Characterization Notes on Chris McCandless

Direct and Indirect Characterization Notes on Christopher McCandless

(Alex Supertramp)

Chapter and page #	Description/quote from novel	What impression you get about Chris with this character trait or description?
Chapter 1, page 4	“Five feet seven or eight with a wiry build, he claimed to be 24 years old and said he was from South Dakota.  He explained that he wanted a ride as far as the edge of Denali National Park, where he intended to walk deep into the bush and ‘live off the land for a few month.’”	Chris is not physically fit for walking into such a dangerous environment.  He seems a little crazy.
Chapter 1, pg. 5	“Still, Galien was concerned. Alex admitted that the only food in his pack was a ten-pound bag of rice. His gear seemed exceedingly minimal for the harsh conditions of the interior, which in April still lay buried under the winter snowpack.”	Chris was obviously not prepared for his journey into Alaska and seemed to not even care. His materials were not adequate enough and with those supplies, he probably would not survive in Alaska alone.
Chapter 2, pg. 12	“S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here. I am all alone, this is no joke.”	Chris was not able to survive in Alaska on his own and it shows he was not prepared for this epic journey.
Chapter 2, pg. 14	“At the time of the autopsy, McCandless’s remains weighed sixty-seven pounds.”	Chris was not skilled enough to find enough food to survive and this resulted in starvation.
Chapter 3, pg.16	“McCandless was smallish with the hard, stringy physique of an itinerant.”	Chris had the body of a very hard worker and means he was physically fit to work jobs that required manual labor.
Chapter 3, pg. 18	“If McCandless felt estranged from his parents and siblings, he found a surrogate family in Westerberg and his employees, most of whom lived in Westerberg’s Carthage home.”	Chris had a lot of trust in Wayne and his employees and he could depend on them for anything. Chris found someone he could go to for help and support.
Chapter 3, pg. 20	“What Walt, Billie, and Carine didn’t know when they flew down to Atlanta to attend Chris’s commencement- what nobody knew- was that he would shortly donate all the money in his college fund to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger.”	This act would show that Chris is kind of strange and unusual because not many people would do that. This would show that Chris wanted to do something else in his life and start a newl ife for himself.
Chapter 4, pg. 29	“Instead of feeling distraught over this turn of events, moreover, McCandless was exhilarated: He saw the flash flood as an opportunity to shed unnecessary baggage.”	Chris is very smart and knows what to do in certain situations. He also finds the best in situations that are even life-threatening.
Chapter 4, pg. 32	“While he was in town, he noticed a secondhand aluminum canoe for sale and on an impulse decided to buy it and paddle it down the Colorado River to the Gulf of California, nearly four hundred miles to the south, across the border with Mexico.”	Chris was very adventurous and wanted to live his new life exploring the world. Chris was daring and just wanted to live his life to the fullest.
Chapter 5, pg. 40	“I don’t think he ever hung out with any of the employees after work or anything.”	Chris was not very social and this shows that he was pretty shy. He wants to keep his life a secret so no one finds out who he really is.
Chapter 5, pg. 42	“But like I was saying, Alaska- yeah, he talked about going to Alaska. Maybe to find whatever it was he was looking for.”	Chris had a love for Alaska and enjoyed everything about it. At this point, he was definitely planning to go to Alaska and live there for a while.
Chapter 5, pgs. 45-46	“The Sunday before McCandless left Niland, he was watching an NFL playoff game on the television in Burres’s trailer when she noticed he was rooting especially hard for the Washington Redskins.”	From this event, you know that Chris is from Washington, D.C., since he is rooting for the Redskins. This is the only real background information he gives to Jan Burres.
Chapter 6, pg. 51	“Over the next few weeks McCandless and Franz spent a lot of time together.”	Chris has a positive relationship with Ron Franz and likes to socialize with him. Chris meets someone who he is fond of and really understands him.
Chapter 6, pg. 55	“McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well- relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it.”	Chris has a passion for Alaska and has always wanted to go there since he started traveling. Chris did not like to be around people for long periods of time and he just liked to be by himself.
