Jon Krakauer | Into The Wild | Jaelen Westbrook, Hiromi Fukuzaki, Taylor Daniels, Emily
Bricker
Time and Place: Into The Wild was published in 1996. The story took place between the years 1990
and 1992. The setting followed McCandless through multiple states ending in Alaska.
How is the work Organized? The work is a narration of the travels of Chris McCandless and each
chapter is titled after a place he visited on his journey. Throughout the story there are diary entries
from McCandless himself. The story is a retelling of events that ultimately lead to McCandless’
death with no real order in which the events are told.
Characters: Chris McCandless is the main character whose life the author, Jon Krakauer, is
narrating. He is from a well-off family and is on the right track to receive a good education but
decides to give away all of his possessions and money to go live in the Wilderness. Eventually he
makes his way to Alaska but he dies after eating a plant that poisons him. He is significant because
he is the reason that Krakauer narrated the story. His transcendentalist views greatly impacted many
people after he died. Wayne Westerberg is one of Chris’s friends. He works at a grain elevator in
South Dakota. He is significant because he played a key role in helping Chris stay alive throughout
his journey by giving him food and shelter. Jan Burres is another important character. She picks
Chris up off the side of the road in California. She is significant, as well as her husband Bob, because
she is almost like Chris’s mother. They develop an attachment and she is always the person that
Chris writes to first. Ronald Franz is another character Chris came across on his journey. Franz and
Chris had a deep connection and at one point Franz offered to adopt Chris. Franz is significant
because of the father like relationship he formed with Chris and the impact Chris and his death had
on his life. Jim Gallien is the man that drives Chris to the beginning of the Stampede Trail. He is
significant because he is the last person to ever see Chris alive.
Summary: The main character is introduced to a truck driver (Jim Gallien) as Alex (but in reality his
real name is Christopher McCandless). “Alex” states to driver he wants to live of the land, at first this
statement causes Jim to see “Alex” as "another delusional visitor to the Alaskan frontier.” Jim soon
realizes that Chris is actually intelligent and aids the hitchhiker my giving him supplies for his
travels. The book’s situation alters and introduces some travelers who find an abandoned bus and the
dead body of Christopher McCandless. The story then goes in depth to the events that lead to Chris’
journey, how his death occurred and everything that happened in between. It includes many
interviews and anecdotes from people Chris came into contact with while on his journey, making the
audience feel like the events happening are more realistic and connectable. The story also includes
personal anecdotes from the narrator of the story that ties his own life to the life of Chris
McCandless. Then ultimately the story comes full circle back to the death of Chris McCandless.
Point of View: The story is told in third person, with excerpts of first person accounts.
Literary Device: Imagery/Description- “...when he spotted the hitch hiker standing in the snow
beside the road, thumb raised high, shivering in the gray Alaska dawn.” (pg.3)
-This device is used to make the scene more descriptive and appealing to the audience. The way the
hitch hiker is described in this example makes the audience more curious for what is to come. They
may also feel sympathy for the hitch hiker.
-This quote connects to the theme of Survival in the wilderness because it describes Chris in the
snow and how he is shivering and trying to survive by catching a ride.
Literary Device: Personal Anecdotes- “...my sense of Chris McCandless's intentions comes, too,
from a more personal perspective. As a youth, I am told, I was willful, self-absorbed, intermittently
reckless, moody. I disappointed my father in the usual ways. Like McCandless, figures of male
authority aroused in me a confusing medley of corked fury and hunger to please.”
-This device was used to allow the audience to see the connection between author and character. It’s
very important for the audience to see how the author fits into the story he writes because it makes it
more authentic. If the author can relate to his own story, then that must mean that it has some truth
behind it. In that case, the audience feels more comfortable and open to connecting with the novel
themselves.
-This quote relates to the theme Fathers and sons mostly. Krakauer mentions his own relationship
with his father and compares it to Chris’s relationship with his. At first both wanted to please their
fathers, but something came in the way of that and they ended up doing what they wanted to do
instead. They may have upset and been disowned by their fathers in the process, but they were happy
nonetheless.
Theme: The overarching theme of Into The Wild would be mankind’s obsession over material goods
or the power materials have over mankind.
Title Quote: McCandless had finally made it to Alaska; proud of his achievement of cutting himself
off from civilization he left an inscription on an abandoned bus he made his new home. “No longer to
be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild” (163).
McCandless had finally reached his initial goal of becoming lost in the wild and essentially becoming
one with nature. Stating he will be lost in the wild almost implies that he had no intentions of coming
back or making it out. His idea of becoming “lost” in the wild also ties to the theme of mankind's
obsession with material things and how McCandless tried to break that obsession. McCandless in the
end did become lost in the wild when he ended up dying in the wild.
Character Quote: Carine, Christopher’s sister provides information on her brother’s character. “He
wasn’t antisocial— he always had friends, and everybody liked him—but he could go off and
entertain himself for hours. He didn’t seem to need toys or friends. He could be alone without being
lonely” (107). This quote displays how Christopher's sibling had viewed him and provides direct
characterization of Chris and enables the audience to have a stronger image of him. This background
information provided by the main character’s sister also displays Christopher’s personality and how
he was slightly different from the rest of society. Christopher McCandless enjoyed being alone, he
was not bound to the social norms of society and seemed to enjoy isolation. Understanding
McCandless’ character allows the audience to understand the main character’s motive to his actions
and his journey, and helps to establish the theme of freedom/conquering materialism.
Theme Quote: McCandless had ventured to Detrital Wash, however due to his dead car battery and
with a flash flood warning McCandless chose to abandon his Datsun and rid of his excess goods. “He
arranged all his paper currency in a pile on the sand—a pathetic little stack of ones and fives and
twenties—and put a match to it. One hundred twenty-three dollars in legal tender was promptly
reduced to ash and smoke” (29). McCandless abandoning his beloved Datsun and burning his money
symbolizes McCandless severing his bond towards material goods. Most people do not willingly
burn one hundred twenty-three dollars and their mode of transportation to venture into the
wilderness. The fact that the majority of society would not willingly abandon their material
possessions displays the power materials have on mankind. In contrast, Christopher McCandless’
abandoned his possessions and thus displays his ability to overcome the hold materials have on
people. His actions also released him from the rules of society displaying the theme of freedom or the
overcoming of materialism.