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What important life lesson does Chris seem to realize before he dies in "Into the Wild"?

To understand the magnitude of Chris' final realization you have to view it in the context of his life. Chris was not happy with his life so he decided to change it.  In his search for happiness, Chris had left behind everyone he had ever cared about or who had ever cared about him.

After spending years living a life of total simplicity and solitude, Chris' final diary entry seems to show that he had a sudden realization. He wrote "Happiness only real when shared." 

I think that for many people these final words are haunting because Chris had been trying to soak up life and happiness all on his own, then in the end he seemed to realize it had all been wasted. His happiness hadn't been real. For Chris this was a massive transformation in thinking, sadly it seems that it came to late.

Chris believes he is an "aesthetic voyager" and has traveled a road that has led him on a "spiritual pilgrimage." As such, he was a young man in search of himself, for his own identity. This rite of passage does lead to Chris's physical death. However, in his last note he writes: "I have had a happy life and thank the Lord." I would suggest that Chris was one of those people who had to travel beyond the everyday. His sacrifice for his lifestyle was leaving his family and facing his own death. Yet, he does become self-realized and believes that he has truly been a traveler on a journey of spiritual significance!

that nature is only a refuge for a short while, that true happiness can only be shared with others