Into the Wild Responses

1.  1. He lived in D.C. when he was a child, soon after college Chris cut off all contact from society.  He was a man who received a full scholarship to college and was very intelligent. (Author’s Note)

2.    2. Jon Krakauer talks about how the imagination changes in the wilderness, dangerous activities young men want to get involved in, complications, and the relationship between father and son. (Pg. 2 of Author’s Note)

3.   3. It was a postcard from Chris to his friend Wayne.  It was the least time Wayne ever heard from his friend. (3)

4.   4. Alex is Chris McCandless, he changed his name.  The purpose was not clarified yet. (4)

5.   5.Who is Jim Gallien, and how did he meet McCandless? Jim Gallien was the man who gave Chris McCandless a ride to the Stampede Trail.  He was the last person McCandless would have contact with.  (4)

6.   6. He was concerned that “Alex” was going to do something dangerous that would cause him harm.  Alex was a suspicious person. (5)

7.   7. He told him that living in the wilderness isn’t as nice or fine as it seems. (4-5)

8.   8. Also, what gift did Gallien give to McCandless? McCandless didn’t want to stop at Anchorage buy any hiking gear. Gallien gave him rubber work boots and told him to wear two pairs of socks so his feet don’t freeze. (6)

9.   9. Gallien thought that McCandless would get hungry and walk out to the highway like a “normal person.” (7) 

     10. It is ironic because McCandless did the exact opposite and went into the wild and never came out. (7)

     11. At the sight of McCandless death, there was a carving into a tree that read Jack Landon is King. (9)

     12. All of these places and things lead Chris McCandless into the wilderness. (9-12)

     13. The authorities thought he died from starvation. (14)

     14. Wayne Westerberg is Chris’s friend from North Dakota.  They got along because they lived and worked together.  Wayne wanted to take Chris “under his wing” and help him out. (16)

     15. ? A “leather tramp” is a vagabond who owns a vehicle. A “leather tramp” is someone who does not have a good way of transporting from place to place so they are forced to hitchhike. This refers to Saco Hot Springs, 240 miles east on the U.S. Highway 2. (17)

     16. McCandless stopped all contact with his family so the men he met were the closest friends he had at the time. It was a nomadic existence. (17)

     17. While Wayne was in prison he left Carthage because there was no more work for him to do. (19)

     18. It was his favorite book and gave it to his closest friend. Chris wrote a letter to his friend and told him that the book very powerful and symbolic. (19 & 33)

     19. . McCandless grew up in Annandale, Virginia. His father was an aerospace engineer and a younger sister whom he was extremely close to.  He also had six half brothers and sisters from his father’s previous marriage. (22)  

     20. He didn’t want a new car and stopped accepting gifts from friends and family. (22)

     21.  He sent his family the final grade on a report that he wrote and once he graduated college he “intended to invent an utterly new life for himself.” Chris created a new name for himself. He was no longer Christopher McCandless but Alex Supertramp. (23)

     22. Chris wanted to find himself and the way he did that was by traveling across the country to Alaska to live in solitude. (25)

     23. She is a “rubber tramp” who found Chris on the side of the road looking at a book while picking berries off of a bush.  She and her boyfriend Bob asked Chris if he needed a ride somewhere and they took him to Orick Beach. (30)

     24. He bought a canoe and wanted to paddle it from the Colorado River all the way down the Gulf of California.  He paddled down the river taking in all the beautiful scenery and snuck into Mexico by canoeing through the Morelos Dam flood gates and paddled through marshes until he was lost. Some officials found him and they directed him to the ocean with maps. It took him a few days to carry his canoe to find the new canal but after he though he reached the canal he ended up in a swamp. Some duck hunters took Chris El Golfo de Santa Clara, a fishing village on the gulf. He finally reached the sea.  After paddling for so long, he reached the beach and set a camp up on a plateau for ten days. (32-35) 

     25. Chris dated all of his entries so he could keep track of everything. (35)

     26. Chris is so thankful to be living. He is cherishing his experiences and living his life to the fullest. (37)

     27. Chris lived in Bullhead City for two months. He loved staying in the city during the winter and considered settling down and “abandon his tramping life, for good.” Chris got a job at McDonalds and rode to work on a bike and opened a saving bank. After living there for two years, he left. (39-41)

     28. 

     29. Chris was very musical and was a helpful man. Chris was social and everyone enjoyed his company. (44-45)

     30. Jan thought that Chris lost his mind when he told her about his plans to take a great Alaskan adventure but she also though that if he could figure out how to canoe into Mexico then he figure out how to survive in Alaska. (46)

     31. Ron Franz gave Chris a ride to Salton City to Grand Juntion in March 1992. He requested the copy of Outside magazine where they investigated the story of Chris’s death. Krakauer states that Chris made a huge impression on 80-year-old Franz. Chris sent him a post card and didn’t hear from him since. (49-51)

     32. It is a landscape that is beneath the badlands and is open country cut by steep-walled arroyos. (48)

     33. In 1957, while he was serving his time overseas, his wife and only son were killed in a car accident. A drunk driver hit them.  His son was supposed to graduate from college the following June. (50)

     34.He thought Chris was very smart, nice and friendly. He wanted to get Chris a job and education but Chris told him that he was already educated. (51)

     35. Franz was a leathermaker and he taught Chris all his secrets to the craft. Chris made a leather belt and he craved his journey into the leather, almost as if he was telling his story through pictures. (51-52)

     36. He called Franz to wish him happy birthday and sent postcards to friends telling them he was living off the streets. (53)

     37. He told Franz that he was having trouble finding work so he picked him up. (56-58)

     38. Franz prayed that God would protect Chris but he unfortunately passed away. Franz withdrew his church membership and became an atheist. (60)

     39. Wayne was mad because Alex never returned back to work. (62)

     40. ?  How did Chris feel about his sister Carine? Both men were stubborn and high-strung. Chris liked his sister and talked to her about the problems he had with their parents. (64)

     41. The story of Gene Rossellini is a story similar to Chris’s, but different.  He was a man that had a good life going for him but went to live in the wilderness and died. (73-75)

     42. The death of Rossellini got more media coverage so Krackauer wanted to acknowledge John Waterman and his story.  Waterman’s story is very exciting and memorable. (75-80)

     43. McCunn was a man who went to live in the wild and kept journal and didn’t bring much for his journey. The only difference between the two men is that McCunn took his own life and Chris died from plant poisoning.    

     44. Everett Ruess was a man who was interested in art and then went on to explore the west.  He hitchhiked to many states like Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. Ruess was awestruck by the beauty of the west do he decided to change his name multiple times and live in the wilderness. He changed his name multiple times and unfortunately died the same way Chris did. Both men had similar journal entries and had few people they were close with. (89-95)   

     45. Both men wanted to follow their dream. Not many people try to follow their dreams but these two men were motivated to follow them. (96)