Chris Mccandless Essay

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Chris McCandless was found September 6th, 1992 by moose hunters. The pungent smell of his decomposing body led them to find the bus. There was an S.O.S. note explaining Chris’s dire conditions, attached to the front door. After, arriving in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1992, young McCandless lived on the abandoned bus close to Denali National Park. Choosing to live in isolation for 4 months, he survived off small animals, potato seeds, a large bag of rice.The food he gathered was not enough to sustain his life. But, it was the unhygienic conditions in which he stored the potato seeds and his personality that caused his death.

Many have described Chris to be incompetent and stubborn. He thought he could survive the harsh Alaskan bush, because …show more content…

The snow begins melting and brackish rivers start flowing. This makes is hard to get around, While, there is more game and plants to survive off of, a person has to know what to eat. Chris did a great deal of studying upon arriving to Alaska. But, he didn’t study enough. Chris McCandless died of swainsonine poisoning caused by consuming wild potato roots covered in Rhizoctonia leguminicola, a type of fungus. This caused Chris to have difficulty eating and drinking.Making him weak and unable to feed himself or barely move. Since Chris had been starving he ate a large amount of these seeds. In his journal Chris used any energy he had left to write “BUT IN THE WEAKEST CONDITION OF LIFE. DEATH LOOMS AS A SERIOUS THREAT”. The poisoning had taken over him and starvation was on it’s way. Chris would have had a chance of surviving if he had brought a useful map. But, his stubborn personality ruined his chance. Just six miles away from the bus was a Park Service cabin. With the last of his energy he could have made it and saved himself. In early August he writes a note hoping to get help. This note uses his real name, showing he is realizing how close death is. Chris’s body enters starvation and began consuming itself. Someone in his state would experience hallucinations, skin discoloration, and extreme sensitivity to cold. Soon he would be unconsciousness and wouldn't

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