What is McCandless’s relationship with his father? | Into the Wild Questions | Q & A | GradeSaver (2024)

FAQs

How was McCandless' relationship with his father? ›

Chris McCandless had a difficult, strained relationship with his parents and became estranged from them for the last two years of his life. Chris's father was a successful, intelligent man, who attained wealth and raised his family in a comfortable, affluent suburban household.

Final answer:

Jon Krakauer and Chris McCandless both had strained relationships with their fathers characterized by a struggle for independence and conflict over high expectations. Krakauer explores their shared experiences of seeking autonomy and embarking on adventures in his narrative 'Into the Wild'.

Walt McCandless

He and Chris had a tumultuous relationship. While they shared some interests, such as music, Chris's unique personality (stubborn, headstrong, and ideological from an early age) conflicted with Walt's parental desire for Chris to avoid the struggles that Walt grew up with in a poor household.

Chris felt like his parents didn't believe in him; they didn't trust him enough to let him in on their secrets of the past. They foolishly believed they could go on living a lie and no one would ever find out, but Chris did find out and it imploded the relationship he had with his parents.

Christopher McCandless was stubborn and independent. In a letter to his sister shortly before he disappeared, Chris wrote of his father and mother, "I'm going to divorce them as my parents once and for all and never speak to either of those idiots again as long as I live."

In the beginning of the selection, Chris and his father have a conflict regarding Chris's dreams. Chris has a strong desire to pursue his dreams, but his father disagrees and discourages him.

After high school, when he traveled alone to California, he learned about his dad's first marriage to Marcia and how much it overlapped with his marriage to Billie. This knowledge began the degradation of Chris's relationship with his parents although he didn't discuss it with them.

What secret is responsible for Chris's deteriorating relationship with his parents? During his cross country travels after he graduated high school, Chris discovered the facts about Walt's previous marriage and divorce. Walt had continued his relationship with his first wife for years even after Chris was born.

What does Krakauer think about the relationship between Franz and McCandless? Krakauer thought that McCandless affected a lot of people but the outcome was not always necessarily for the better.

The narrator reveals the reason for McCandless's change. During his trip, he had discovered that his father had maintained a relationship with his first wife and his other children, heading two households. He had a son with his first wife after McCandless was born, before Walt and Billie moved to the East Coast.

Is Into the Wild about mental illness? ›

"No longer to be poisoned by civilization," he wrote, "he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild." Note the third-person reference to himself there. It's a textbook signal for schizophrenia. Lost is a good place to be if you suffer from this particular mental illness too.

In the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless had many decisions to leave his old life behind and start over. Chris' decision to leave was justified. When he left without saying goodbye, it made it easier for him to let go of his past and focus on what he wants to do in the future.

Chris had a troubled and very angry relationship with his father. This relationship--or Chris's rejection of it-- was centrally important to motivating Chris's behavior in the few years he had between graduating from college and dying in Alaska.

motivation is derived from a childhood that was shaped by his parent's lies and propaganda. Chris hoped to be reinvented and to live a new life, with a new identity, that had no connection with his past.

Parents who are at odds with their kids often get that way because their expectations don't match reality, be it because they have specific outcomes in mind and their kids choose otherwise, or because they (the parents) don't have an accurate idea of what to expect from any given age.

The two become friends. Franz lost his wife and child while he was overseas, and he takes to McCandless as if the younger man were his own son. Franz buys McCandless food and listens to his stories as well as his theories about life and society.

In the storyline, Chris McCandless was deeply hurt to discover the secrets of his parents' past which included marital infidelity and a secret second family. This led to a strong reaction towards his parents characterized by anger and resentment, which eventually led him to cut all ties and venture into the wild.