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What unanswered questions remain about McCandless from Into the Wild?
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Unanswered questions about McCandless include the true cause of his death, as his autopsy showed no poisoning despite theories of toxic consumption. His reasons for being trapped due to a flooded river, despite having a map and supplies, are unclear. His lack of communication with family, despite rejecting materialism, also remains puzzling. These uncertainties suggest McCandless might have overestimated his survival skills rather than having a death wish.
The biggest question is the actual cause of McCandless's death. According to Krakauer's book (and the movie), McCandless was poisoned by swainsonine, a toxin that inhibits digestion. McCandless believed he consumed the leaves of a toxic sweet potato, while Krakauer speculates that a toxic mold had infested the leaves and seeds in his bag of foraged foods. The results of McCandless's autopsy, however, showed no evidence of poisoning, and a test of the plant matter in the bag did not reveal any toxins. Moreover, McCandless had been foraging for weeks before reporting illness. The prevailing theory is that McCandless died from starvation. While he was consuming sustenance, he burned more calories hunting and foraging than he obtained from the food he was able to find.
The next question is why he found himself trapped when the river flooded. Despite Krakauer's account, McCandless did have a map with him in his...
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backpack. He also had $300 and multiple forms of ID. So he didn't really cut ties with the world. What's more, if you look at a GPS image of the site of the Magic Bus, you'll notice it's located in a corridor of land surrounded by Denali National Park. The map McCandless had showed the location of a service road on his side of the river that he could have hiked to civilization. It's also hard to believe that he really didn't know about the crossing mechanism just downriver of his campsite.
We also don't know why McCandless was actually out of communication with his family. Discovering that his father had been married before and that he had committed bigamy, marrying Billie before divorcing his first wife, certainly deeply affected Chris. He seems to have rejected traditional success and materialism as part of rebellion against his family. Donating his college savings to Oxfam and skipping Business School would support this theory, but it doesn't explain why Chris didn't communicate with his sister, Carine.
There is the possibility that Chris was simply uninterested in a traditional lifestyle, regardless of his attitude toward his parents. He is described in the book as abstemious and asexual. He also had a strong love of the outdoors and physical endurance. It is possible that his journey into the wild was simply a spiritual exercise. Like Krakauer climbing Devil's Thumb, Chris may simply have wanted to test his limits. The fact that he kept money, an ID, and a map, that he left an SOS note on the bus while out foraging, and that he was trying to return to civilization when he found the river flooded weaken the theory that he had a death wish. A more likely explanation is that he simply overestimated his abilities and, like a Jack London character, fell victim to the formidable dangers of the Alaskan wild.
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