Some Dreams Can Be Foolish

"Why would anyone intending to 'live off the land the land for a few months' forget Boy Scout rule number one: Be Prepared? Why would any son cause his parents and family such permanent and perplexing pain?" (Krakauer 71).

Inspiration or Fool?

Some people say that McCandless was an inspiration for following his dreams and I agree, but I believe that you can always ask yourself if your dream is really what you want to accomplish. I don't think McCandless did that, sometimes second guessing is a good thing, we need to know the positives, negatives, and most importantly the risks of potentially pursuing our dreams. I do agree that he is an inspiration for he did by going out into the wild, but he is still a fool for the way he did it. He wasn't prepared and he didn't seem know his own limitations, which can be pretty important when trying to survive by yourself in the wild. Therefore I applaud him for his effort and persistence but, I still ask what he was thinking going in there without the things he needed.

Always Be Over Prepared Never Miss a Step

Travel Advice

"By the time The New York Times picked up the story about the hiker, Alaska State Troopers had been trying for a week to figure out who he was. When he died, Mcandles was wearing a blue sweatshirt printed with the logo of a Santa Barbara towing company"(Krakauer 99). In our society today some people are not good at making plans and sticking to them. Some people will say they are going to the movies and end going to the beach, if you say you are going somewhere go to that specific place don't wonder off and end someplace else. This brings me to my point that this man forgot to book a returning flight out of the Alaskan wilderness therefore he ran out of food and died. If anything when planning a trip as dangerous as this one, over prepare yourself in case on anything. In these situations no one knows what could happen. This man died because he missed the step where he was supposed to book another flight but didn't. He died because he wasn't prepared. So just be careful when traveling alone or even in groups, make sure you know what your doing and you also know what everyone else is doing, so that there is no confusion or mishaps such as this one.

Not the Sharpest Knife in the Drawer

In the book, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, it is often argued that Alex is an inspiration to people in our society or that he is a fool for leaving home and eventually dying in the Alaskan Wilderness all alone. I argue that he was a fool. First off, Alex was not prepared, he had the wrong type of gun to begin with and was even told that he was not prepared but just chose not to listen. Also it seems like Alex just did not care about anyone for example, "If Alex were here right now, I'd be tempted to chew him out good: 'What the hell were you thinking? Not speaking to your family for all that time, treating them like dirt!' One of the kids that works for me, fuck, he don't even have any goddamn parents, but you don't hear him bitching. Whatever the deal was with Alex's family, I guarantee you I've seen worse" (Krakauer 64). This shows that even though Alex had the courage to leave home, there was no need to. He was just running away from his problems instead of facing them like the man he was. This is why I think Alex is a fool he never justifies his reasoning for running away and cutting off contact with his family.