In 1986, when I was 25 years old, I myself felt the same torments as Chris did, and organized an expedition to cross the Arctic on foot. It was a little known expedition frought with peril and danger. We were all unprepared and ill-suited for the trip, but somehow we survived. We were like five Chris McCandlesses, all troubled by our own lives and by the weight of the world around us. The 100-day expedition was a life-changing experience that affects me even now. But my journey is not over. I am still troubled by the world, and I know now, that walking across the Arctic did not solve these problems, but it did help strip away my identity, allowing me to see the world in an altogether different way. I wish everyone could do this. And I am damn proud that Chris McCandless did it in his own way. I am just so sorry that by a very small twist of fate, it ended tragically for him. God bless him for his courage.
It's a complex question. Chris was, in the end at peace with himself (as exemplified by his picture in front of the bus). It's like he was a visionary, finally kicking himself out of the track of conformity, and trying to re-connect with himself through nature. In the end, he had learned so much, had changed so much that perhaps he could never have gone back to his old ways. His end, in effect was perhaps the only solution.
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