Into The Wild
by Jon Krakauer
Critical Essays Themes of Into the Wild
The American frontier
In his book Love and Death in the American Novel, the literary critic Leslie Fiedler suggests that the central theme of all U.S. literature is the escape of American men and boys from civilization into the wild. Often a reaction to heartbreak, and sometimes in the company of other men and/or boys, this flight is the dynamic at the center of books and stories as diverse as Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Moby-Dick by Herman Melville,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, "Big Two-Hearted River" by Ernest Hemingway, and many more. Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild shares the frontier theme with these great works of literature that preceded it, one of which (Walden) Christopher McCandless actually takes with him as he "lights out for the territories," in the words of Huck Finn.
Fathers and sons
The title of a book by the 19th-century Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Sons, this is one of the main themes of Into the Wild. If there is a single turning point in the life of Christopher McCandless, it may be the discovery that his father had a second, secret family. This revelation seems to inspire him to reject his parents completely and commence an odyssey into wild America. Along the way, McCandless gravitates toward substitute fathers including Wayne Westerberg and Ronald Franz (and one substitute mother, Jan Burres).
Materialism
Christopher McCandless denounces and rejects what he sees as American materialism, in general when he leaves his parents and the upper middle-class suburban setting in which they raised him, and very specifically and concretely when he donates all his savings to charity, abandons his car in the desert, and actually burns his paper money on the desert floor.
Survival in the wilderness
This is the central theme of the work of one of Christopher McCandless's favorite authors, Jack London. The most striking example of this is probably London's short story "To Build a Fire," about a man who freezes to death in the woods because of his inability to do precisely that. In a way, this story foreshadows McCandless's own fate.
Young manhood
Into the Wild is very much the story of a young man, of his energy, his idealism, and the arrogance that ultimately kills him. It is hard to imagine anyone besides a male in his late teens or 20s who would do and say the things that Christopher McCandless does and says in this book though, bizarrely, the octogenarian Ronald Franz tries to model aspects of his life after McCandless.
The American frontier
In his book Love and Death in the American Novel, the literary critic Leslie Fiedler suggests that the central theme of all U.S. literature is the escape of American men and boys from civilization into the wild. Often a reaction to heartbreak, and sometimes in the company of other men and/or boys, this flight is the dynamic at the center of books and stories as diverse as Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Moby-Dick by Herman Melville,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, "Big Two-Hearted River" by Ernest Hemingway, and many more. Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild shares the frontier theme with these great works of literature that preceded it, one of which (Walden) Christopher McCandless actually takes with him as he "lights out for the territories," in the words of Huck Finn.
Fathers and sons
The title of a book by the 19th-century Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Sons, this is one of the main themes of Into the Wild. If there is a single turning point in the life of Christopher McCandless, it may be the discovery that his father had a second, secret family. This revelation seems to inspire him to reject his parents completely and commence an odyssey into wild America. Along the way, McCandless gravitates toward substitute fathers including Wayne Westerberg and Ronald Franz (and one substitute mother, Jan Burres).
Materialism
Christopher McCandless denounces and rejects what he sees as American materialism, in general when he leaves his parents and the upper middle-class suburban setting in which they raised him, and very specifically and concretely when he donates all his savings to charity, abandons his car in the desert, and actually burns his paper money on the desert floor.
Survival in the wilderness
This is the central theme of the work of one of Christopher McCandless's favorite authors, Jack London. The most striking example of this is probably London's short story "To Build a Fire," about a man who freezes to death in the woods because of his inability to do precisely that. In a way, this story foreshadows McCandless's own fate.
Young manhood
Into the Wild is very much the story of a young man, of his energy, his idealism, and the arrogance that ultimately kills him. It is hard to imagine anyone besides a male in his late teens or 20s who would do and say the things that Christopher McCandless does and says in this book though, bizarrely, the octogenarian Ronald Franz tries to model aspects of his life after McCandless.
