McCandless’ Death
A story written from a third party’s point of view may sometimes be misleading. Chris McCandless is the main character in Jon Krakauer’s “Into the World” and dies in the wilderness after a hiking experience that was motivated by his desire to find peace away from people. Hunters found McCandless’ body, and with it was a goodbye letter, although no sufficient evidence was provided for his death. Krakauer, who had come up with several other theories in his previous, gave out a theory in “Into the World” that McCandless died of poisoning after eating some seeds and not from starvation, as some people thought.
McCandless’ death was a result of poisoning after eating wild fruits, according to Krauker. The explanation appears authentic if the initial claim that McCandless did not have sufficient knowledge concerning live in the wilderness (Krakauer, 27). The fact that McCandless ignored the warnings from all the people he told about the trip showed that he did not know the dangers of traveling into the wilderness at the time of the year (Krakauer, 23). Although McCandless’ goodbye letter did not clarify the cause of his death, the events leading to his death showed that poisoning might have contributed to his death (Krakauer, 69). Besides, McCandless had learned basic hunting skills and that he would not die of starvation under normal circumstances.
In sum, Krakauer’s theory on McCandless’ death appears authentic due to the evidence supporting it. McCandless did not have sufficient knowledge of wild fruits, and poisoning cannot be ruled out. Also, the fact that McCandless had basic hunting skills eliminates the fact that he would die of starvation under normal circumstances.