Christopher McCandless Characterization Part I

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 2, Pg. 12	“S.O.S I need your help.”	If Chris was asking for help, then he was close to death because he never asked for help. Ever. It seems almost that he caved at the end.
Chapter 3, Pg. 18	“…he never quit in the middle of something. If he started a job, he’d finish…”	Chris was either very determined or very stubborn or both.
Chapter 4, Pg. 28	“…and thus considered it his moral responsibility to flout the laws of the state.”	Chris considered himself above the law and only questionable to himself. There are many obvious reasons why this is bad.
Chapter 5, Pg. 39	“…Bullhead City doesn’t seem like the kind of place that would appeal to an adherent of Thoreau and Tolstoy…McCandless, nevertheless, took a strong liking to Bullhead.”	Chris was heavily influenced by certain writers, but he was able to decide on different conclusions for himself on certain topics.
Chapter 6, Pg. 60	“I asked God to keep his finger on the shoulder of that one…But he let Alex die…I renounced the Lord…Hoped it’d kill me…”	Chris unknowingly ripped one of the few things Ron had left away from him. Maybe he isn’t as good as he thinks he is.
Chapter 7, Pg. 62	“Nor was McCandless endowed with a surfeit of common sense.”	He thought too much with some things and not enough with others.
Chapter 8, Pg. 72	“McCandless had already gone over the edge and just happened to hit bottom in Alaska.”	Very crude but true. He was already on that path and he could have died anytime.
Chapter 9, Pg. 96	“But him and McCandless, at least they tried to follow their dream…They tried. Not many do.”	Chris’s best achievement was he followed his heart. It’s why everyone praised him. BUT THIS ALONE DOES NOT MAKE HIM A HERO. He followed his dream but ask yourself two things: Was he correct in all his dreams and views? Was it responsible for him to abandon everything for that dream? It all depends on your personal view.
Chapter 10, Pg. 101	“I was pretty sure it was Chris. The fact that he’d gone to Alaska, that he’d gone all by himself – it all added up.”	Chris seems to have developed a bit of a reputation as an eccentric and having different views.
Chapter 11, Pg. 104	“How is it…that a kid with so much compassion could cause so much pain?”	It seems Chris did not distribute his thought evenly. The pain he inflicted when he left seems to not have crossed his mind yet he was obviously a very smart individual.
Chapter 12, Pg. 121	“He didn’t seem interested in the money so much as the fact that he was good at making it. It was like a game, and the money was a way of keeping score.”	Chris treated modern society and economy like a game that he treated with little respect and considered them something of a joke. These sorts of things are not at all simple or easy, and as such should be treated with respect and patience. Chris seems to evaluate things from a very high standard and, in this instance, is basically “playing with fire”.
Chapter 13, Pg. 128	“There’s no way he would have taken the same kind of chances if Buck had been with him.”	Chris feels a responsibility for the wild and animals, yet not for human actions.
Chapter 14, Pg. 134	“…this melodramatic declaration fueled considerable speculation that the boy had been bent on suicide from the beginning…”	Like Krakauer, I disagree. He was merely addressing a feasible option that could have occurred. However, it is interesting to note Chris did make references to his trip to Alaska being special in a way.