Monday, March 30, 2009
Chris' Way of Life
While reading chapters eleven and twelve of Into the Wild,Chris' family and friends describes him as always being competitive, adventurous,and stubborn. They say he was always a pleasant child, but when it came to giving him instructions he did not like to follow them. Chris and his parents relationship was not always wonderful. In high school Chris did not plan on attending college, he wanted to work a job and earn a living that way. Since his parents had already experienced poverty before they did not want Chris to struggle in life form not receiving his degree. Walt and Billie insisted that he attend, but he thought of attending college as a useless and unnecessary goal. After Chris graduated from high school his parents dissuaded him from traveling but he went anyway and frequently contacted his parents. He traveled across the Texas plains and through Mexico and Arizona. He arrived back home two days before his fall term at Emory University. Chris only arrived back home to please his parents and attend college. After he achieved "their goal" of graduating, he officially disappeared and traveled into the wild. It's almost like he was planning to abandoned and divorce his parents from his life all along. He was just waiting until he completed everything they wanted him to do.
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2 comments:
I think he planned on escaping from the beginning too! I almost look at it like he accomplished everything his parents wanted him to do just to make the situation worse. Because he had such a high level of education, he could've gone far in life. It makes his leaving even more terrible, because he had such an awarding lif ahead of him.
It does seem like that huh? that's why i don't understand people calling him selfish or irresposible. He did all that was asked of him and did things (such as going to college) time and time again to just to please others - especially his parents. this wasn't necessary! he could have just mooched off of his parents for the first 18 years of his life and then abandoned them. But instead, he did the "responsible" thing (even if it made him unhappy)
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