Distinguishing Characteristics Of a Hero

1552 Words7 Pages
In a letter to Ronald Franz, Chris McCandless writes “the very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure,” a quote that influenced Aron Ralston to spend more of his time in the back country (Krakauer 57). After reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Aron Ralston was inspired by Chris McCandless's life; this book greatly affected Ralston's own life. Ralston and McCandless both explored nature to find “encounters with new experiences” (Krakauer 57). They shared a love for the wild, but they lived their lives appreciating nature in different ways. The differences between the two is what makes Ralston a hero and McCandless not. Although they were both put in life-threatening situations, Ralston is more heroic than McCandless because of his commitment to society and the fact that he sees being stuck as a problem he can solve. Contrary to Ralston, McCandless made the decision to isolate himself from everyone who had ever cared about him when he began tramping. Along his journey McCandless formed many meaningful relationships. The friendships he developed as he tramped around the western United States were very strong, but he portrayed that he was not as involved in the relationship as the other person. The friendships were maintained because the people McCandless met had a lot of respect for him. Ronald Franz was an eighty-year-old man who McCandless met in Salton City, California. Franz was instantly fascinated by McCandless, and by the end of their time together, Franz asked McCandless to be his adopted grandson. McCandless quickly brushed aside the question. When Franz discovered McCandless had died, he “withdrew [his] church membership and became an atheist” because he had been praying asking God to watch out for McCandless (Krakauer 60). When McCandless would become too close to a person, he had a tendency of departing for his next adventure.

More about Distinguishing Characteristics Of a Hero

Open Document