"I'm going to have to be real careful not to accept any gifts from them in the future because they will think they have bought my respect." (Krakauer 21).
Topic: The Dynamics of Family.
Chris McCandless writes here, in a letter to his younger sister, about his distaste towards his parents offering to pay for his tuition to go to law school. Chris feels like he should never accept gifts from his family, but why is this? He claims it is so they will not believe they have finally bought his respect. When a family member offers to support you, are they only attempting to buy your respect, just as Chris believes? In order to answer this you have to look at Chris' relationship with his family. Though not expressed in the book, it is known that his family was under the abusive control of his father. His whole life Chris was taught family cannot be trusted due to his father's relentless torment of Chris, his sister, and his mother. When his home life is taken into consideration, it is understandable that he would believe that accepting a gift from his father would show him he respects him. Chris is determined to spend the rest of his life not showing a shred of respect to his father, just as his father never respected him. This is not the ideal way to treat family, but I believe that Chris is doing the right thing by disrespecting his father. Monsters do not deserve respect, even when they are family.
