Wanted

I wonder what it'd be like to fall off the map.

One of my favorite books that I've ever read is Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild. This biography follows the true story of Christopher McCandless, a young man in the mid 90's who decided after graduating with honors from college to abandon his life, donate his entire savings to charity, rid of his possessions, and embark on a journey to travel the world. Krakauer interviews those who knew him, the witnesses to his journey, and documents the adventure taken by McCandless over the span of a couple years. McCandless wrote about each day in his journal, illustrating his trials and tribulations throughout his time. Ultimately, McCandless decides to travel into the mysterious Alaskan tundra, only to die of starvation, his journey over. McCandless' last journal entry reads as follows:

"I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!"

Accepting his fate.

McCandless has intrigued me to the point of such unrelenting passion in his motive and his drive to carry out what he had done. To leave behind everything you have and start life anew to where no one could know of your existence. Truly alone. A feat of psychological discovery. What could be done in that time? Establishing a connection with your conscience? Longing for the times of old and worry for those who loom behind you? One could only imagine. Obviously there would be those who would miss you and wonder of your journey. It's this group that would ever prevent most of us from going under the radar: the care and the love of others.

But what if there wasn't any?

Could it be possible to leave the face of the Earth unscathed of any second thought? Clearly not. Out of all of the people you have ever encountered upon your disappearance, there is far too great a chance that there would be someone to miss you. Someone to carry your memory. But there is no way to truly know who will miss you until the circumstances arise. As far as we know, there is not anyone who would miss you. Perhaps there might even be some people who are glad you have gone. Who is to say?

It arises an interesting point.

A point that concerns motive of wanting to disappear in the first place. It's a possibility that one might want to disappear to see who would miss them. Who would want them back. Christopher McCandless' purpose for embarking on his journey has never been confirmed, but many strong theories have been made. Many blamed his unbelievable sense of wonder to be the hubris that ultimately led to his downfall. But could he have ever imagined what sort of undertaking people would soon then follow after his death? So many audiences have been captivated by the mystery of his story, a paradigm that could not have been even conceived before McCandless' death. Suddenly everyone was concerned for his motive and wanted a reason for what he did. Wanted by others.

Maybe that's all I want.