Chapter 7, pg. 63	“He was a big eater. Never left any food on his plate. Never.”	During his journey, Chris is always trying to survive on anything he can eat. He adapted a lifestyle of never wasting food and if he wanted to survive in Alaska alone, there was absolutely no wasting food.
Chapter 7, pg. 64	“He brooded at length over what he perceived to be his father’s moral shortcomings, the hypocrisy of his parents’ lifestyle, the tyranny of their conditional love. Eventually, Chris rebelled- and when he finally did, it was with characteristic immoderation.”	Chris was getting angry at his father during his teenage life and was tired of experiencing the bad relationship between his parents. This was one of the reasons why he left home to go to the West and begin his journey without telling his parents. He just did not care about his parents anymore.
Chapter 8, pg. 72	“The prevailing Alaska wisdom held that McCandless was simply one more dreamy half-cocked greenhorn who went into the country expecting to find answers to all his problems and instead found only mosquitos and a lonely death.”	Chris was a very strange guy who thought going into the wild would help him get away from his problems. He lacked common sense since he was not prepared for Alaska and that ended up costing him his own life.
Chapter 8, pg. 85	“Like Rosellini and Waterman, McCandless was a seeker and had an impractical fascination with the harsh side of nature.”	Chris was the kind of person who wanted to explore the United States and wanted to find nature at its finest in the West. Chris was a daring person who wanted to experience how harsh nature was, especially in Alaska.
Chapter 9, pg. 93	“And like McCandless, upon embarking on his terminal odyssey, Reuss adopted a new name, or rather, a series of new names.”	Chris was very smart in the way that he created a new name for himself. He created Alex Supertramp, and this shows that Chris wanted to be alone so no one, especially his parents, could bother him again.
Chapter 9, pg. 96	“Kind of different. But him and McCandless, at least they tried to follow their dream. That’s what was great about them. They tried. Not many do.”	Chris was one of the few people who would actually try living in the wild for such a long time. This made Chris very strange in the way that he does thing that people would never do.
Chapter 10, pg. 100	“He’s talking about some kid who starved to death up in Alaska. The police don’t know who he is. Sounds a whole lot like Alex.”	This suggests that Chris obviously was not prepared for the harsh conditions in Alaska and ended up dying there. Chris was not smart to be so unprepared for his stay in Alaska and should have known better.
Chapter 10, pg. 101	“It didn’t occur to me that the hiker might be Chris. Never crossed my mind.”	Chris never told anyone he knew what he was going to do after college so no one thought he died in Alaska.
Chapter 11, pg. 107	“He didn’t seem to need toys or friends. He could be alone without being lonely.”	Chris did not mind being by himself and actually could entertain himself without anyone around him. This characteristic helped Chris on his journey because he had to be by himself for long periods of time but he handled it well.
Chapter 11, pg. 109	“And Chris adored his grandfather. The old man’s backwoods savvy, his affinity for the wilderness, left a deep impression on the boy.”	Chris had a very strong relationship with his grandfather because he shared a passion for the outdoors with Chris. This is probably why Chris developed a love for nature.
Chapter 12, pg. 119	“To Walt’s dismay Chris bristled at this small dollop of fatherly advice. The only effect it seemed to have was to make him even less inclined to share his plans.”	Chris did not like to listen to what his parents had to say. He pretty much ignored them because he wanted to do things his way without his parents interrupting him.
Chapter 12, pg. 123	“Indeed, he delighted in ridiculing the policies of the Democratic Party and was a vocal admirer of Ronald Reagan.”	We now understand Chris’s political views and how he is a follower of the Republican Party. He would follow this party as long as they helped America with the issues at the time.
Chapter 12, pg. 125	“Whenever we were out driving and saw a hitchhiker,” she says, “if he looked anything like Chris, we’d turn around and circle back. It was a terrible time.”	Chris’s absence had a major effect on how his parents acted. His parents were not the same after Chris left but Chris did not care because he was glad to get away from his parents.
