That was the plot in the movie (probably to add drama and pathos) but in fact the real Chris McCandless did not eat anything poisonous. He had more wilderness experience than is evident from the film, too. However, he seriously miscalculated how difficult it is (and was then) to survive by killing game in that part of Alaska. As one of the trappers interviewed in the "Call of the Wild" documentary about McCandless said, "This is hungry country -- there ain't much to eat out there."
What he did manage to kill and eat was mostly lean protein (birds, squirrels, etc.), which are low in fat and carbohydrates -- the "Atkins diet." This speeds up weight loss even more than restricting calories -- and McCandless also didn't have enough calories.
He did not originally plan to spend a long time in the bush -- he was planning to be back in South Dakota before the end of August. When his plan to cross the river where he originally came in was thwarted, we don't know why he didn't take one of the other routes open to him, which he knew about from his earlier explorations and from the map he had with him (yes, he did have a map).
His note on the outside of the bus said that he was injured -- how? Why didn't he trek out before it was too late? He did want to live, that was clear, although towards the end he became reconciled to his fate.
McCandless had done a lot of wilderness camping and solo adventuring from childhood onwards, but always in less severe conditions than what he found in Alaska. Ironically, it may have been the bus that did him in -- had he been forced to depend on his makeshift tent and sleeping bag, he would have headed back to Healy well before he became too weak to walk around. As it was, the comfort of the bus lulled him into a false sense of security.
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Samus Aran
10 years ago
Atkins is low-carb, high-fat, moderate protein.
His diet in Alaska was almost-no-carb, almost-no-fat, low-to-moderate protein.
You can survive easily on high-fat diets, but he didn't have that.
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