Jon Krakauer Biography
Personal Background
Son of a doctor and amateur mountaineer, Jon Krakauer was born on April 12, 1954, in Brookline, Massachusetts, and grew up in Oregon, where he began mountain-climbing at eight years old. After graduating from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1976, Krakauer worked as a carpenter and a commercial fisherman in Colorado, the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska, devoting most of his free time to climbing. In 1977 he pioneered a new route up the Devils Thumb in southeast Alaska, and in 1996 he reached the top of Mt. Everest, though four of his five teammates died on the descent down the mountain — an experience Krakauer would write about for Outside magazine and in his book Into Thin Air.
Career Highlights
Jon Krakauer is a journalist whose work has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, Smithsonian, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Outside, Architectural Digest, and other periodicals. Some of Krakauer's essays and articles on mountain-climbing were collected in his first book, Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains, published in 1990. His next book, Into the Wild (1996), became a bestseller and was adapted in 2007 as a feature film directed by Sean Penn.
Into Thin Air (1997), Krakauer's third book, investigates the commercialization of the world's highest mountain, Everest. It reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into 24 languages. It also was a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle award and the Pulitzer Prize and was named Book of the Year by Time magazine.
His other books include Under the Banner of Heaven (2003), about the Mormon church, which inspired the 2006 documentary Damned to Heaven; and Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman (2009), about an All-Pro NFL football player and U.S. Army Ranger killed in Afghanistan.
In 1999 Jon Krakauer received the Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is editor of the Modern Library's Exploration series.
Personal Background
Son of a doctor and amateur mountaineer, Jon Krakauer was born on April 12, 1954, in Brookline, Massachusetts, and grew up in Oregon, where he began mountain-climbing at eight years old. After graduating from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1976, Krakauer worked as a carpenter and a commercial fisherman in Colorado, the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska, devoting most of his free time to climbing. In 1977 he pioneered a new route up the Devils Thumb in southeast Alaska, and in 1996 he reached the top of Mt. Everest, though four of his five teammates died on the descent down the mountain — an experience Krakauer would write about for Outside magazine and in his book Into Thin Air.
Career Highlights
Jon Krakauer is a journalist whose work has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, Smithsonian, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Outside, Architectural Digest, and other periodicals. Some of Krakauer's essays and articles on mountain-climbing were collected in his first book, Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains, published in 1990. His next book, Into the Wild (1996), became a bestseller and was adapted in 2007 as a feature film directed by Sean Penn.
Into Thin Air (1997), Krakauer's third book, investigates the commercialization of the world's highest mountain, Everest. It reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into 24 languages. It also was a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle award and the Pulitzer Prize and was named Book of the Year by Time magazine.
His other books include Under the Banner of Heaven (2003), about the Mormon church, which inspired the 2006 documentary Damned to Heaven; and Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman (2009), about an All-Pro NFL football player and U.S. Army Ranger killed in Afghanistan.
In 1999 Jon Krakauer received the Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is editor of the Modern Library's Exploration series.
Symbols in Into the Wild
Deserts
Like mountains, deserts in Into the Wild function primarily as means for Christopher McCandless to challenge himself, and as such, they illustrate his hubris. Not only does he fear the desert insufficiently; he behaves as though it has been put there purely in order to test his competence.
"Magic Bus"
Presumably named by McCandless after a song by British rock band The Who, the bus stands for the good fortune he repeatedly encounters in his odyssey through the American West. After all, what are the odds when McCandless forges into the bush that an abandoned bus will be waiting there for him to live inside? Of course, McCandless dies inside the bus, too, indicating that his luck has run out.
Moose
The moose that McCandless shoots and then, heartbreakingly, fails to preserve stands for his relationship to the wild in general. Moose meat could prevent McCandless from starving to death. Because of his hubris, however, he has not prepared adequately for the enormous task of curing the flesh and ultimately fails at it. The consequences are fatal.
Mountains
In Into the Wild, mountains function not as scenery, nor are they especially significant geologically or historically. Instead, a mountain is an obstacle to be conquered, a way of testing one's capability and character, especially in the chapters of the book where author Krakauer recalls his own youth.
