Does a nationwide hitchhiking trip sound exciting? Does it still sound as exciting if you were to hitchhike with zero contact with family, little money, and constant starvation? A sharp contrast to what people may typically reply, Chris McCandless’ answer was a yes. In Into the Wild, Krakauer biographs Chris’ ascetic and tragic journey to Alaska. After graduating from Emory University in May of 1990, Chris went on a national hitchhiking trip with Alaska as his destination. In search of spiritual freedom Chris stepped foot in Alaskan wilderness in the spring of 1992, a destination he never makes it out of when he dies alone of hunger in the same year. Throughout the book, Jon Krakauer analyzes three potential reasons that made Chris go on the trip—hunger, hitchhiking, and books.

Firstly, Krakauer repeatedly mentions hunger as a clue throughout the story. Right after his college graduation and before going on his trip, Chris donated $24,000 to OXFAM, an organization dedicated to fighting hunger. Ironically, Chris himself also suffered from hunger constantly on the road due to lack of money. Although hunger may sound devastating, constant starvation did not seem to bother Chris at all. In his diary, Chris writes about his experience of starvation using third person, making him seem less like a person experiencing hunger himself and more like someone distant from the pain: “his spirit is soaring” after “malnutrition and the road had taken their toll on his body” (Krakauer 37).  He describes hunger as something he feels cheerful of, possibly because it marked a separation from his old life, a well-to-do one never lacking in food but one which he despised. Perhaps he might have even enjoyed being hungry, since Chris went on the road trip in search of a “raw, transcendent experience” (Krakauer, 4). Thus, Chris’ trip may be a result of wanting to experience simultaneously the physical experiences of hunger that allowed him to feel separated from his old life and also spiritual freedom as he lets go of worldly possessions.

Another impetus for Chris’ trip was perhaps his method of traveling—hitchhiking. Uncertain and unpredictable, hitchhiking reflected Chris’ lifestyle, a refusal to be restricted or held back by anything. Although Chris enjoyed hitchhiking, it was not in his mind as his initial method of journeying. At first, Chris had travelled in his yellow Datsun, a car that he adored and insisted on being the best in the world. When he was offered a replacement, he was infuriated as he took the offer as an offense to his preferred lifestyle. Nonetheless, despite his love for his car, Chris eventually abandoned his Datsun when the vehicle was damaged in a flash flood. After this incident, Chris took it as an opportunity to start hitchhiking, initiating Chris’ nomadic and transient life, and the end of an organized existence Chris despised. By hitchhiking, Chris was able to start down a new path and abandon his old living style.

Thirdly, Chris was very inspired by the books he had read. Before he had started his road trip, Chris had been bewildered by the descriptions of the wilderness in Jack London’s The Call of the Wild, attracted to the simplistic habits painted in David Thoreau’s Walden, and believed in the aesthetic lifestyle depicted in Tolstoy’s War and Peace. All these books inspired Chris to live plainly off the land as well. Even on his road trip, Chris did not stop reading. He recommended people to read War and Peace, as well as Call of the Wild, when he could. His passion for books led him to bring his readings with him even into the Alaskan wilderness. For Chris, his books were a source of nurture for his dream of a simple life. They were also a way for Chris to cope with reality and immerse himself in his ideal world.

By including stories of Chris’ relationship with hunger, hitchhiking, and books, Krakauer allows us to peek into potential reasons that motivated Chris into starting his road trip. Chris’ tragedy invites readers to reflect and question. What would have happened if Chris had gone into the wild more prepared? What would have happened if Chris had walked out of the wild alive? Into the Wild thrusts readers with a whole new perspective on how a life can be lived.