The Journey of Chris McCandless Into the Wild By Jon Krakauer The Journey of Chris McCandless 1990-1992

On the Book Cover In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter…

Chris McCandless is described in the book as… “an incorrigible ham” “angelic” competitive “a salesman” “hungry to learn about things” stubborn “chaste” obsessive What do the above show about Chris? “fearless” “a high achiever” “a gifted French-horn player” “well-coordinated” having “extraordinary energy” “one of the top distance runners in his region”

Why did he do it? “McCandless went into the wilderness not primarily to ponder nature or the world at large but, rather; to explore the inner country of his own soul.” Krakauer What does that mean “the inner country of his own soul”?

Notice his changed name POSTCARD FROM CHRIS MCCANDLESS TO WAYNE WESTERBERG IN CARTHAGE, SOUTH DAKOTA Greetings from Fairbanks! This is the last you shall hear from me Wayne. Arrived here 2 days ago. It was very difficult to catch rides in the Yukon Territory. But I finally got here. Please return all mail I receive to the sender. It might be a very long time before I return South. If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again, I want you to know you’re a great man. I now walk into the wild. Alex APRIL 27TH, 1992 Notice his changed name

Where is “the wild”? Stampede Trail Kantishna Plain Denali border 20 miles west of Healy, Alaska

Close-up map (from book p. 8)

“He was an extremely intense young man and possessed a streak of stubborn idealism that did not mesh readily with modern existence.” Chris McCandless

Chris’ Influences (mentioned in the book) Henry David Thoreau Ralph Waldo Emerson Leo Tolstoy Jack London Transcendentalists

Transcendentalism (Thoreau and Emerson) The movement placed great emphasis on the individual, nature, freedom, nonconformity, and spiritual wealth.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau Stated that man must only rely on himself and trust his own judgment above all others Henry David Thoreau From 1845-1847, he lived in a small house he built on the shore of Walden Pond in Massachusetts; living there, he wrote many essays arguing the value of simplicity and high principles.

Other Influences Leo Tolstoy - Never named himself an anarchist, but he took the anarchist position in regards to state and property rights Jack London – He wrote about the struggle between man and nature. His two most famous books portray dogs who must fight all odds to survive.

Characters Family Friends Jim Gallien – Picks up Chris & drops him at the Stampede Trail Wayne Westerberg Chris’s boss and friend – Chris works on his farm in South Dakota Ronald Franz A man who takes a special interest in Chris and even says he would like to adopt him Chris McCandless (Alexander Supertramp) Billie and Walt McCandless Chris’s parents Carine McCandless Chris’s sister

About the Author – Jon Krakauer Krakauer never considered writing as a career until 1974, when a climbing magazine asked him to recount a first ascent in Alaska. In 1980, he started with Outside magazine in which he published “Lost in the Wild,” an exclusive report about McCandless’ experience, in 1993.

Outdoor Experience Krakauer is an adventure seeker as well. His climbing résumé features numerous ascents, many of them solo. He is, perhaps, most well-known for Into Thin Air, his personal account of climbing Mt. Everest in 1996. As he turned to begin the perilous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly to the top, unaware that the sky had begun to roil with clouds...

Reading Alerts Chapters begin with interesting excerpts and passages – DO NOT skip these! Chapters about plot are interspersed with chapters about related adventures, some of which are Krakauer’s Difficult vocabulary – Use a dictionary! Time/setting shifts

Themes/Main Ideas? Krakauer writes in the “Author’s Note,” “In trying to understand McCandless, I inevitably came to reflect on other, larger subjects as well: the grip wilderness has on the American imagination, the allure high-risk activities hold for young men of a certain mind, the complicated, highly charged bond that exists between fathers and sons.” Other main ideas to think about: Non-conformity, technology, minimalism, materialism, self-reliance, happiness, success, etc.

Interview with Krakauer The following audio is from Krakauer’s interview with NPR regarding Sean Penn’s movie version of his novel. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14564827 How do you think you’d feel if you were Chris’s brother or sister? Would you be OK with all of the media attention/ book/ movie? What is the difference between the book and the movie in terms of how how the family/parents are portrayed? How does Krakauer explain Chris’s decisions? How did Chris’s mom cope with her son being gone/missing? What is starvation like, according to Krakauer? How was Krakauer like Chris? Which artifacts are still at “the bus”?