I would argue that Chris McCandless probably thought that
he had found his spiritual reality when he arrived in Alaska, but then eventually
realized that he did not. Here are several examples to support this
opinion.
1. After years of planning for and traveling
toward his ultimate goal of entering the wilderness and living off the land, Chris
finally arrived in Alaska and struck out on his own. During his first several weeks in
the area around the bus, Chris seems to have been doing quite well, well enough to
believe that he had reached his goal (he made plans to return to "civilization" when the
weather made it possible).
2. If Chris had survived,
however, I think that he would have had to admit that by using the bus as his habitat,
he was cheating a little because he used a completely artificial intrusion to shelter
himself--a "house" that rusted, decayed, and was an eyesore to Alaska's
wilderness.
3. The most striking evidence to demonstrate
that Chris most likely did not feel completely spiritually fulfilled appears in his note
that he left asking for help and the fact that he signed his real name to what we
believe is his last written note (instead of signing Alexander Supertramp). His
signature suggests that he had entered back into the world of
reality.
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