Chapter 13, pg. 128	“My parents can’t help wondering- and I admit that I can’t either- how things might have turned out different if Chris had taken Buck with him.”	There is a chance that if Chris had taken his dog Buckley with him on his journey, he might have never went to Alaska and starved to death. Chris was responsible for his dog and he would have never put him in danger.
Chapter 13, pg. 129	“In a letter delineating his quarrels with Walt and Billie, Chris once wrote to her, “Anyway, I like to talk to you about this because you are the only person in the world who could possibly understand what I’m saying.”	Chris had a hard time living with his parents, but it helped him become close to Carine. He had a strong relationship with her and felt she was the only person who cared about him.
Chapter 14, pg. 134	“My suspicion that McCandless’s death was unplanned, that it was a terrible accident, come from reading those few documents he left behind and from listening to the men and women who spent time with him over the final year of his life.”	Chris did not intentionally try to kill himself because he was not that dumb. Chris’s death was an accident because people know what happened to him.
Chapter 14, pg. 134	Like McCandless, figures of male authority aroused in me a confusing medley of corked fury and hunger to please.	Chris was pressured by his dad to do well in his life and Chris became so confused. He left home just to get away from all the chaos occurring at home.
Chapter 15, pg. 155	“As a young man, I was unlike McCandless in many important regards; most notably, I possessed neither his intellect nor his lofty ideals.”	Chris was very smart and had knowledge of what was happening around the world. Chris also had crazy ideas about what he wanted to do and always had good ideas.
Chapter 15, pg. 156	“In my case-and, I believe, in the case of Chris McCandless-that was a very different thing form wanting to die.”	Chris did not want to die when he went to Alaska but rather for the excitement. Chris did not understand what death was and how it felt so he did not go to Alaska to die.
Chapter 16, pg. 158	“Alex was clean-shaven and had short hair, and I could tell by the language he used that he was a sharp fella.	This description from Gaylord Stuckey describes some of the physical characteristics of Chris. This description really describes Chris before he went on his journey: very smart and had good hygiene.
Chapter 16, pg.	“Said he didn’t want to see a single person, no airplanes, no sign of civilization.”	This is just the way Chris likes to live his life. He does not like to be near or around people for too long and he wanted to prove himself he could survive on his own.
Chapter 17, pg. 173	Unlike McCandless, however, I have in my backpack a 1:63, 360 scale topographic map (that is, a map on which one inch represents one mile.)”	The map that Krakauer had when he went into the bush would have been very helpful to Chris during his stay in Alaska. If he could have had a map, he could have found an alternate route through the Teklanika River and maybe would not have starved to death.
Chapter 17, pg. 178	“The boy made some mistakes on the Stampede Trail, but confusing a caribou with a moose wasn’t among them.”	Chris did a lot of things wrong on his stay in the Stampede Trail that ultimately cost his own life. Even though the Alaskans think Chris mistook a caribou for a moose, Chris was smart enough to know he killed a moose, not a caribou.
Chapter 18, pg. 191	“On July 14, he began consuming the pealike seedpods of the plant as well, probably because the roots were becoming too tough to eat.	By this time, Chris was beginning to become desperate for any kind of food he could find. He had to eat the seeds for food and did not even know or care if they were toxic or not.
Chapter 18, pg. 195	“Laid low by the moldy seeds, McCandless discovered that he was suddenly far too weak to kike out and save himself.”	The effects of the moldy potato seeds were really getting to him by this point. Chris lost all of his energy and the end of his life was near.
Epilogue, pg. 202	“After a long beat she declares, to herself more to anyone else, “He must have been very brave and very strong, at the end, not to do himself in.””	Chris did not want to face death and he did everything he could to survive. Chris was very brave in Alaska and was trying to fight his illness.
Epilogue, pg. 203	“There is much about Chris that still baffles him and always will, but now he is a little less baffled. And for that small solace he is grateful.”	During his life, Chris did certain things that really confused his parents and made them think, “What was Chris thinking?” But now after seeing the place where Chris died, his parents now understand him a little more.

