Is his obsession with pursuing what he believes to be a ‘higher ideal’ selfish? Is he a hypocrite?

I think Chris's higher ideals came at the expense of those who loved him. In that sense, Chris was pretty selfish. He lets his parents think that he is interested in law school, but instead, after graduating with honors, he donates his $25,000 savings anonymously to charity, gets in his car, and drives away without telling anyone where he is going, abandoning the use of his real name along the way. He never contacts his parents or sister, Carine, again. No Chris was not justified in treating his family the way he did. Despite the romanticism to his cause (whatever it was) he also caused his family great pain and suffering. A post card here and there to his sister only confounded their pain and sense of loss. Chris, in many ways was selfish.