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, page 12 Chapter 2, page | “SOS, 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. In the name of God please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries and will return this evening. Chris McCandless” | This letter showed me that Chris doesn’t always have his crazy fearless side that he shows a lot. It shows he can panic also and have fear. It shows he is vulnerable. | |
Chapter 3, page 16 | “There was something arresting about the youngsters eyes. Dark and emotive, they suggested a trace of exotic blood in his heritage greek maybe or Chippew- and conveyed a vulnerability that made Westerburg want to take the kid under his wing” | This quote made me think that Chris didn’t appear to be some hardened, dirty looking hitchhiker. He looked a bit innocent and not like a runaway. | |
Chapter 4, pg 28-19 | “ He could simply abandon the Datsun and continue his journey on foot. And that’s what he decided to do. Instead of feeling distraught over the events, McCandless felt exhilarated.” | This quote shows Chris was a very adaptable and optimistic person, looking for the good out of bad things and good at dealing with bad situations. | |
Chapter 5, page 39 | “ It’s a good place to settle down for the winter and I might finally settle down and abandon my tramping life, for good.Ill see what happens when spring comes around because that’s when I tend to get itchy feet” | This quote made me think that Chris changed his mind a lot and knew it too. For example he knew he wanted to stay in bullhead now but will probably leave later on. | |
Chapter 6 | “when he returned to McCandless camp and started his self improvement pitch , McCandless cut him off aprublty saying “ look Mr.Franz , you don’t need to worry about me. I have a college education. Im not destitute” | This quote shows Chris is very stubborn at times and doesn’t like to listen to others advice on change. It also shows he was very smart and knew what he was doing out in the wild and it was not forced, it was a choice. | |
Chapter 7, page 68 | “I noticed he was crying. He wasn’t planning on being gone all that long. I figured he wouldn’t have been crying unless he intended to take some big risks and he knew he might not be coming back” | I got the feeling Chris knew he might die and not see these people ever again if he went to Alaska. Usually he doesn’t cry when he leaves somewhere but this shows that Chris knew what he was getting into and not entierely stupid. He knew he might die up in Alaska so he was prepared mentally. |
Chapter 10 | ||
Chapter 11, page 104 | “ how could a kid with so much compassion cause so much pain” | I think this shows Chris changed his attitude a lot toward different people. Many people he loved and showed compassion and kindness too but when it came to his parents he hated them. |
Chapter 12, 118 | “ He was almost crying, fighting back the tears, telling dad despite their differences he was grateful for all the things dad had done for him” | I think this shows Chris buried some things deep within him like love for his parents. Even though he was a but drunk he let out that even though he didn’t show it much he was grateful for his parents help. |
Chapter 13, page 128 | “ Chris didn’t think twice about risking his own life, but he would have never put Buckley in any kind of danger” | This shows Chris’s love for nature and animals. He loves nature so keeping Buckley safe would be something he prioritized even though he didn’t think much of his own life being endangered. |
Chapter 16, page 158 | “ Alex was clean shaven and had short hair, and you could tell by his language he was a real sharp fella. He wasn’t your regular hitchhiker” | This shows once again Chris wasn’t just any hitchhiker. He was smart and clean shaven and could do something. He wasn’t forced to live like this he wanted to. |
Chapter 17, page 174 | “ Because he had no topographic map he had no way of seeing that salvation was close at hand.- in 1992 however there were no more blank spots on the map. But Chris came up with an elegant solution to the idea, get rid of the map.” | This proves that Chris was a very steadfast stubborn person. In his attempt to get lost in the wild and see new places he got rid of his map. Eventaully this got him killed so it shows that his views eventually backfired on him. |
Chapter 18, page 189 | “ That upon returning to civilization he intended to abandon his life of a solitary vagabond, stop running so hard from intimacy, and become a member of the human community” | This shows Chris was a person whos ideas were vulnerable to change. After all this time he wanted to be away from people and life, to be in the wild, and on his great adventure his ideals change. |
I think that Chris wasn't a loon like many people thought he was. I think he just had really strong ideals that not many people could really understand. I don't really think many of us can connect to his ideas of living in the wild and having very high moral standards while out there. We can't really connect to how he didn't want to fall into commercialism like Chris did or how he hated society. I think it's because Chris saw the problems in todays society that we don't. He was a smart person so when he found them he wanted to get away. After reading all those books about the wild escaping into the wild seems like a perfect idea to him. Yes, he might be a bit crazy but that wasn't his push for doing this. I think, like many people said. he thought things out too much and therefore saw societies problems and wanted to get away, to get away into the wild.
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