The book Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer is about a man named Chris McCandless who gave $25,000 of his parent’s money to charity, abandoned his belongings, and burned all the cash he had because of his hate for materialism. Chris despised his parents and their traditional ways of life, so he decided to run into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley accompanied by no one. He went on a journey for a more spiritual life but accomplished absolutely nothing to praise. Regardless of all the good qualities people see in him, I would argue that Chris McCandless’ disloyal, selfish, and careless personality negatively affected himself and those who cared about him.
       

Chris’ personality compelled him to make the decision to immaturely rebel against his parents and waste what appeared to be a successful life. Chris was an intelligent man who was on his way to having a bright future, but after graduating from a good college, he ran into the woods and donated the money his parents gave him for educational purposes to charity. He didn't inform anyone about where he was going and chose to leave his parents. Chris could not live with his parents and their lifestyle, so he planned to never come back: “I'm going to divorce them as my parents once and for all and never speak to either of those idiots again as long as I live"(64). Chris running away from home is a very immature way of dealing with hate for his parents. He ruined his life because he had been educated by a good college and had enough power to start making money to live his own way. He chose to waste the opportunities he received and not use them to his advantage. He was old enough and had enough intelligence to make a decision that would help him prosper in his life. It was a careless decision because all he did was starve himself and end up dying in an abandoned bus. He selfishly left his parents who actually loved him, and made them go through a very hard time after his death. Anyone can run into the woods and try to survive, which is why I disagree with people who look up to him because his journey was nothing but a waste of time.
       

Chris does not not value companionship and is very disloyal to the people who helped him along his journey. For example when Chris was camping near the Salton Sea, one day he  walked to town for food and met a man named Ron Franz: a retired veteran who lived all on his own. Ron took care of Franz like a son and became very fond of him and his way of living life the way he wanted. When it was time for Chris to leave, Ron asked Chris if he wanted to be his adopted son, but Chris selfishly ignored his proposal and told him they could discuss more about it when he came back, knowing he was never planning on coming back. During this part of the book, Jon Kraukeur states that "McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well—relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it."(55) Chris’s reaction was a very disrespectful way of responding to such an important question. Ron had took care of him for so long and for him to disregard his love for him is very disloyal. Chris only wants people to live like him and stop caring about a traditional life. He doesn't value what people do for him and how their help is extremely beneficial to making his journey easier. It can be argued that Chris was put in an unexpected position, but he lied saying they will discuss when he returns instead of reasonably explaining why he would not accept the offer. The way he handled the situation was very selfish and uncompassionate because he disregarded the significance of Franz’s love.
     

Chris’ decisions benefited no one but himself, showing his true selfish nature, and he was also extremely disloyal to all the people who cared about him. Many people have honored Chris McCandless, but his dishonorable rebellion wasted his education and threw away his knowledge just to become a traveler. In traveling the world, Chris did not help those in need; he instead continued to pleasure himself. People who look up to Chris are motivated to perform similar forms of rebellion, which results in more people risking their lives for something not important. Chris’s story has affected the young generation to take a stand for something preposterous; the young generation being highly composed of immature minds makes them easily influenced to repeat the mistakes of Chris. Others that consider making decisions like Chris’ should see his true selfish motivations before deciding to abandon those who love them.