Student Question
What message does Christopher carve into wood at the end of "Into the Wild"?
Quick answer:
At the end of "Into the Wild," Christopher McCandless carved the message: "I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!" This reflects his gratitude and acceptance despite his fate. Additionally, he highlighted a passage from Dr. Zhivago about the necessity of shared happiness, adding "HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED," suggesting a realization of the importance of connection with others.
According to the author, Jon Krakauer, the last thing that Chris wrote was "I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!" (Krakauer, pg199) What Chris learned is a difficult question given the cryptic nature of his writing and the fate that he suffered. According to the evidence, Chris made an attempt to leave the wilderness but was thwarted by a swollen river, which may indicate his desire to return to civilization. The author tells us that Chris highlighted the following paragraph from the book Dr Zhivago , perhaps illustrating what he learned: "And so it turned out that only a life similar to the life of those around us, merging with it without a ripple, is genuine life, and that an unshared happiness in not happiness...And this was most vexing of all." Chris added the note "HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED." (Krakauer pg 189) He...
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had spent much of his young life seeking solitary struggle against nature and "truth" and he may have discovered that he needed to share his knowledge with others in order to find real happiness.