For the Love of Adventure

The Death of an Innocent is the story of a college student Chris McCandless better known as Alex. He was an excellent student in high school, excelling in almost everything thing he put his mind to. He was a cross country star and everyone looked up to him because he was a natural born leader. But there was something a little peculiar about Chris. He had an obsessive passion for things and would not let anyone defer him from what he wanted to do. Most would say he was crazy for some of things he did but others would say that he was just a passionate soul. I do feel that in this day and age, people like Chris still exist.
Chris was a successful college graduate of Emory University. He was an intelligent young man just like many other college students around the world. After he graduated, he took the money that he had left and instead of splurging on a car or other frivolous things, he donated all of it to the bank and started his summer trip around the world to find out about things that did not make sense to him such as world hunger. While most people think that this is a crazy idea, there are those to this day who feel passionate enough about something that they would do any and everything to get it done. I also feel that some people do impulsive things for the adrenaline rush and just for the simple fact that they want to achieve something on their own and that is exactly what Chris was trying to do. Explore life on his own. This is why some kids go to college, to find their purpose in life and maybe Chris’ purpose was to explore new ideas. They may stray off a couple times to try their own thing but eventually they do find their way back, it just so happens in the case of Chris he did not get that chance.
Yes, it is true that society today is very materialistic. We value the power of the dollar and what it could do for us. The very thought of just giving up $100 let alone $20,000 makes me cringe, but if was enthusiastic about the reasons behind me giving up the money I would do it. Chris did not feel the need for the money so he did something else with it to make it useful. Many people give to charities all the time and even though they may not have the same intentions they do it anyway. As a society, we need to go back to the days where everything was not about the money but let’s face it, everything cost and we do not want to give up what we have earned.
To say the very least, yes Chris’s adventures may have not been well thought out and a little bit irrational. But he was doing something he truly enjoyed and who are we to take that little bit of joy he had away from him by calling him delusional. There are others like him out there and if they are doing what they love then they should do it.