During this past summer, I became enamored with the story of Alexander Supertramp. If the moniker doesn’t sound familiar, maybe the story will.
In 1992, the body of Christopher McCandless was found in the Fairbanks wilderness. His death in Alaska was the culmination of a two-year escapade in which he renounced his family, his name, material possessions and societal comforts for the pursuit of pure life untainted by expectation or commercialism. The American public was divided by his death. Some applauded him for having sought a simpler life, and others opposed commending him for his journey, arguing it was luck rather than Chris’ knowledge that spared him for as long as he survived.
Regardless of whether Chris’ actions were ethically correct, his story is unequivocally fantastic. He traversed over hundreds of miles and multiple states by hitch-hiking, walking, canoeing and hiking, foregoing any possessions but what could be carried on his back. A graduate of Emory University with the credentials to go to Harvard Law School, yet he dismissed this opportunity in favor of the raw wilderness.
There are many elements of Chris’ story that are worthy of question, primarily the logistics of the travel. Approximately how many miles did he cover? Why was Fairbanks, Alaska his end destination? Who or what did he think of in his hours of silence? Yet, the question I was mostly preoccupied with was more philosophical in nature. Though he perished, Chris made it to his destination; the endeavors and the enlightenment of Alexander Supertramp were arguably complete.
However, is pursuing an objective at the expense of others selfish? Chris’ reclusive life was essential to him, aimed to transcend the tediousness of modernity, but it isolated him from his family. After his graduation from Emory in the summer of 1990, Chris cut off all communication with his mother, father, and sister Carine. His relationship with his parents, and particularly his father, was tumultuous, but his relationship with Carine was strong and she was devastated by his absence. Chris had no cell phone, no permanent address and had destroyed all means of physical identification prior to the beginning of his travels. Thus, his family had no way of knowing his whereabouts or state of health unless it was through a third party, like a family he had hitchhiked with.
Bearing this in mind, Chris’ actions seem more reprehensible. His story becomes less of a self-exploration and more of a fuck you to family and to society.
Chris once said, "If you want something in this life, reach out and grab it”, but maybe he should have considered what he was neglecting before he made the reach.
