass a bit more fulfilled.
ReplyDeleteA time in my life when i have exerienced real meaning was a couple years ago when i walked through San Francisco. I saw all the different ways people live their life and how differently i could live mine, and i realized in order to give my life true meaning i need to really grow up around what i believe in and
want to do in life.
JOSH MEUSER
Kevin said...
ReplyDeleteWhen Chris ("Alex") was living on the land with only his bag of rice, the berries and other plants, and the game that he captured, he is really living on the edge. And when talks about this true meaning that he finds, he is referring to the true meaning of his life that he is realizing. He is saying that when you live on the edge you get to experience something that you usually never do, and in doing so, you find new meaning to your life and it gives you purpose. You begin to realize all the things that you have taken for granite and in doing so, you find real meaning in your life.
There is not a specific experience in which i have found meaning but i know that throughout high school i have found meaning in doing my best in what i do, whether that be by working to get good grades in school or working my butt of in football and wrestling practices to be my best, i have found meaning in bringing myself to be the best that i can be
Since there are so many experiences that Alex/Chris encounters in the novel, I can't simply choose one to discuss. Instead, I've decided to analyze a few experiences that made Alex realize something about himself. For example, when Alex spent time in Bullhead City he realized that society isn't as terrible as he though it was. He went as far to open a savings account at a local bank and was even hired at a McDonald's. However, McCandless slowly realized that he could not stay in civilization for too long. So, McCandless realized that his American Dream was to live in the wild, but at the same time he gained a new respect for society as a whole. Also, Alex realized an even more meaningful aspect of life when he met Ron Franz; moreover, spending the time he had with Ron Alex found happiness. Having another person by your side is truely an amazing thing to have, and being in some contact with another person is the only way anyone can be truely happy. That's why people get married, right? People marry for love, and if they don't they should. The love of another person is genuine, and I think that is what Alex found when he was with Ron Franz; the love of a father. Now in my case there have been several cases that have given me a sense of "real meaning." The one that I can remember the most is when I came to Del Oro. The first day of school people came up to me at greeted me with open arms, and at that point I felt as if had become a part of something truely great, and that feeling gave me a sense of what "real meaning" is.
ReplyDeleteThe meaning Alex found was his own personal meaning of life. He was living his life the way he wanted to, and had escaped the life he had been living earlier on: the life that his parents had wanted him to live. He was finding joy, but at the same time some hardship as he was surviving on little food and what nature brought to him. He writes in his journal (37), "Can this be the same Alex that set out in July, 1990? Malnutrition and the road have taken their toll on his body. Over 25 pouds lost. But his spirit is soaring." He has lost weight, and some of his health, but the struggle made his soul grow stronger, and made his journey/story more interesting. I believe that at that point of his life he really started realizing his reason for the wild adventure he set out on.
ReplyDeleteMaryann Good
Honors English 11
There are many times in Chapter 4 where Chris found "meaning" or purpose. He had an earnest desire to live off the land without any sort of routine or assistance. Chris was able to just sit in his canoe and eat whatever food he had or could find. By living his life in the simplest of forms, Chris was able to experience things that otherwise may have been missed. In the quiet solitude of nature, Chris found true happiness in pondering the world and marveling at the God given miracles of nature. In the memories that he had and the experiences of living life to the fullest extent, Chris was able to find his true meaning to life.
ReplyDeleteBrie Simmons
Chris found true meaning throughout the entire novel. What I think he meant, was that he found what he was looking for, a little bit more each time. He found that living life to its fullest puts a whole knew spin on things. He was able to experience what it really means to struggle and survive on his own. I believe he found true meaning when he lived each day not knowing what was in store and took risks. This is most likely why he burned all of the cash in his wallet, donated money, and abandoned his car. He realized that those are the things that society looks and measures a person by. He didn't think he needed society any longer.
ReplyDeleteWhen you live happily and don't worry about what others think about you, it allows you to come out of your shell to be who you want to be. When I do this I feel like every moment counts, and there are no worries. I get a huge rush when I do the right thing or accomplish something that leads me to my dreams. That is living life to the fullest.
Caitlynn Curtis
Throughout Chris McCandless' journey, i believe that he found meaning through the journey itself. I think that Chris felt that what he was doing was to become a very important crossroads in his life. He found meaning in the people he met, the things he experienced, and most of all i think, the freedom of the open road.
ReplyDeleteChris McCandless was a very free spirited person. He was very well educated and had the promises of being a very succesful man one day. This leaves many people to question why he would leave that all behind. He felt that money and worldy posessions was a hinderance to true happiness in life. Crhis wanted to find happiness by means of simplicity. He set out to find meaning in life and get away from all the trumoil in the day to day civilization. He did not like the idea of a daily routine, he was easily bored by all of this and loved the open road for all of its unexpected twists and turns. Along the way Chris runs into some amazing people that he would never forget. Many of these people made a real impression upon him and helped him find the meaning he was looking for. I believe he found what he was looking for when he arrived in Alaska. I feel that he finally had found what he was looking for, just him and the wilderness around him. This is true freedom. Althhough he died in the end, i believe he died happy, doing what he had always wanted to do. through this venture, he found happiness, the rue meaning of life.
