Jon Krakauer, fascinated by a young man in April 1992 who hitchhiked to Alaska and lived alone in the wilderness for four months before the discovery of his decomposing body, writes the story of Christopher McCandless, in his national bestseller: Into the Wild. McCandless was always a unique and intelligent boy who saw the world differently. Into the Wild explores all aspects of McCandless's life to better understand why an intelligent, social boy from an upper-class family would put himself in extraordinary danger by living off the land in the bush of Alaska. McCandless represents the true tragic hero defined by Aristotle. Krakauer portrays McCandless as a tragic hero by detailing his unique and possibly flawed views on society, his eventual disappearance into the Alaskan bush, and his recognition of the truth, only to reveal that pure happiness requires sharing it with others . McCandless's family and peers are waiting for him. living his life a certain way, following family tradition, however, it was McCandless's high social standards for himself and his acute view of right and wrong that would define the pattern of his tragic flaw that drove him to go into nature. . By high school, McCandless was beginning to show some of his radical ideas about how he could help repair society. McCandless's high school classmates explained that “Chris didn't like going through channels, working within the system. » (113) Instead, McCandless often talked about leaving school to go to South Africa to help end apartheid. When his friends or adults responded by saying that you're just kids or that you can't tell the difference, McCandless would simply respond, "So I guess you just don't care about right and wrong" ( 113). McCandless was going to learn to live on his own. McCandless' main tragic flaw being his refusal to form long-term relationships led him to both the happiest time of his life, but also his demise. McCandless never had a problem with people, but rather with the status quo of society, the idea that a man or woman must live inside a coordinate plane. McCandless left home and embarked on adventure simply for his own well-being. He achieved what he wanted to accomplish while learning a valuable lesson along the way. He learned that happiness should be shared and that even though everyone has their faults, it is important to let them go. Christopher McCandless should teach people the importance of following their dreams and the importance of enjoying the natural serenity of life. Works Cited Krakauer, Jon. In nature. Anchor Books ed. Villard, NY: Random House, 1997. Print.