Throughout Chris McCandless' journey, he made it his goal to pursue all obstacles as primitively as possible. Anytime he was forced to hitchhike or earn some money, those kind of actions took him two steps back in his eyes. He mentions to Wayne in a letter, "I wish I hadn't met you though. Tramping is too easy with all this money. My days were more exciting when I was penniless and had to forage around for my next meal" (33).
Weeks after this letter was written, Chris continues his journey to the Mexican Gulf. He finds himself confused when the rivers go off in all different directions. He begins to get anxious and finally runs into some people that could help. They give him a map and his hopes are lifted. The map is supposed to lead him to the ocean, but he finds himself at a dead end in the middle of the desert. He is crushed (34).
Maybe it was this incident that Chris lost all faith in maps. That it was this kind of modernization that he despised. He could not trust society, government, and he could not trust the maps. He felt it was more efficient to rely on his own instincts, which he did from then on. Yes, it was unfortunate that Chris did not find the equipment that could have potentially saved his life. But bringing a topographic map would have destroyed the purpose of his whole journey. His purpose was to challenge himself and live without society's help. Using that map would have been a slap in the face to everything he believed in. So again, I don't think Chris was ignorant, simply reacting the best he could with the little tools he had.
I believe pointing out Chris' flaws are essential for Krakauer's arguments. He doesn't "sugarcoat" anything. He realizes Chris made some mistakes, just as Chris realized his mistakes throughout his journey. I believe his main purpose by pointing them out is to show he's aware that with a few more tools, Chris' journey could be a lot easier. But Chris also was aware of this, but he CHOSE not to use them. Krakauer wants to prove to these naysayers that the tools were irrelevant. Chris' journey is about the lifestyle he chose to tackle and to discover what he wanted out of it.
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You really delved deep into this one! I understand where you are coming from because I thought that Chris was sooo stupid when I began reading this book but I feel Krakauer did this on purpose. He made it seem as though he Chris was insane for not bringing any materials but he helped backthis decision up by saying how he honestly believed that he would survive without them. Chris seemed to know his way around by how much he had traveled along the western part of the US. Some things could have gone different if he would have prepared better but he was a free spirit that enjoyed the challenge!
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