Rivers
Many rivers run through Into the Wild. Like deserts and mountains, they test Christopher McCandless's survival skills. Unlike other natural formations, it is a river that defeats McCandless and kills him. Because he has not predicted that the river separating the "Magic Bus" from civilization will swell with snow-melt, he cannot cross it in late summer, when he intends to leave the woods. And because he (intentionally) lacks a map, McCandless is unaware of options for fording the raging waters.
Yellow Datsun
The yellow Datsun is emblematic of Christopher McCandless's genuine disinterest in material things. Americans value their cars. McCandless leaves his in the desert.
Deserts
Like mountains, deserts in Into the Wild function primarily as means for Christopher McCandless to challenge himself, and as such, they illustrate his hubris. Not only does he fear the desert insufficiently; he behaves as though it has been put there purely in order to test his competence.
"Magic Bus"
Presumably named by McCandless after a song by British rock band The Who, the bus stands for the good fortune he repeatedly encounters in his odyssey through the American West. After all, what are the odds when McCandless forges into the bush that an abandoned bus will be waiting there for him to live inside? Of course, McCandless dies inside the bus, too, indicating that his luck has run out.
Moose
The moose that McCandless shoots and then, heartbreakingly, fails to preserve stands for his relationship to the wild in general. Moose meat could prevent McCandless from starving to death. Because of his hubris, however, he has not prepared adequately for the enormous task of curing the flesh and ultimately fails at it. The consequences are fatal.
Mountains
In Into the Wild, mountains function not as scenery, nor are they especially significant geologically or historically. Instead, a mountain is an obstacle to be conquered, a way of testing one's capability and character, especially in the chapters of the book where author Krakauer recalls his own youth.
Rivers
Many rivers run through Into the Wild. Like deserts and mountains, they test Christopher McCandless's survival skills. Unlike other natural formations, it is a river that defeats McCandless and kills him. Because he has not predicted that the river separating the "Magic Bus" from civilization will swell with snow-melt, he cannot cross it in late summer, when he intends to leave the woods. And because he (intentionally) lacks a map, McCandless is unaware of options for fording the raging waters.
Yellow Datsun
The yellow Datsun is emblematic of Christopher McCandless's genuine disinterest in material things. Americans value their cars. McCandless leaves his in the desert.
Book Summary
Because author Jon Krakauer presents the events of Into the Wild out of chronological order, establishing what happened when can challenge the reader. For the sake of clarity, this timeline rearranges the book's episodes in the order in which they occurred, rather than the order in which they appear in Into the Wild.
May 12, 1990: Christopher Johnson McCandless graduates from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He tells his parents that he is going to spend the summer traveling in his car, a used yellow Datsun.
June 1990: Mails his final college transcript and a brief note to his parents' home in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. McCandless's family will never hear from him again.
July 6, 1990: Arrives at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada.
July 10, 1990: Abandons his car after it is damaged by a flash flood. Loads his belongings into his backpack and sets out on foot.
July–August 1990: Hitchhikes to California's Lake Tahoe, then hikes into the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Travels to the Cascade mountains, across the lava beds of the Columbia River basin, and across the Idaho panhandle. Jan Burres and her boyfriend Bob discover McCandless by the side of the road and befriend him. In Cut Bank, Montana, meets Wayne Westerberg.
August 1990: McCandless's parents drive to Atlanta looking for their son and discover that his apartment was vacated five weeks earlier.
August 10, 1990: Receives a ticket for hitchhiking in Willow Creek, California.
October 1990: McCandless's Datsun is discovered by a park ranger.
October 28, 1990: In Needles, California, reaches the Colorado River. Walks south through the desert, arriving in Topock, Arizona, where he buys a second-hand canoe.
October–November 1990: Canoes on the Colorado River, apparently traveling through Lake Havasu, the Bill Williams River, the Colorado River Indian Reservation, the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge, and the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground. Sends a postcard to Wayne Westerberg at the Sioux Falls work-release facility where his friend has been incarcerated.
December 1990: The private investigator employed by McCandless's parents discovers that their son donated $24,000 to OXFAM.
December 2, 1990: Reaches the Morelos Dam and the Mexican border.
December 6, 1990: Encounters hazardous waterfalls along the Colorado River.
