The resentment he harbored grew into an outrage toward authority and society. He went forward with a wounded soul and an impenetrable exterior.
McCandless decided to leave the world that he felt betrayed and alienated from, and to live another way. He set out to be independent and to prove he could make it on his own. He made penetrating impressions on the people he met along his journey, however, he always abstained from making any mature personal bonds with any of them and avoided and rejected their help.
In Solitude: A Return to the Self, Anthony Storr wrote, "Avoidance .
behavior is a response designed to protect the infant from behavior .
disorganization. If we transfer this concept to adult life, we can see.
that an avoidant infant might very well develop into a person whose.
principal need was to find some kind of meaning and order in life .
which was not entirely or even chiefly dependent upon interpersonal.
relationships" (60).
Chris fostered this concept and felt he could find self-fulfillment through isolation. He became captivated by the challenge of being independent and sought this out by traveling in nature absent of human contact. It was apparent however, that he could not fully adapt to this lifestyle as he tangled in and out of peoples lives. He became lonely and needed companionship; this was evident in his return visits to people such as Ron Franz, Wayne Westerberg and Jan Burres. Ken Sleight paralleled McCandless and Everett Ruess in that they liked people too much to isolate themselves forever: "They like companionship, but can't stand to be around people for very long. So they go get lost, come back for awhile, then get the hell out again" (96) .
The closest Chris McCandless came to shedding his emotional armor was with Ronald Franz. Franz very much wanted to help McCandless in any way possible. But in his own tradition, Chris McCandless would allow very little assistance from Franz or anyone because his autocratic demeanor would not allow it.