The Final Chapter Of The Manifesto Into The Wild: A Journey To Authenticity In The Way Of Chris McCandless

Christopher McCandless pictured in front of the Magic Bus (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - Thursday, June 18, the bus numbered 142 with green and white paint was tied with a chain. Alaska National Guard members transported him in a helicopter to an undisclosed location. The series of deaths in that little corner on the Stampede Trail, Alaska is expected to end. This bus transfer also means the final chapter of "Into the Wild", Christopher Johnson McCandless' famous journey. A manifesto to authenticity that inspires many.

"Magic Bus", as Chris called the bus. Chris is so happy to find a warm home on his way to wildlife. In that warm house, on August 19, 1992, Chris died. Four years after his departure, Chris's story was immortalized in the book Into the Wild. In 2007, a film adaptation was released of the same title.

The story of Chris's journey is so famous among adventure enthusiasts. Over the years, countless people have tried to trace Chris's steps detailed in the book Into the Wild. During this time the authorities also carried out rescue of those trapped.

In fact, it was recorded that two people died during the dangerous journey. Veramika Maikamava, a 24 year old woman from Belarus, died last year. He was swept away by the strong currents of the Teklanika River. Her husband was only able to lift Veramika's body downstream. Another, a Swiss woman, Claire Ackermann, 29, drowned in 2010 after trying to cross the same river.

It is said that Jon Krakauer, the author of the book Into the Wild, was confused. Carine McCandless, Chris's sister, told of how Krakauer repeatedly discussed with the family what to do with the Magic Bus, even when the authorities said they would move the bus.

"It really saddens me ... This place has been desecrated and has now been destroyed," he told the Washington Post.

Krakauer was often outraged. He knew, the adventurers did damage to Chris's death site. On his first visit to the Magic Bus, July 1993, Krakauer found the Magic Bus in its original condition. Chris's boots, books and his toothbrush were still there. Likewise with jeans that are allowed to dry on the stove.

However, in its development, Chris knew, the "pilgrims" damaged the site. They stole small pieces from the Magic Bus site and left the trash scattered about. He admits guilt towards the wave of adventurers to the windy lowlands of Alaska, especially for Veramika and Claire who can't go home.

"I hope the bus can stay like that (first visit was 1993)," said Krakauer. "But I wrote a book that destroyed it."

Inspiration from the death of Chris McCandless

Many people criticized Chris as being naive. To them, Chris's journey was nothing more than a suicide attempt. However, the wave of adventurers clearly proved another side of Chris' death: inspiration. Many people practiced the manifesto of Chris's journey to authenticity.

Reporting from Era.id, McCandless' journey to the wild began in May 1990. Shortly after receiving his cum laude bachelor's degree from Emory University, he donated a total of US $ 24,000 in savings and cut all communication with his family and friends. Back then, McCandless's destination was Fairbanks, Alaska, where he plans to spend some time alone, finding the truth within himself.

McCandless began the trip by driving to Arizona, before his car became useless due to flash floods around Lake Mead. From there, McCandless continued his adventure on foot, traveling through the western United States by boarding freight trains and hitchhiking foreigners' vehicles, occasionally.

After re-entering the US in 1991, McCandless spent most of that fall working at McDonald's in the Bullhead City, Arizona area. McCandless also briefly lived in Salton City, California, before settling in Carthage, where he plans his adventures in Alaska.

Furthermore, the trip to Alaska actually continued. McCandless traveled by hitchhiking through Canada to reach Fairbanks via the Alaska Highway on April 25, 1992. Three days at Fairbanks, McCandless continued his adventure by hitching a ride on the Stampede Trail.

Jim Gallen, one of the local residents who gave McCandless a ride said, McCandless conveyed his idea of being 'lost' and completely at one with nature. McCandless even gave Jim his watch and threw away all the remaining supplies, including the 85 cents and a map. According to Jim, McCandless wanted to go to a place where no one else was.

Jim also said he had warned McCandless that his provisions were far from sufficient. According to Jim, McCandless was only carrying 4.5 kilograms of rice and several collections of books. Apart from that, there was nothing but clothes and a .22 caliber rifle which Jim thought was not even worth killing a deer, much less protecting himself from a bear attack.

To Jim, McCandless called the Bering Sea his goal. Unfortunately, McCandless never actually reached the Bering Sea. The Stampede line and the magic bus are the end of the journey. McCandless's story has long been a discourse. Some welcomed McCandless' thought, although a few others called McCandless and his adventures as useless.

In a manifesto written on plywood, McCandless described himself as an extremist and nomad. In the manifesto, McCandless also called the streets his home. The manifesto was later signed by McCandless with his new initials: Alexander Supertramp. Since that manifesto, McCandless has also been known as Alex, Alexander Supertramp.

"This is the climactic battle within me, to kill the false being within (myself) to achieve true victory through spiritual revolution," the manifesto read.

McCandless is an accomplished athlete as well as a child with an outstanding academic record. McCandless is known as a person who is good at history and anthropology. In addition, he spent his life at university writing campus newspapers. While graduating from Emory University, McCandless had received an offer to continue studying law at Harvard.

Born in El Segundo, California, USA on February 12, 1968, McCandless was born into a wealthy family. His father, Walter McCandless is a senior technician at NASA. Walter also owns a technology consulting firm. The mother, Wilhelmina Johnson worked as a successful consultant in their place of residence.

Despite all the brilliance and brilliance, McCandless was not there. To him, his parents were hypocritical and hypocritical middle-class figures. These conditions led McCandless into an adventure into the wild, on a journey he found himself.

Despite his controversy, McCandless' journey has inspired many people. He is called a practicing practitioner of the David Thoreau tradition --a United States philosopher-- true. For his worshipers, McCandless's adventure is believed to be the driving force of thought to reject the chaos of the social system through the search for identity in the wild. As Thoreau quoted McCandless in one of his manifestations.

"Rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness ... Give me the truth."