December 12, 1990: Realizes that he will not reach the Gulf of California traveling this route. Meets duck hunters who drive him there.
December 14–24, 1990: Pulls his canoe out of the water and sets up camp on the edge of a desolate plateau.
December 25, 1990: Seeking refuge from high winds, discovers a cave on the face of a bluff, where he stays for 10 days.
January 11, 1991: Back in his canoe, encounters a violent storm that almost drowns him.
January 16, 1991: Leaving his canoe at El Golfo de Santa Clara, starts wandering northward.
January 18, 1991: Caught by U.S. Immigration officials when he tries to slip back into the country from Mexico. Spends one night in jail.
January–February 1991: Travels to Houston and then to the Pacific coast.
February 3, 1991: Applies for an ID and a job in Los Angeles, then changes his mind and returns to the road.
February 9, 1991: Camps at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with a young German couple. Notes in his journal that he has lost over 25 pounds.
February 24, 1991: Unearths the few belongings that he buried in the sand when he abandoned his Datsun.
February 27, 1991: Buries his backpack and hitchhikes into Las Vegas.
May 10, 1991: Leaves Las Vegas.
July–August, 1991: Possibly living in coastal Oregon, sends a postcard to Jan Burres complaining about the interminable fog and rain.
October 1991: Arrives in Bullhead City, Arizona, where he works for two months at McDonald's and lives in an empty RV overseen by an old man named Charlie.
December 9, 1991: Sends a postcard to Jan Burres in Niland, California, including a map so she and boyfriend Bob can visit him in Bullhead City.
December 13, 1991: Unexpectedly appears at Burres's campsite at The Slabs campground in Niland.
January 1992: Meets Ronald Franz while hitchhiking near California's Salton Sea.
February 1992: Dropped by Franz at the San Diego waterfront. Mails Jan Burres a postcard telling her that he has been living on the streets in San Diego for a week.
March 5, 1992: Sends postcards to Burres and Franz from Seattle.
March 12, 1992: Calls Franz from Coachella, California, in the desert not far from the Salton Sea and asks Franz to pick him up.
March 13, 1992: Spends one night at Franz's house.
March 14, 1992: Driven by Franz to Grand Junction, Colorado.
March 14 (approximate) to March 28, 1992: Works at Wayne Westerberg's grain elevator in Carthage, South Dakota.
March 1992: Leaves Carthage, bound for Alaska.
April 13–15, 1992: Stops at Liard Hot Springs in British Columbia, Canada, where he is stuck for two days before hitching a ride with Gaylord Stuckey in the cab of his sunflower-seed-hauling truck.
April 18, 1992: Hitchhikes north. Takes a photo of the sign that marks the official start of the Alaska Highway.
April 18–21, 1992: Reads up on edible plants at the University of Alaska's Fairbanks campus. Buys a used gun and sends postcards. Leaving the campus, hikes west.
April 22, 1992 (approximate): Pitches his tent on frozen ground not far from the Stampede Trail.
April 28, 1992: Waking down the highway, is picked up by Jim Gallien, a truck-driving electrician on his way to Anchorage. A three-hour drive brings McCandless to the Stampede Trail.
April 30, 1992: Sees Mt. McKinley.
May 1, 1992: Finds an old bus beside the Sushana River and writes "Magic Bus Day" in his journal. Decides to stay for a while, taking advantage of the bus's ". . . crude comforts."
May 5, 1992: Kills and eats a spruce grouse.
May 9, 1992: Shoots a small squirrel and writes "4th day famine" in his journal.
Mid-May, 1992: With only four hours of darkness each night, can forage for edible plants. Feasts on lingonberries and rose hips.
May 22, 1992: A crown falls off one of McCandless's molars.
May–June 1992: Regularly eats squirrel, spruce grouse, duck, goose, and porcupine.
June 9, 1992: Kills a moose and takes a photo of himself with the carcass.
June 10, 1992: Amid hordes of flies and mosquitoes, butchers the moose carcass and tries to preserve the meat.
June 14, 1992: Discovering maggots on the carcass, abandons it to the local wolves.
