For one, I think that Gallien telling Krakauer this could be a little bit in
hindsight. I doubt he actually gave it much thought at the time.
However, since we must believe that he gave it some thought, as we have no reason to doubt Gallien's honesty, I believe that Gallien didn't report Chris mainly for the reason he gives. He says, "I thought he'd probably get hungry pretty quick and just walk out to the highway. That's what any normal person would do". We all have had times where we thought we should do one thing, and then tell ourselves everything is going to be all right and not to worry. Gallien had a long drive down to Anchorage and probably just wanted to be on his way.
Another reason was probably Chris's drive. Chris brushed off every warning that Gallien offered. Every time that he attempted to to get Chris to rethink, McCandless simply brushed him off, having already made up his mind. I think this is another big reason. Chris was so set on going into the wild and so "excited", as Gallien describes it, that he just gave off the feeling that nothing will stop him from at least trying. I believe Gallien simply dropped the notion that he would have been helping anything by reporting Chris. Like he said, any normal person would figure out its too rough and just walk out.
yeah for sure, Gallien just let him be because McCandless had a plan and was determined to go into the wild. it was better to not report him and let me him be. its just sad that he didnt follow his gut and contact the authorities
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense when you say that Gallien's response to Krakauer is in hindsight. I didn't even think about that, but the fact that Gallien had to time to think about what he had done and what he felt he should have really done. It's too bad he never took the time when it counted.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that Gallien thought he would just come back out of the wild once he got hungry. Do you think Gallien regretted at all not informing the police of McCandless?
ReplyDeleteI think he may have felt some regret, simply because McCandless's life and death became so public. Though I think his regret was short lived as he was not one of the people greatly affected by his encounter with Chris and, being a native of the state, he was probably pretty tired of all the people coming in to Alaska to try and live in the wild only to find out its too much.
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