1.

What do think caused Chris to embark on his journey?

Ultimately, I believe that Chris' family was the core of the reason but more so, the life he

lived, his environment and his intellect started the motion of his journey. Many people would not
take this journey just because of familial problems or being in such an environment. The way he
thought and his intellect taught himself that society was poison. It wasn't just something that he
saw at home but something that he saw everywhere with his eyes and online as well.
2. Chris' journey was a decidedly solitary one. Yet toward the end, it seems to
have dawned on him that (in a passage he underlined in Tolstoy) it was necessary
"to be used to do good to people." He noted in the margin of another book,
"Happiness only real when shared." If he had been able to return to civilization, how
might his life have changed?
Chris' return to civilization would mark the beginning of the spread of generosity, and love.
Some may believe that Chris would return to his family but I believe that he would go to Ronald
Franz and accompany him until his death while seeking out to his sister. Over time, of course,
he would learn to forgive his parents but I don't believe that he would return to them. He would
wander through society, sharing his love for one another.
3.
The American Alpine Club estimates that there are about 250,000 climbers and
10-40 climbing fatalities in the US each year. Krakauers book Into Thin Air is an
account of the deaths of 9 people on Mount Everest. What is it about extreme
adventure that draws some people in? Is the pursuit of such extremes selfish or
admirable?
I believe that people pursuit such adventures for many reasons. Of course, some people want
to do it just for the sake of achievement but a good amount of people pursue it in order to find
themselves. To find oneself through troubled times yet so inspired and willful is a feeling that many
people aspire to gain.

5. A quote on page 155 says, It is easy, when you are young, to believe that
what you desire is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want
something badly enough, it is your God-given right to have it. Does this quote
seem to have a ring of truth to it? Does it apply to you? Why or why not?
To me, what we desire and what we deserve are two separate things. It is easy to say that
one deserves the love of their parents but what they may truly desire could be the heart of the young
maiden. Although it may not be applicable in every situation, I believe that it is true in a greedy
sense. Only if one perceives it themselves, they realize that their desires and what they deserve
coincide.