How Important Is Healing Childhood Wounds (Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Analysis)

Childhood wounds have lasting impressions on those who haven’t been able to overcome and heal from them. Childhood wounds can affect everyday life by the way people speak, act, or carry themselves. If a person has never healed from their childhood trauma, they often appear more introverted, quiet, and negative. The leading cause of childhood wounds is due to people growing up without a stable environment to form their character. This behavior has impacted thousands of people, including a man named Chris McCandless. In the novel Into the Wild, the author Jon Krakauer was able to share Chris McCandless’ struggles from childhood trauma and went into depth about how it forever impacted Chris’ life until his death. It is important to heal childhood wounds because it helps heal the mind and body, helps others connect, and helps to create positive behaviors.

To begin with, it is important to heal childhood wounds because it helps heal the mind and body. Childhood wounds have a lasting impact on any individual. If there is time spent on trying to heal those wounds, the mind and body will be able to heal and move on to have a fulfilling life. The mind won’t be stuck in the past and can grow exceptionally. The body will be able to settle and continue natural growth without stress holding the body back from progressing. According to the article, 9 Steps to Healing Childhood Trauma as an Adult written by Andrea Brandt, it states, “Trauma generates emotions, and unless we process these emotions at the time the trauma occurs, they become stuck in our mind and body. Instead of healing from the wounding event, the trauma stays in our body as energy in our unconscious, affecting our life until we uncover it and process it out” (Brandt 1). A case in point, if trauma wasn’t processed at the time the situation happened, the mind and body will become infatuated and cling onto the event. This trauma can consume an individual's everyday life and put their mental, emotional, and physical health in harm's way. Childhood wounds need to be healed, so these situations can stop absorbing a person’s mind and they can move on from the traumatic event. Referring to the novel Into the Wild written by Jon Krakauer, it states, “After Chris unearthed the particulars of Walt’s divorce, two years passed before his anger began to leak to the surface, but leak it eventually did. The boy could not pardon the mistakes his father had made as a young man, and he was even less willing to pardon the attempt at concealment. He later declared to Carine and others that the deception committed by Walt and Billie made his “entire childhood seem like fiction” (Krakauer 85). The affair that Chris McCandless’ parents had haunted his childhood and he felt betrayed. This new information that Chris discovered had absorbed his entire life and he couldn’t move past this betrayal. This wound was fresh, and Chris had fallen victim to childhood wounds affecting his everyday life and was forever scarred and could never fully recover. This is an example emphasizing why it is important for actions to be taken to heal from childhood wounds. 

In addition, it is important to heal childhood wounds because it will help others to connect to each other. Connecting to others to form meaningful relationships is essential in life. According to the article 5 Signs That Your Childhood Pain is Affecting You Today written by Kathy Caprino, it states, “They lack the ability to connect with others with compassion, understanding or emotional balance. These folks are highly reactive and defensive, seeing everything as a slight or a slap down. They ruminate on the negative, and their discussions escalate quickly to confrontation and conflict. As a result, they feel alone, misunderstood and resentful of others who seem to have “more” than they do” (Caprino 10). This explains how individuals affected by childhood trauma can act if their wounds haven’t healed. They can become exceedingly negative and defensive as that was what they experienced as children and never healed from the trauma. If individuals have properly healed from childhood wounds, they will be able to create connections with others, form essential relationships, and become content and healthy. According to the novel Into the Wild, Chris McCandless states, “Since they won’t ever take me seriously, for a few months after graduation I’m going to let them think they are right, I’m going to let them think that I’m “coming around to see their side of things'' and that our relationship is stabilizing. And then, once the time is right, with one abrupt, swift action I'm going to completely knock them out of my life. I'm going to divorce them as my parents once and for all and never speak to either of those idiots again as long as I live. I'll be through with them once and for all, forever” (Krakauer 46). As an example, a result of not being able to heal from his childhood wounds, Chris wasn’t able to form a relationship with his parents after their “betrayal”. Chris had put on a facade when he couldn’t communicate his issues with his parents, and secretly hated them. Chris didn’t know any better as he was not aware of the trauma he was experiencing and how to properly heal from it.

Moreover, it is important to heal childhood wounds because it will help to create positive behaviors. If childhood wounds are healed, connections between others can be strengthened. Once the person is emotionally available, they will have a more optimistic perception of life and become full of positive energy. Expressed in the article titled 9 Steps to Healing Childhood Trauma as an Adult, it states, “The process of healing emotional wounds can feel uncomfortable at first, but I promise it will be a very rewarding journey. The energy we currently spend on trauma will be released, and the space inside ourselves that trauma took up can instead be filled with new, more positive energy that can help us build a life that we will love” (Brandt 19). If childhood trauma is released and healed, there is open space to create brand new euphoric memories. This can change an individual's entire outlook on life. If they are surrounded by positive energies, they will elicit positive behaviors as a response. Referring to the novel, Into the Wild, it stated, “On the other side of the page, which was blank, McCandless penned a brief adios: I have had a happy life and thank the Lord, Goodbye and may god bless all” (Krakauer 136). Although Chris McCandless wasn’t able to entirely heal from his childhood wounds, when he moved to the wilderness, Chris had become delighted and content with his life. He surrounded himself with what he adored most in life, nature, and explored all the new possibilities that his life had come to offer. Chris had been able to grow and heal from some of his wounds, and it was evident how much he grew from the ability to move on from his traumatic past.

In conclusion, childhood wounds can have persistent impacts on a person if they aren’t able to heal from their deep-rooted wounds. Chris McCandless’ story was told to inspire those who have experienced those same traumas and show what it’s like to be trapped in the past and how to grow to fulfill one's life goals. Moreover, it is important to heal childhood wounds because it helps heal the mind and body, helps others connect, and helps to create positive behaviors. Encouraging the healing of childhood wounds will create a lasting impact on people’s everyday perceptions of life.