Jack Walker
Prompt #4 “The climb, footfalls one after the other; gasping for air, for life; perseverance, determination, fire.” During my jog, as I huffed up a hill and fought off a tremendous cramp that I thought might kill me, I pondered over the parallels between myself and an idealistic, ambitious, young man named Chris McCandless. I see myself in Chris McCandless. We share a similar fiery unshakable determination. As I the flame within me was fueled by my desire to defeat the climb I recalled what Krakauer wrote about Chris’ time as leader of his Cross Country Squad: “He was really into pushing himself...Chris invented this workout he called Road Warriors...He would take us on these long killer runs...the point was to try to get us lost..the whole idea was to lose our bearings, to push ourselves into unknown territory. Then we’d run at a slightly slower pace until we found a road we recognized and we’d race home again at full speed. In a certain sense that’s the way
Chris lived his entire life” (112). I can identify with that. Even as I ran in that moment I was committed to push myself past the point of familiarity to where I could no longer rely on what I already knew but solely on the deep set desire to keep on running. Then I thought about the end of that quote. I, like Chris, aim to live my whole life in the same mindset I am in when I’m running. Soon I realized that there was one thing Chris and I had in common that resulted in this kind of living. It was the cornerstone of our

character. The foundation that supports our soul. Without it our way of life would crumble. That is truth. When it comes to truth I plant my feet, just like Chris.
Compromise was never in Chris’ vocabulary. He would under no circumstances sacrifice what he believed in. He held steadfast to truth. When he was faced with any obstacle he saw one resolution. Either it held up to his stone tablet of veracity or it crippled beneath the stone’s weight. There was only one outcome for him, thats just the way it was. Chris always struggled to comprehend any view other than his. Not sheerly because of arrogance or pride, he simply didn’t see how any other opinion could be possible. Therein lies the source of Chris’ mule­like stubbornness and the root of much of the conflict with his dad. Chris could not accept any other solution that was suggested because, like a math problem, the circumstance could have only one solution. Mr.
McCandless was just the same yet, completely opposite.
Chris’ father put his foot down and kept it there just like Chris. But Walt
McCandless lived by a creed different from that of his son’s and thats what sparked many of their disputes. Chris faltered when it came to looking from another point of view, Krakauer shows this clearly: “Chris submitted to Walt’s authority throughout high school and college to a surprising degree, but the boy raged inwardly all the while. He brooded at length over his father’s moral shortcomings, the hypocrisy of their lifestyle, the tyranny