Into The wild Into the wild by Jon Krakauer is about a man named Chris McCandless who had a rough childhood which could be blamed for his foolhardy and rash behavior. Due to growing problems in the family Chris decides to ditch them by leaving society and hitchhiking to Alaska to live alone in the wilderness, from a literary point of view Jon Krakauer made it seem like Chris was a hero for following his dreams. But McCandless could have made better decisions in many of his outdoor pursuits and the way he dealt with his family. While many of the underlying principles by which he tried to lead his life are indeed admirable, I don’t believe he can be called hero due to one important reason;The distinction between whether an individual is to be considered a hero or a coward lies in their death.The difference between a hero and coward depends on the impact that they leave in the society after they’re gone, and Chris just fled into the wilderness and ran away from all his problems instead of dealing with them. The main difference between a coward and a hero depends on how they die and what impact they leave on the society and he only left pain behind. “When Alex left for Alaska, I prayed I asked God to keep his finger on the shoulder of that one; I told him that boy was special but he let Alex die…. Became an atheist.”(60:Franz) , Chris would encounter many people on his trip and have such an impact on them but he didn’t seem to truly care about them, there were many encounters where Chris would meet people build a strong connection with them and then abandon them just like he did his parents; when Westenberg asked Chris to postpone his trip to Alaska to help him out with the harvest he simply refused and went on fulfilling his dream to go to Alaska.McCandless was a little selfish and a bit of a coward when it came to dealing with problems for instance his family he just disappeared one day without leaving any trail or telling anyone, he abandoned his sister to deal with family problems herself.. Chris even burned his money and left his car because he didn’t want to get attached to materialistic things, i think a part of him knew he could go back to family and get back the money, but only had he earned the money himself and bought the car with his money he would’ve realized the importance of it and how hard it is to earn and everyone is not fortunate enough to be born into a rich family.It is sad to see how Chris himself in the end realized that “Happiness is only real when shared”(McCandless) he soon realizes how true happiness can only be achieved when it is shared especially with loved ones.McCandless may have followed his dreams but he didn’t aspire to live for a higher purpose he wanted to fulfill his dream go to Alaska but didn’t want to work towards something bigger than himself. Chris had a responsibility towards those who he loved and those who loved him in this case his sister, he had a choice to make whether to leave and go to Alaska or stay and not just live for himself but he was too immature and selfish to ever come to that realization. He Instead chose to put his family through hell for 2 years he put his life above others. Chris could have saved his own life and his family’s suffering if he decided to sit down with his parents and discuss what was bothering him and find ways to work through it as a family. Everyone has family problems but they managed to come out through it stronger than before but Chris’s rash decision may have bought the family together but it led to his demise. Although Chris might be selfish and a coward, he was still admirable because not a lot of people have it in them to fulfill their dream no matter how irresponsible his decision might have been he was one of the rare people that have the motivation and ambition to chase their dreams. Even though all of this is true one of the most painful and devastating decision was to run away without telling his family he didn’t care to think what must be going on in his mother’s mind she hadn’t heard from her son in over 2 years heck she didn’t even know if he was alive or dead. It is understandable to feel immense pressure in life sometimes however, the way he went about dealing with this pressure broke the hearts of his parents and his loved ones and got himself killed.