Following One's Wishes in Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant,” once said Roman Poet, Horace. People frequently come across obstacles, and their true self becomes evident during those times. Horace's assertion about adversity is shown in many situations with people throughout the world. In the novel Into the Wild told by Jon Krakauer, a young itinerant named Chris McCandeless goes on an odyssey in the Alaskan wilderness to find happiness upon himself. Chris takes this journey with very few supplies and ends up perishing through starvation. His true talents are shown during times of adversity and for his quest for happiness. Horace’s statement is legitimate with most people in society. People faced difficult decisions all the time, and like Chris McCandless in the novel Into the Wild, certain aspects of people’s talents show during those onerous situations, including living life to the fullest, overcoming obstacles, and being able to adapt to particular circumstances.

Many talents become evident during difficult situations, including the ability to be able to live life to the fullest. Throughout the story of Chris McCandless in the novel Into the Wild, Chris acknowledges that he would be happier without the presence of people and the stresses of everyday life. Chris goes on an odyssey throughout the American Southwest, Mexico, and eventually up the Pacific Coast to Alaska. In doing so, he discovers himself more as a person and finds that solitary causes happiness for him. As Chris was moving around, he wrote a letter to his old boss saying, “The freedom and simple beauty of it is just too good to pass up” (Krakauer pg. 33). Chris McCandless feels more content with the serene of the wilderness, the beauty of self-acknowledgement, and the connection he feels with nature. Chris McCandless took the risk of leaving society to follow his desire to be in the wilderness. Chris left everything to be able to follow his passion of living life to the fullest. Many harsh and difficult events in his life boiled up inside him, and all this adversity led him to live life to the fullest on his terms.

Chris takes his journey with every intention of spending the rest of his life with the presence of nature. This young audacious man seeks the desire to live his life to the fullest, throwing away all the usual deprivations of life. Chris’s talent is to be able to recognize that he does not relish the normal life he has, and takes it upon himself to pursue the bliss of nature. All the adversity in what was his young life, led to his independence and his yearning to be free from all the troubles of humanity. This becomes clear when an old cross-country teammate of Chris’s states, “He was looking for more adventure and freedom than today’s society gives people” (Krakauer pg. 174). Chris’s adversity was struggles and the suffocation of modern day society. If life had been able to give Chris more of his desired opportunities, his vision of living life to the fullest may of been different. He struggled with the fact that he was not able to live out his life that way he wanted, if he stayed with the presence of people. Every day, people face the same struggles that Chris did, with the hardships of life, and the annoyance of certain individuals. People cope with these scenarios differently, in any way that ceases the adversity they feel. Living life to the fullest was Chris’s way of handling his affliction, residing his life in the wild.