Oklahoma Teenager Inspired by 'Into the Wild' Missing in Oregon Wilderness

[Dropbear]

The flaw needs to be partly noble or related to nobility in some way though, stupidity doesn't count.

Dropbear

[Chloe]

Yes, traditionally it is a characteristic that might otherwise be positive. So not stupidity (though some tragic heroes seem stupid. *cough* Oedipus). If someone was arguing for McCandless as tragic hero, they'd have to argue for idealism, or independence.

[firefighter_raven]

Originally Posted by JoeBentley

He's been found dead.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/us/int...html?hpt=hp_t2

This is a different teen then the one from Oklahoma that started this thread. This kid went missing within the last week or so.They are investigating it as a suicide.
http://www.ktvz.com/news/Sheriff-Mis...k/-/index.html

Dustin Self is still missing.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Originally Posted by JoeBentley

He's been found dead.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/us/int...html?hpt=hp_t2

That's less than five miles from where I grew up.

And like firefighter_raven said, it's a different person from the one that was in the OP- this kid was just reported missing last week and there was a big hunt for him. I agree with the possible suicide angle, since according to the report in the paper last night his car was in good condition and, despite what it may look like to people who are from big cities, he wasn't anywhere close to the wilderness, he was in someone's back yard. Unless he'd decided to try his wilderness survival skills by eating a rough-skinned newt it seems unlikely that he could have gotten himself into trouble accidentally without being within shouting distance of help.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Originally Posted by Cervus

Or maybe he was secretly suicidal or otherwise mentally ill.

It appears the young man found in Oregon (also inspired by Into the Wild) was known to be suicidal.

Seaboe

[Cyrano]

Originally Posted by JoeBentley

He's been found dead.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/us/int...html?hpt=hp_t2

Sad, but not surprising.

What's beyond me is why people take McCandless as a role model.

But apparently, "Into the Wild" is not the sole source of inspiration for people who like to put themselves in danger (see the "127 Hours" part of this Cracked article, which also tells about fans of Into the Wild completetly missing the point of the story - and sometimes dying for this).

http://www.cracked.com/article_20543...s-stories.html

[BoKu]

Originally Posted by Cyrano

...What's beyond me is why people take McCandless as a role model...

It's been a while since I read ITW, but I seem to recall that McCandless had no few redeeming qualities. Not everything he did is worthy of emulation or adoration, but neither is everything he did deserving of scorn.

[wanderwoman]

Originally Posted by Seaboe Muffinchucker

It appears the young man found in Oregon (also inspired by Into the Wild) was known to be suicidal.

Seaboe

I'm not sure how Into the Wild is even relevant to this young man's suicide. That seems to be speculation offered by a heart-broken father. He was not even found in the wilderness.

ETA: Just using your post as a jumping-off point, SM. I am not sure why the press feels the need to play up this angle when it doesn't seem relevant.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Wanderwoman, please call me Seaboe. SM sounds rather bondage-like. Thanks.

Seaboe

[firefighter_raven]

Originally Posted by Seaboe Muffinchucker

Wanderwoman, please call me Seaboe. SM sounds rather bondage-like. Thanks.

Seaboe

Ahh but Muffinchucker is the best part of the name. It gives such an awesome visual.

[smittykins]

Originally Posted by firefighter_raven

Ahh but Muffinchucker is the best part of the name. It gives such an awesome visual.

"How many Muffins could a Muffinchucker chuck if a Muffinchucker could chuck Muffins?"

(Not that you probably haven't heard that about 8 million times or anything...)

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

But SM is not Muffinchucker.

Yes, I've heard that a lot, smittykins. I confess I picked the name for the visuals. On one board I used to put a different muffin every week in my signature (carrot-raisin, for example).

Seaboe

[GenYus234]

What's so special about the Muffinchuckers?
Well obviously, its not to be taken literally. It refers to any hurler of baked products.

[Cyrano]

Originally Posted by BoKu

It's been a while since I read ITW, but I seem to recall that McCandless had no few redeeming qualities. Not everything he did is worthy of emulation or adoration, but neither is everything he did deserving of scorn.

Not what I meant, BoKu. You can be a nice, decent and idealistic person, but die in a both sad and silly way because you go "into the Wild" badly prepared and/or living in the delusion Nature's kind and will give you what you need. What I meant with my remark didn't apply to the idea of leaving society or the wish to go back to nature, but to doing it that way and meeting a miserable end.

But apparently, the young man in the OP wasn't doing this. Sad story, really.

[Steve]

The debate over why McCandless perished, and the related question of whether he is worthy of admiration, has been smoldering, and occasionally flaring, for more than two decades now. But last December, a writer named Ronald Hamilton posted a paper on the Internet that brings fascinating new facts to the discussion. Hamilton, it turns out, has discovered hitherto unknown evidence that appears to close the book on the cause of McCandless’s death.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blog...edium=facebook

Krakauer's latest on McCandless's death.

[crocoduck_hunter]

He just doesn't give up.

[firefighter_raven]

http://www.ktvz.com/news/steens-mtn-...-teen/29328544

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Remains found by a hunter this month in sparsely populated southeast Oregon appear to be those of an Oklahoma teenager who went missing last year after telling his parents he wanted to test himself against the wilderness, like in the movie "Into The Wild."


Harney County Sheriff David Glerup said Friday that personal identification found with the remains indicated it was 19-year-old Dustin Self of Piedmont, Oklahoma.

The remains were discovered Oct. 7 on the north end of remote Steens Mountain. They have been sent to a medical examiner for further identification.

Self was reported missing in the Steens Mountain area in spring 2013, launching extensive searches. His pickup truck was discovered about 7 miles from where the remains were discovered.