Chris suggests the happines is ony genuine when shared with others. How does this revelation connect to the overall universall theme (identify the theme) of the narrative?

There is the tragic irony of the whole thing. One of the theme's being that getting back with the land and living "deliberately" for each moment , free from the constraints of materialistic society can be liberating. Doing this alone,however, for months on end is stupid. Chris might have emulated guys like Henry David Thoreau but Thoreau had constant visitors. Thoreau was also a bit of a crackpot . Chris discovered what most of us know already, we need each other.