Cronon’s assertion about the way people feel about nature helps us to explain why Chris does not forgive his father. In a trip to El Segundo, Chris finds out that his father, Samuel Walter McCandless, has cheated on his mom and lived between two families. Chris declares to Carine that he can not pardon the mistakes of his father as a young boy; however, he still admires Tolstoy, who was an enthusiastic sexual adventurer and fathered at least thirteen children. To discuss this contradiction, Krakauer writes,
‘Curiously, Chris didn’t hold everyone to the exacting standards. One of the individuals he professed to admire greatly over the last two years of his life was a heavy drinker and incorrigible philanderer who regularly beat up his girlfriends. Chris was well aware of this man’s faults yet managed to forgive them. He was also able to forgive, or overlook, the shortcomings of his literary heroes: Jack London was a notorious drunk; Tolstoy, despite his famous advocacy of celibacy, had been an enthusiastic sexual adventurer as young man and went on to father at least thirteen children, some of whom were conceived at the same time censorious count was thundering in print against the evils of sex.” (122)
Chris McCandless has been infatuated by literature since he was little; he enjoys reading about nature and finding himself in it. Jack London and Leo Tolstoy are Chris’ two favorite authors. Chris knows about the bad sides of their life, but he still accepts and honors them. Cronon’s assertion sheds light on why Chris can admire these people but can’t forgive his father.
Chris’ journey to Alaskan Wilderness indicates that he is “imagining” his real home is in the wilderness. Therefore, Chris “forgives” himself for not forgiving his father. When he goes to the wilderness, he pretends that he is coming to his “true home” and he doesn’t want any baggage intimate relationship. Therefore, he never rethinks about forgiving his father, and he forgives himself for doing that. Likewise, Chris is able to forgive his literary heroes, for they share the same beliefs about nature as he does. He admires them for their literature about wilderness; in addition, they are the ones who motivate Chris and go on with his journey. Thus, Chris forgives himself for forgiving the bad sides of these authors. By illuminating that his true home is in the wilderness, Chris always forgives himself for his actions.
Cronon believes that city folks, who never live and work in nature, are the ones who often have crazy imagination about wilderness. In his article, he states, “The dream of an unworked natural landscape is very much the fantasy of people who have never themselves had to work the land to make a living- urban folks for whom food comes from a supermarket or restaurant instead of a field, and for whom the wooden houses in which they live and work apparently have no meaningful connection to the forests in which tree grow and die” (354). By this, Cronon means that since city people never have to work with land or have to kill animals to feed themselves, they always make a great deal about wilderness and expect it to be wholly secret and pure. Urban dwellers believe that nature is the last place where civilization and all the high technology have not fully infected the earth; however, that’s truly only an imagination from an inexperienced person. The word “dream” in the phrase “the dream of an unworked natural landscape” emphasizes that nature is only a human culture creation, but people are making a God out of it. For instance, stars in Hollywood use millions to buy houses with compounds in Montana, Idaho, and Colorado because they have the illusion that when they are near nature, things will be better in every way. Cronon uses the word “fantasy” to show that people are dreaming about nature to the maximum level. This assertion implies that urban dwellers have special love for nature because they have never really work on the land.
Cronon’s assertion about how urban dwellers have special passion for nature helps us understand why Chris didn’t make a fire signal. Chris loves nature; however, people are surprising that he can’t even start a small fire to save his life? To explain Chris’ action, Carine says, “Chris would never, ever, intentionally burn down a forest, not even to save his life. Anybody who would suggest otherwise doesn’t understand the first thing about my brother.” (Krakauer 198) In previous chapters, we know that Chris’ love for nature is influence by his grandfather, early reinforcement experiences climbing with his father, and literature. Cronon now brings up one more important factor which points out that Chris is a city people. For never working on the land, Chris doesn’t realize that nature is all human creation. For always living in an industrial- urban civilization and reading those “fantastic” literatures, Chris makes a God out of nature. Chris does not only love nature, he absolutely believes in it like someone believes in a religion. In religion, sometimes people sacrifice their life to protect their beliefs. For instance, Christoph Probst, who was a medical student, was executed by the guillotine on February 22, 1943 for standing against the Nazis about his beliefs in catholic. He sacrifices his life for his love and beliefs in Jesus. In the same way, Chris gives up his life because he believes that nature is something wholly secret and shouldn’t be destroy even just a bit. Chris “dreams” about wilderness as a God, and he need to protect his God.
by
trangpham (student)
