Into the Wild and Out of this World

So I finished the Jon Krakauer non-fiction account of Chris McCandless' journey into Alaska, Into the Wild. For those of you unfamiliar with the narrative (since it was a best-selling book about 10 years ago, I thought I was the last individual alive who hadn't heard of it), here's the gist:

Boy born to affluent family in the suburbs of DC. Intelligent, affable, seemingly mature beyond his years. Eventually learns some not-too-great stuff about his father and family which may have been the impetus for the anti-authority, anti-institution, anti-establishment values he ardently espouses. Graduates Emory University, with Honors. Decides to go on an adventure afterward, culminating into a trip into the Alaskan wildnerness, to live off the land, alone.

Long story short: he dies after a little more than 100 days.

How did he die? The author, through what appears to be tireless research, concludes that McCandless ate moldy seeds of the wild potato, which caused his body to be unable to tak e in nutrients from the meager subsistence he did have available.

Throughout the novel, we learn (obliquely and acutely) that McCandless was searching for something. He called it "truth." Fair enough. Krakauer goes out of his way on several occasions to point out that McCandless did NOT have a death-wish. He was venturing out into the wilderness with spare (and that's being generous) supplies and gear to find something. Truth.

I do not believe that McCandless had a death wish. I really don't. I also do not believe that he was necessarily stupid and cocky and unprepared. Had he not eaten those seeds, his journal entries intimate that he was most likely ready to emerge from the bush and reintegrate himself with the rest of humanity, for better or worse. It seemed as though he did learn that life, at least on some level, is all about interacting with others, again, for better or worse. The human condition, after all, cannot exist if there is not another human with whom to share it.

But didn't McCandless find truth? Everything dies, including an idealistic, bright, well-liked and albeit troubled boy from Maryland. And that's the only real truth there is.