Source- http://www.thequietman.org/?p=186

At the conclusion of this novel, I think Chris was a reckless idiot and not very smart for what he did because all he did was travel around the West and hitchhike, which does not accomplish anything. It was mostly his fault that he died because he was obviously unprepared for the Alaska wilderness and he got himself into such a terrible situation. Chris did not deserve all of the media attention for what he did and he set out on his journey to find answers to all of his problems, but all he found was death.

Into the Wild Questions Halfway

Chapter One: “The Alaska Interior”

1.      The personal history of Chris McCandless is that he graduated from Emory University in 1990, but then he left out of sight until no one heard of him again. He threw away all of the possessions that mattered to him and he gave all the money he had to charity. He then set off for an unexpected journey wandering North America for some reason. Even though he excelled academically and athletically growing up, he somehow wanted to create a new life for himself. He did not even tell his family about his journey and they did not know at all, and he eventually died in the Alaskan wilderness. (pg. 1 of Author’s Note)

2.      The themes Krakauer introduces are “the grip wilderness has on the American imagination, the allure high-risk activities hold for young men of a certain mind, and the complicated, highly charged bond that exists between fathers and sons”(Krakauer, pg.2 of Author’s Notes).

3.      The purpose of the quoted material is that Chris has a lot of respect for Wayne Westerberg and must be good friends and Chris is telling him that it will be hard to survive in Alaska and he might not make it and die. (pg. 3)

4.      Alex is really a name for Chris McCandless and Chris uses this name so no one knows that Chris is actually venturing to Alaska by himself. Alex is introduced when he is picked up by Jim Gallien since he was a hitchhiker and he really does not say much while in the truck. (pg. 4)

5.      Jim Gallien is a union electrician who picks up Alex on the side of the road near Fairbanks, Alaska and asks him about his journey so far. He is also a skilled hunter and outdoorsmen who can survive in the wild by himself. He meets Chris McCandless by picking him up in his truck because Chris was a hitchhiker and Jim wanted to help him. (pgs. 3-4)

6.      Gallien’s assessment of McCandless was that Chris could never survive in the wilderness of Alaska near Denali National Park and he did not have enough supplies to live off the land for the time he intended to. Gallien knew his rifle was too small to hunt large animals and he did not have any navigation except for a road map. Gallien was concerned for Chris because he knew he would not last long and he tried to help him as best as he could. (pgs. 4-5)

7.      The advice that Gallien gives to McCandless is that he could go days without killing anything so he should be prepared to have a different source for food and hunting was not as easy as Chris thought it was. He also says that Chris should watch out for bears because there are so many of them out in Alaska and he has to know what to do when condition become worse. Gallien also offered to drive Chris to Anchorage to buy him new gear and then drive him back to wherever he wanted. (pgs. 5-6)

8.      When Gallien offered to but Alex decent gear and help him out a bit, McCandless responds by saying that he would be fine with all the supplies he has. There were some gifts that Gallien gave to Chris to help him on his journey, including a pair of rubber work boots and a piece of paper with his phone number on it so Chris could call him. (pgs. 6-7)

9.      Gallien decided not to alert the authorities about McCandless because he thought Chris would be OK by himself and he thought he would use his brain if worse came to worse. He also thinks that Chris would walk out onto the highway if he got hungry since that is what a smart person would do. (pg. 7)

10.  This statement is ironic because at this point in the story, most people would think that Chris would go try to survive in the wild by himself but when they hear this, they think he might do something else. Now, another ending might happen because Chris might abandon his journey and go get help even though we are expecting he will go live in the wild for a while. (pg. 7)

Chapter Two:  “The Stampede Trail”

11. Krakauer included a quote from another author because he wanted to describe how difficult it was to survive off the land in Alaska at the time of the year when Chris was going to live off the land for a while. He also wanted to describe the appearance of the Stampede Trail and get his readers to picture what is was like in the wilderness of Alaska when Chris tried to survive off of it. (pg. 9)

12. The purpose of these detailed descriptions is to really understand the main setting of the book and how the setting really affects the life of Chris McCandless forever. The descriptions help the reader understand the harsh conditions of Alaska and how it is very difficult to survive in this part of Alaska for a long period of time, (pgs. 9-11)

13. The probable cause of Chris McCandless’s death is starvation because when the police came to rescue his body and took it to a laboratory for an autopsy, there were no broken bones or any internal injuries. There was hardly any fat on the body and since his body only weighed sixty- seven pounds, Chris must have starved to death. (pgs. 13-14)

Chapter Three: “Carthage”

14. Wayne Westerberg is a good friend of Chris and lives in Carthage, South Dakota. He also is a hyperkinetic man with a black goatee and owns two separate grain elevators, which helped him with his main job. Wayne was in his mid-thirties and was a farmer and liked to do things with electronics. Wayne and Chris get along great because Chris really starts to admire Wayne for who he is and Wayne tries to help Chris when he was in desperate need. Even when Chris leaves Carthage, he still writes to Wayne often and he had all his mail sent to Wayne’s address, which showed how much trust Christ had for Wayne. (pgs. 16-19)

15. The terms “leather tramp” and “rubber tramp” describe the culture of how people around, depending on if they are rich or poor. The main difference is that leather tramps are people who did not have transportation and had to walk or hitchhike everywhere, whereas rubber tramps were people who owned a vehicle.  (pg. 17)