ReplyDeleteTanner Huber
The part where I felt I found the most about McCandless was in his letter to Franz. I believe it is here where he revealed what he really found out in his solitude. I think he said it all when he wrote, "The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater jpy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun" (Krakauer 57).To me, this simple line tells me the entirety of McCandless' purpose out in the wild. When you're holding down a job and living in a house, your doomed to a monotone life, forced to repeat the same pattern day after day. In this line McCandless makes so much sense to me, he's just chasing what life may have to offer for him.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with him. I went on a mission trip this summer - different country, language, and routine every day. I woke up with a different sun, and life was more vibrant and full of colors. Now that I'm back her facing the same trivial practices everyday, to say the least, I feel like I'm getting 'itchy feet.' Without the pursuit of knowledge, success, or adventure, this life quickly becomes a blur of gray.
The "meaning" that Alex/Chris has found is that of living his newfound lifestyle to it's fullest extent. When , on page 29, Chris finds a flash flood as a good opportunity to shed unnecessary baggage as opposed to being unhappy with the turn of events. He stumbled upon a chance to live his life the way he wanted to even more than he had already shaped it. He burned up all of his money " In a gesture that would have done both Thoreau and Tolstoy Proud "( Krakauer 29 ) and simply continued on his journey, proud of his actions. His meaning is to make both of the aforementioned authors, along with London, proud by living the lifestyle that they had advocated.
ReplyDeleteYes, i have and do have a sense of "real meaning". I always have and always will. I have a desire to create, to shape, and to make my life what I desire it to be. While i do not desire the same way of life as Chris McCandless, I completely understand his desire to not allow anyone to prevent his right of choice, and recognize why he had a desire to do so.
-Bryce Collins
Chris experienced so much while living alone. Living off the land he learned many different things, not only about his surroundings or skills, but also about himself. Living in solitude, Chris was required to call upon instincts and teach himself how to survive. During the period of time Chris had killed and scavenged the moose and its meat, he had a breakdown, or as described by Krakauer it seemed to be a self-argument and punishment scenario. Through this experience Chris learned to work with and for himself. Not to compete with himself. This brought on a greater understanding of what it means to be dependent on yourself and only yourself. Eventually Chris was satisfied that he had proven to be dependent upon no one else, and soon felt he had reached the complete meaning of happiness.
ReplyDeleteHaylee Hodgkins
I think the "real meaning" is being in a state of complete joy. Chris found that, but he realized he needed to share it. He found out about life and himslef while on his journey, its too bad he couldnt apply these things when he got back to society. The "real meaning" can be being with people you like, doing something you like, or just whatever makes you feel complete joy.
ReplyDeleteI think Chris found "real meaning" in his entire adventure. In my opinion, real meaning is doing what you feel called to do, no matter how reckless, pointless, poorly planned out, suicidal, and frankly idiotic it is. Chris felt called by nature. And despite my disliking of him and his terribly nicknamed alter ego who only refers to himself in the third person, I can sympathize. I feel "real meaning" when I'm editing video, even though that would seem like a pointless waste of time to some. And it's not exactly like my videos are artwork. But it feels like that's my calling. And that connection I have with Chris, knowing your calling and doing it, is only thing keeping me from dismissing him as a delusional escaped mental patient. 51-50, baby.
ReplyDeleteI believe McCandless found the true meaning of happiness while he was living on the road. In chapter four he says "My days were more exciting when I was penniless and had to forage around for my next meal"(pg.33) He found life without a routine was exciting and filled him with joy. Chris felt truly happy living off of the land with nothing and completly by him self.
ReplyDelete-Meghan Munn
I think the "real meaning" Chris found through his entire adventure. He got to live out the life he imagined, out in the wild with no rules and no human contact. He basically made it there on his own time his own way. With the help of some people who drove him or housed him or gave him a job on his way he was able to make it to Alaska. He found that you can really follow your dreams and accomplish what you set your mind to and i feel like that is the "real meaning" that Chris discovered.
ReplyDeleteMegan Hentschke
I think Chris found meaning throughout the entire book. The whole time all Chris wanted to do was to "live off the land". By doing this Chris was able to live his life to the fullest because even though he died at a young he was able to do what he loved a lot. "Living off the land" was what Chris had always wanted to do, and by being able to do this almost everyday he was able to live life to the fullest.
ReplyDeleteMatt McCormac Blk 1
In chapter 4 Chris began to realize he was happy starving because he was in he wilderness and people don't always have food to eat. He paddled in his canoe to Mexico and ate whatever food he could find. He felt connected to the wild as he explored. He found the true meaning of living off the land throughout the book.
ReplyDeleteRarely, my parents give me money to spend on school or movies. I was grateful and spent that money carefully. When I got a job, suddenly my parents thought of me as the millionaire of the house. Before I knew it I brought dinner home Friday nights, payed for dog food, payed the vet bill and on and on. When they saw my balance in my account they looked at me and said, "you spent $400 in a month!" and then told me that money didn't grow on trees and that even though I did have a job, I wasn't ready to go on my own.
Jai Ghotra
Christopher McCandless spent the last few weeks living out of a canoe, and eating only what he caught from the ocean and rice. The "meaning" talked about deals with McCandless being completely free from all outside sources. As he continued to live of the sea he became convinced that he had complete freedom from even land itself.
ReplyDeleteI too have experienced such a feeling. It came quite unexpectedly the first time I went horseback riding in the mountains. This sensation of complete and total liberation from all worldly problems give life a sense of "real meaning" to life.
Robert Wood