Brittany McClure
The McCandless Talk
Most importantly for me, the talk give by the parents of Christ McCandless really drove home their son's humanity. In reading the book about him, it was hard not to just write him off as a quirky, somewhat interesting literary character. I knew he was real, but he hadn't felt real. Seeing the pictures of his childhood and schooling, and listening to his parents expound on the man that Chris was, I was able to establish a connection to him as a fellow human being. He wasn't just some crazy character who had gone off into the wilderness without a rhyme or reason-- he was a person with ideals, hopes, dreams and principles, who sought to find something more than himself in the wilds of nature.
I do think that Chris' adventure was spiritual. I think, really, that it was all for a spiritual purpose. Just as Chris ran with the Road Warriors to outpace the evils of the world and strive for self-fulfillment, so he ventured out in self-discovery, seeking communion with the natural earth through independent journey. Even the journal entries he wrote while in Alaska reflect this. He wrote down his thoughts and ideas on the meaning of what he was doing, as though working towards a personal enlightenment.
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