money can't buy happiness

"At long last he was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his parents and peers, a world of abstraction and security and material excess, a world in which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence" (Krakauer 22)

Topic: The Dynamics of Family

            Here, it can be inferred that money and material items cannot create happiness nor contentment, in an individual's life. Chris McCandless grew up in a very sheltered environment along with his eight siblings. His parents provided him with everything he could possibly need in terms of what money could buy. Yet McCandless was unhappy and unsatisfied with his life, so much so he decided to completely abandon his past life. Although he was showered with material possessions and a prestigious education, the lack of things that cannot be purchased such as love and attention from his parents, left him with a sort of emptiness. Here it is also clear that the absence of love and attention McCandless suffered from growing up, resulted in bad decisions and ultimately his death. This also affected his relationships with his peers, which can be inferred from the quote, and people he met on his journey. McCandless developed the habit of cutting off relationships, just like he felt cut off from "the raw throb of existence". Here it is evident that although money can buy many things, it cannot buy happiness.