Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand why McCandless was idolized (I do know there was backlash from actual knowledgeable people, like park rangers). He purposefully put himself in harm's way and didn't have any relevant skills that would have helped him survive. So what's admirable or romantic about the way he died?
Well he most likely died due to poisoning himself with a misidentified plant that was only ever documented as dangerous in an ancient encyclopedia over 100 years old. Nothing romantic about it, but nothing screaming "no relevant skills", either. Don't think this is the part people romanticize, I think it's the whole "I think careers are a 20th century invention and I don't think I want one" and the "Instead, I will w…
He could have poisoned himself with something else, or been attacked by a wild animal, or treaded on some treacherous ground and broken a leg, all of this outside the reach of human help, and he did this on purpose.
> "Instead, I will walk into the wild"
But this is what I don't get. "I will commit suicide by walking into the wild without resources or knowledge", what's admirable about that? He was basically playing Russian Roulette! I mean, I get that suicide itself is the stuff of romantic ideation, maybe that's the thing?