1.) McCandless decides that he is ready to leave the wild when he discovers that he has learned what he needed to learn from his experiences. In his journal entry, he writes that he has learned the importance of "the great holiness of food, the vital heat, positivism..absolute truth and honesty, reality, independence, finiality-stability-consistency". He also writes that he has found what is needed for happiness. This is the key, because really that's all anyone really needs. Once he has discovered this, he has no more need to remain in the wilderness.
3.)I do agree that McCandless' choice to live in the wild was a foolish and selfish one, and that he did not fully think through the negative affects that it would have on not only him, but everyone close to him who was affected by his adventure. I do not really see anything powerful and noble in his stuggles. He did not choose to have a solitary course of life in the wilderness for any noble reason or purpose. It was a purely selfish want to fulfill a personal goal and prove a point to himself, and if anything brought pain to his friends and family. I do not agree however, that "surviving a near death experience does not make you a better human it makes you damn lucky". Although I think that the choice McCandless made to attempt to survive alone in the wilderness alone was foolish and selfish, I think that it is still an incredible learning experience. There is no better way for someone with no knowledge of survival skills to really learn how to survive in the wild than to put them in a situation where it is absolutely necessary for them to be used. Anyone who suffers a near death experience has to learn something from it.
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