16. He said this because Chris pretty much found a family that could replace his old family because he really got along with Wayne and his employees so he really felt these people were his main family now. Wayne and his workers could support Chris and really understood him and Chris needed someone to love since things were not right with his old family. (pg. 18)

17. McCandless left Carthage because Wayne was caught building and selling illegal satellite-television transmissions, which allowed people to have cable without them paying for it. Wayne was caught and sentenced to four months in prison two weeks after Chris arrived in Carthage and there was no work at the grain elevator, so Chris left to pursue his journey. (pg. 19)

18. The reader knows that War and Peace was important because this piece of work was given to Wayne Westerberg, who was his good friend and it was a treasured gift that McCandless gave to Wayne. It must have been important if Chris gave it to Wayne and it must have been important if Chris gave up one of his most sacred gifts. (pg. 19)

19. McCandless’s early years were well remembered and very active. Chris grew up in a very friendly environment in Annandale, Virginia, and his father was a major influence in NASA and on space shuttles. There were eight children in Chris’s family and he was very close to his sister, Carine, and his mom, Billie. He graduated from Emory University in 1990 and donated the money intended for him to go to law school to a charity that helps fight hunger. Chris then suddenly left in his car for a road trip and he left a letter to his parents, which would be the last time they would hear from him. The parents got worried since he left his apartment in Atlanta and Chris was on his way to a new life for himself. (pgs. 19-23)

20. The clues that say McCandless was out of step are that he did not accept gifts from his parents, especially when his parents wanted to buy him a new car and he refused. Also, all the money that Chris’s parents gave to him for law school was donated to a charity, which most people in society just would not do. (pg.20-21)

21. The change that symbolized the new life Chris was about to build was how he changed his name. He changed his name from Chris McCandless to Alexander Supertramp so his family would not find out he left. (pg. 23)

Chapters 4-5 “Detrital Wash” and “Bullhead City”

22. This statement applies to Chris because ultimately wants to experience life to the fullest rather than just escape his previous life at college. He also wants to live a new life and see what the world has to offer him and wants to be able to see all parts of the world rather than just one place. (pg. 25)

23. Jan Burres is a forty-one-year-old hitchhiker that goes around selling very cheap items with her boyfriend, Bob. Krakauer says, “A forty-one-year-old rubber tramp who was traveling around the West selling knick-knacks at flea markets and swap meets with her boyfriend, Bob” (pg. 30). She figures into Chris’s travels because she picks up Chris near the town of Orick, California, and lived with Jan and Bob for a week in Orick Beach. The Northwest started to inspire Chris so he continued to travel up the Pacific Coast until he reached Seattle, Washington. (pgs. 30-31.)

24. Chris used the metal canoe to paddle from the Colorado River near Topock, Arizona, to the border of Mexico using the Gulf of California. From Topock, Chris paddled south to Lake Havasu and continued downstream through the Colorado River. He finally reached the US Army’s Yuma Proving Ground, which was off- limits but he still went through anyway. He then reached Morelos Dam and the Mexican Border, and he paddled through the open floodgates without identification. After arriving in Mexico, Chris lost his way numerous times from canals to dead-end channels. Chris finally reaches the Gulf of California using the Wellteco Canal and with the help of the duck hunters dropping him in a fishing village on the Gulf of California. (pgs. 32-35)

25. The one noticeable thing about his excerpts is that he is not using I but instead is using he. It seems as if Chris did not write the excerpts because they use the name Alex and they look like they were written by someone else. The excerpts are describing what Alex did during his Mexican journey and there is not much detail about Alex himself, meaning that Alex probably did not create the journal entries. (pgs. 34-36).

26. The existential conclusion is that Chris left Las Vegas to experience “the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found” (pg. 37). Chris wants to find the joy of living such a fulfilled life and since Chris is willing to do anything, this will affect how he lives the rest of his life. (pg.37)

27. The kind of life that Chris led was a kind of unusual yet satisfying life in Bullhead City. Chris enjoyed Bullhead City since he stayed there for more than two months but he did not fit in too well. His employees probably thought he was a strange man since all he did was talk about nature. Chris was definitely getting tired of the people in Bullhead City because they bothered him and he did not get along with one of his assistant managers, Lori Zarza. The trailer that Chris stayed at was not right for him and he probably lived in Bullhead City just for the scenery. (pgs. 39-42)

