Into the Wild 2

Audrey Jolly

 

 

This quote by McCandless, who named himself Alexander Supertramp, defines his mindset as he leaves for the wilderness, “Two years he walks the earth, no phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road. Escaped from Atlanta. Thou shalt not return, ‘cause “the West is the best.” And now after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure, the climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution. Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking bring him to the great white North. No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild. – Alexander Supertramp, May 1992 (163)."  He is embracing his journey into the wilderness, and is obviously proud of himself for abandoning all material things so he can be ultimately free.  He hints that he intends to return to civilization eventually, but he felt as if he needed to get this itch for adventure out of his system first.
 However, it is his hubris and arrogance that ultimately kills him, for who would venture into the great unknown unprepared?  McCandless acts as though he is invincible, that he can grab nature by the horns and just go with the flow. 
Despite his mistakes, he did have good intentions by seeking freedom and solitude.  He just took it to the extreme, trying to live out a dream that he was ultimately unprepared for.