What role, if any, did ...

General discussions relating to the story.
Anewanddifferentsun
Posts: 64
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:57 am

What role, if any, did ...

Postby Anewanddifferentsun » Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:31 pm

Chris's consumption of wild mushrooms have in his death? From his terse journal, we know that toward the end of July, he wrote, "many mushrooms. Dream." At least one of his photographs shows several mushrooms next to a plastic zip-lock bag of seeds and a dead squirrel. The mention of "dream" alone suggests a possible hallucinogenic effect.
A significant amount of the medical literature on mushroom poisoning indicates it is extremely difficult to differentiate the poisonous from the non-poisonous wild mushrooms. In his already weakened condition brought on by a combination of physical exertion and caloric deficits over nearly three months in the wild, poisonous mushrooms might have hastened his death. Jon Krakauer chose instead to focus on the supposed toxicity of the potato seeds (there was no such thing) and, later, the toxins from possible mold on the seeds that stemmed from wet conditions. Chris' journal indicates he recovered enough from whatever knocked him down to get back out and hunt, but symptoms from the consumption of poisonous mushrooms often return after it appears a victim has recovered.
Of course, none of this changes the outcome, and this focus on his death ignores the fact that he lived much in those two years after disappearing (keep in mind that Chris's definition of "living" differed substantially from others').
Here are a couple sites to consider...
http://www.epi.hss.state.ak.us/bulletins/docs/b1998_17.htm
http://namyco.org/toxicology/poison_syndromes.html

JuliaMsk
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2013 9:34 pm

Re: What role, if any, did ...

Postby JuliaMsk » Mon Mar 25, 2013 8:55 pm

Hi, I live in Russia, and in the summer I often go mushroom "hunting".There are some poisonous mushrooms that look like the edible ones, but one way to find out is to lick under the cap, if it tastes bitter - its poisonous. I know mushrooms pretty well, so I don't usually need to do that, but once I was uncertain and tried this "folk" method and believe me, when I say bitter I mean REALLY bitter! so if he was taking them raw he would've noticed that they're wrong. By the way, some poisonous mushrooms once cooked properly can be consumed. Was Chris cooking them or eating them raw?

pezar
Posts: 153
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 3:41 pm

Re: What role, if any, did ...

Postby pezar » Sat Mar 30, 2013 8:27 pm

Mushroom poisoning is a common problem here in California. Recently, a nurse at an old age home made mushroom soup from wild shrooms, and four old ladies died. Mushrooms destroy the liver, and it takes a few weeks for some varieties to completely destroy the liver and cause death. Death by liver toxicity is slow and painful, look at kids who kill themselves by taking pills, they get nauseous, feel fine for a while, then discover they're gonna die. California experts say that it is russian roulette for laypeople to eat wild mushrooms, and Chris really didn't know what he was doing. I missed the part about mushrooms, I admit I haven't read Chris's Alaska notes thoroughly. The part in the movie where at the end Chris dreams he returned to his parents, that was Sean Penn's interpretation of the "Dream" reference. I've had hallucinogenic dreams before (green tea pill overdose, by accident) and they aren't logical in any way.


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