28 The conditions of the Slab were not very good because it had been an old naval base that was abandoned. It was very cheap there because there was hardly anything there and flea markets were always taking place so people could sell their junk. It was not the ideal living conditions but since it was warm there in the winter, a lot of vagabonds in the area would migrate there for the winter. People of all age lived there and most of the people were very friendly and nice to each other since they were experiencing the same things. The Slab was a place for all the destitute people of society to gather and share their stories. The people were so nice to Chris that he socialized frequently with them and enjoyed meeting new people of the Slab. Krakauer says, “The Slabs function as the seasonal capital of a teeming itinerary society- a tolerant, rubber-tired culture comprising the retired, the exiled, the destitute, the perpetually unemployed” (pg. 43). (pgs. 43-45)

29. Jan Burres recounts that Chris was very good with animals and he was very helpful whenever she needed him to do something. She also says he was constantly socializing with the people of the Slab and he was usually having a good time talking to all the people who came by. She says Chris had a great voice and he was musical and she thought Chris was a skilled outdoorsmen since Chris told her about his journey to Alaska. 

30. Jan’s assessment was that he would be fine in Alaska in the long run and he was smart enough to survive in Alaska. She says if Chris could figure out how to paddle a canoe to Mexico and do other dangerous missions, he could definitely figure out how to survive in Alaska, too. (pg. 46)

Chapters Six and Seven:  “Anza Borrego” and “Carthage”

31. Ron Franz is an eighty year old man who is lives alone because his wife and his only child were killed by a drunk driver in 1957. He was a devout Christian and spent most of his life in the army, which was stationed in China as well as Japan. He enters the story in the beginning of Chapter 6 when he writes a letter asking for the issue of the Outside magazine so he can know how Chris died in Alaska. Krakauer thinks that the relationship between Franz and McCandless went smoothly because they both got along very well and they spent a lot of time together talking. They grew fond of each other after a while and the two really understood each other. (pgs. 47-52)

32. Anza- Borrego is a large desert east of Salton City in California where Chris camped for a while. It is east of the Salton Sea and includes the bajada, which was open, dry land and got very hot when the sun scorched it during the day. (pgs. 48-49)

33. The tragedy of Franz’s life was when his wife and his only child were killed by a drunk driver on New Year’s Eve of 1957. This changed his life as Franz started to drink a lot more and he tried to adopt boys and girls so he would not be so lonely. (pg.50)

34. He felt Chris was “polite, friendly, well-groomed” and an “extremely intelligent” young man. He knew he was a nice kid but felt Chris needed a job and an education to make something of his life. The request he made to Chris was if he could adopt him because his family would be finished if he died so he wanted Chris to be his grandson. (pgs. 50-51, 55)

35. Leathermaking played a role in their relationship because Franz taught Chris the secrets of leathermaking and helped Chris make a leather belt, which contained details of Chris’s journey so far. It was produced perfectly and without much error so Franz thought he taught Chris well about leathermaking. (pgs. 51-52)

36. The author says that Chris was excited to be on his way north and was relieved to escape the threat of friendship. He also says that Chris successfully escaped the life with his family and he escaped all the people he met along the way without them getting enough information about him. (pg. 55)

37. The advice Chris gives to Franz is to change his lifestyle from a life based on security to a life full of adventures and different encounters each day. He tells him to start being nomadic and move around a little to see all the things God has given around him. He wants Franz to get out in the world immediately so he can start a new life and he will experience a whole lot more if he just can stop being stubborn and get out to see the world. Franz responds to the letter by buying a new truck for his adventure and he moved out of his apartment to go set up camp in the bajada where Chris’s old campsite was. (pgs. 56-58)

38. Ron Franz learns that Chris died because he picked up two hitchhikers in his truck and he started telling them about Alex and his adventure he was going to start in Alaska. The Native American hitchhiker was listening and told Ron that Chris died in the frozen tundra of Alaska. The death changed Franz’s life because Ron became an atheist since he could not believe God would let Chris die in such a terrible way and started to drink again until he began to get really sick. (pg. 60)

39. Wayne was annoyed at the beginning of the chapter because his combine machine had broken down and it was difficult for him to fix it. He cannot reach inside the combine and he was annoyed already because that was the third time the combine broke down in as many days. (pgs. 61-62)

40. The author’s analysis of Chris and his father’s relationship was that it was very rough and rocky through Chris’s early years. Chris had to follow his dad’s rules through high school and college, but he often got angry and mad at his dad. Chris was getting tired of his parents’ lifestyle and their strict rules and he eventually rebelled and left them for good after college. Chris is very close to his sister Carine because he felt Carine was the only person he could go

to for help since his relationship with his parentswas not going very well. (pg. 64)

