The McCandless family

I was angry at Chris McCandless almost the entire time I was reading the book. He seemed like an out-of-control narcissist with impossibly grand notions about his personal destiny. Only as his sad, pathetic end became imminent did my ire begin to subside.

Although McCandless had a generous heart, he treated his parents very badly. I wonder why did he scare them to death ? It was as if cutting off all contact with them gave him the power to fulfill his odyssey.

I feel sorry for his parents. I could not cut off contact with my parents as I know they would worry. I think it would be too painful for parents not to speak to their children or not know where they were or what they were doing.

I really feel for the McCandless family and how hard this must have all been for them. Firstly Chris going off without saying anything for years and then later being found in the bus and secondly having to go through the public humiliation of their private lives in the media.