Blog #5

Out of the list we compiled last week, I believe these to be Chris’s three most positive and negative traits.

Positive:

-          Outgoing

-          Determined

-          Respectful

Negative:

-          Arrogant

-          Undependable

-          Stubborn

As far as positive traits go, those aren’t too bad a set of them. When a person is outgoing, it’s easier for them to make friends and get along in the world because they are not shy and constantly hiding behind something or someone. For Chris, he was very outgoing much of the time, especially as he became more comfortable in a situation. He could get to talking and the people around him would learn that he was a very intelligent person with a very interesting yet rough backstory. He was easy to like most of the time, and it was in this way that he was able to hitchhike so easily around the country the way he did. For instance, he would not have made it that last 1000 miles to Fairbanks, Alaska, had he not been very friendly and outgoing and made friends with someone who was going that way and became willing to drive him. It was his outgoing and (bringing in another trait here) respectful personality that made many people wonder what on earth he was doing hitchhiking around the country. Many hitchhikers are not respectful or clean or anything of that sort, but Chris was different. He kept himself clean, or as clean as being on the road all the time allowed. It was because of this that many people who would normally have not taken a hitchhiker anywhere picked up Chris and actually grew to like him during the journey. Chris was also respectful of his surroundings in general. He did not move across the country and vandalize personal property or anything, and he wouldn’t abuse anything he was given. Odds are, it returned to the owner in better condition than it was given to him. He was also very respectful of nature and the wildlife that lived there. He hunted animals while he was in the Alaskan wilds only because he knew there was no other way to survive. The one time he killed a large game animal, a moose, and he wasted it simply because he was unprepared and did not know what to do with it, he beat himself up for weeks about it. Being respectful of ones surroundings can make a person more likable.

        I also said his determination was a positive trait because that’s partly what allowed him to survive as long as he did. If he had not been determined, he would never have been able to do half the things he managed to pull off, such as surviving during his Mexican excursion. He was determined to get to Alaska, therefore, he made it to Alaska. He was determined to get away from his parents oppressive nature, therefore, he disappeared off the face of the planet as far his parents view was concerned. Being determined could have also helped with being more outgoing. If he was determined to get somewhere that determination could have helped fuel himself to talk to someone he normally would not have. So, all those positive traits combined to make it easier for him to get where he was going when he wanted to be there (most of the time).

 

        As for the negative traits, these are never as good or helpful as the positive ones. Being arrogant, undependable, and stubborn all at the same time can never be good. And Chris was rather arrogant. He thought himself better than many other people simply because he had left civilization and was not living comfortable like he could have been. He thought that because he had the willpower to do that, he was above everyone else. He was also very stubborn in his beliefs. When he believed in something, it was going to happen. If he believed he could survive in the wild, odds are, that was going to happen. And it did, several times. It was just that stubborn belief that he could combined with the arrogant belief that since he was better than everyone else, he would survive where others couldn’t that eventually led him to his demise. And then there’s the undependable nature. It doesn’t really tie into the other two so much, but it is something of a negative trait. If people learn they can’t depend on someone, they don’t want to have anything to do with that person. They won’t trust them. Now, granted, it wasn’t exactly Chris’s fault that he could not send everyone a postcard or a letter after his Alaskan odyssey, as he was dead. But he could have been more dependable. People became attached to him quite quickly, and some people even were relying on him to do something, like Westerberg made a deal with him that he would come to work at a certain time. Granted, he was dead at one point, but the other time he as just late. Undependable probably didn’t contribute to his death as much as the other two negative traits I’ve discussed, but it’s still not good.

        I think the trait that many people see above all others today would probably have to be that streak of arrogance. They think he died because he thought he was better than everyone else. He was unprepared, and we already knew he was a daredevil and a risk taker, and since nothing had happened to him yet, he was in the belief that nothing could since he was simply better than everyone else. And since I’ve already gone on about how arrogance could have contributed to his death, I shall not repeat it here and I’ll just move on.

 

        Similarities between Krakauer and Chris:

-          Rocky relationship with father – pg 146-148 (the info was all in there)

-          Determined nature – in ch 15, pgs 145-156, he tries the thumb again even after he’d failed drastically the first time. He would not give up.

-          Fathers pushed sons to be the best they could be – 147-148

-          Both felt an extreme loneliness after being in the wild a long time – pg 152, and pg 170

-          Intelligent, but never wanted to complete school the way their fathers intended – pg 148, pgs 20-21

 

Differences between the two:

-          Chris’s father was healthy. Krakauer’s was not. – 148-151

-          Krakauer bought supplies and went prepared for his climbing expeditins. Chris went unprepared – pgs 146-147 (lists a lot of the equipment he had with him). It says time and time again throughout the book how unprepared Chris was.

-          Krakauer was really into climbing, whereas Chris just wanted to get out and explore – pg 134 ”climbing mattered”

-          Krakauer was a a year younger than Chris when he decided to go on his solo expedition – pg 135

-          Krakauer was looking at the fame he would achieve if he did succeed in pulling it off. Chris just wanted to disappear – pg 135