Chapters Eight and Nine:  “Alaska” and “Davis Gulch”

41. The purpose of including the story of Gene Rossellini was to recognize him as a similarity to the life of Chris McCandless through his actions and his lifestyle. Gene was an intelligent and an athletic young man just like Chris and did well through college. But then Rossellini departed Seattle and decided to head to Alaska like Chris did after college. He could not survive and eventually died in the wilderness like Chris so his story shows how many people have gone to Alaska but could not survive there on their own. (pgs. 73-75)

42. Krakauer was motivated to include the story of John Waterman from wanting to recognize someone who was similar to Chris McCandless but did not attract as much attention as Gene Rossellini. (pg. 75)

43. The purpose of including the story of Chris McCunn was to compare his life to that of Chris McCandless. Krakauer wanted to compare and contrast the qualities of McCandless and McCunn and he saw that both of them shared a lack of common sense in the wild. He also saw that McCandless did not expect anyone to rescue him unlike McCunn who already expected it. (pgs. 84-85)

44. Everett Ruess was born in Oakland, California, in 1914. He moved a lot as a child around the United States but finally settled in southern California when he was fourteen years old. When he was sixteen, he began his first solo trip hiking through Yosemite and met a man named Edward Weston. He stayed there awhile until he returned home to receive his high school diploma. He was on the road again traveling throughout the Southwest and he would begin a new life always moving from place to place and living with his backpack. He loved to wander and he did not care about his personal safety. He adopted many names before his journey and carved the name Nemo into the sandstone at Davis Gulch. He traveled through the Mormon settlement of Escalante and after that, no one ever saw him again. There are many theories to Everett’s death, including him falling to his death and even getting murdered. Everett was fascinated by the character Captain Nemo in the book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and that is probably why he carved the name Nemo. Ken Sleight believes he drowned while trying to cross a river. Everett’s life was very strange and even though he was different, he loved the beauty of the American West. (pgs. 89-96)

45. Ken Sleight’s conclusion is that both of them did not like to be around people for a long time and they both just wanted to get out. “But him and McCandless, at least they tried to follow their dream. That’s what was great about them. They tried. Not many do” (pg. 96). He says that many people could not survive the things McCandless and Ruess did, and many people would not even try, so that is what makes them remarkable. (pg. 96)

Favoirte Famous Quotes

Writer’s name	Quote in Into The Wild	Any books mentioned	Connection to Chris
Jack London	“It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild.” (pg. 9)	This piece was written in the novel White Fang.	This quote explains just how difficult the conditions were that Chris had to deal with in Alaska. Chris was usually freezing cold every night due to how low the temperatures reached and Chris died because he could not support himself in the tundra of Alaska.
Wallace Stegner	“It should not be denied …that being footloose has always exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape from history and oppression and law and irksome obligations, with absolute freedom, and the road had always led west.” (pg. 15)	This piece was from the book The American West as Living Space.	Chris during his journey loved to hitchhike from place to place because it was like a thrill to him. He escaped his previous life and started a new one so he could start his own journey, which actually led west.
Anthony Storr	“It is true that many creative people fail to make mature personal relationships, and some are extremely isolated.” (pg. 61)	This was a piece from the book Solitude: A Return to the Self.	Chris was very creative during his life and loved to travel from place to place. But one disadvantage is that Chris did not develop personal relationships with other people and did not socialize enough. He was all alone most of the time and it hurt Chris that he did not tell his parents about his journey.

Andrew B.

Mrs. Zurkowski

Honors English 9- Yellows

3 March 2011

Favorite Famous Quotes

One of my favorite quotes and why	What Chris would think about my quote	Would Chris get it?
“Don't do things to not die, do things to enjoy living. The by-product may be not dying.” (Bernie S. Siegel) I like this quote because this really explains how everyone should live their lives and they should not worry about dying rather live life to the fullest.	Chris would love this quote because he could care less about dying but he wanted to get the most out of his life and enjoy it to the fullest.	Chris would definitely get it because he based his whole journey off living his own life to the fullest and he enjoys life by traveling around the United States.

http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/london.htm

http://scoutmaster.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/06/07/stegner.jpg

http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Anthony-Storr/703834/biography