July 3, 1992: Prepares his backpack and sets out on the 20-mile hike back to the road.
July 5, 1992: What had been a series of frozen beaver ponds in April has become a lake. What once was an easily fordable river is now a raging torrent that McCandless cannot cross. Heads back to the bus.
July 8, 1992: Arrives back at the bus.
July 30, 1992: Writes in his journal, "EXTREMELY WEAK, FAULT OF POT. SEED. MUCH TROUBLE JUST TO STAND UP. STARVING. GREAT JEOPARDY."
August 5, 1992: Writes "DAY 100! MADE IT!" and "BUT IN WEAKEST CONDITION OF LIFE. DEATH LOOMS AS SERIOUS THREAT."
August 9, 1992: Sees a bear but doesn't shoot it, kills five squirrels.
August 11, 1992: Kills and eats a ptarmigan.
August 12, 1992: Posting an S.O.S. note on the bus door, forages nearby for berries. Writes his final journal entry: "Beautiful blueberries."
August 18 or 19, 1992: Dies, apparently of starvation, in his sleeping bag in the bus along the Sushana River in Alaska.
September 1992: Hikers and hunters discover McCandless's S.O.S. note, then his body in the bus.
Because author Jon Krakauer presents the events of Into the Wild out of chronological order, establishing what happened when can challenge the reader. For the sake of clarity, this timeline rearranges the book's episodes in the order in which they occurred, rather than the order in which they appear in Into the Wild.
May 12, 1990: Christopher Johnson McCandless graduates from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He tells his parents that he is going to spend the summer traveling in his car, a used yellow Datsun.
June 1990: Mails his final college transcript and a brief note to his parents' home in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. McCandless's family will never hear from him again.
July 6, 1990: Arrives at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada.
July 10, 1990: Abandons his car after it is damaged by a flash flood. Loads his belongings into his backpack and sets out on foot.
July–August 1990: Hitchhikes to California's Lake Tahoe, then hikes into the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Travels to the Cascade mountains, across the lava beds of the Columbia River basin, and across the Idaho panhandle. Jan Burres and her boyfriend Bob discover McCandless by the side of the road and befriend him. In Cut Bank, Montana, meets Wayne Westerberg.
August 1990: McCandless's parents drive to Atlanta looking for their son and discover that his apartment was vacated five weeks earlier.
August 10, 1990: Receives a ticket for hitchhiking in Willow Creek, California.
October 1990: McCandless's Datsun is discovered by a park ranger.
October 28, 1990: In Needles, California, reaches the Colorado River. Walks south through the desert, arriving in Topock, Arizona, where he buys a second-hand canoe.
October–November 1990: Canoes on the Colorado River, apparently traveling through Lake Havasu, the Bill Williams River, the Colorado River Indian Reservation, the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge, and the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground. Sends a postcard to Wayne Westerberg at the Sioux Falls work-release facility where his friend has been incarcerated.
December 1990: The private investigator employed by McCandless's parents discovers that their son donated $24,000 to OXFAM.
December 2, 1990: Reaches the Morelos Dam and the Mexican border.
December 6, 1990: Encounters hazardous waterfalls along the Colorado River.
December 12, 1990: Realizes that he will not reach the Gulf of California traveling this route. Meets duck hunters who drive him there.
December 14–24, 1990: Pulls his canoe out of the water and sets up camp on the edge of a desolate plateau.
December 25, 1990: Seeking refuge from high winds, discovers a cave on the face of a bluff, where he stays for 10 days.
January 11, 1991: Back in his canoe, encounters a violent storm that almost drowns him.
January 16, 1991: Leaving his canoe at El Golfo de Santa Clara, starts wandering northward.
January 18, 1991: Caught by U.S. Immigration officials when he tries to slip back into the country from Mexico. Spends one night in jail.
January–February 1991: Travels to Houston and then to the Pacific coast.
February 3, 1991: Applies for an ID and a job in Los Angeles, then changes his mind and returns to the road.
February 9, 1991: Camps at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with a young German couple. Notes in his journal that he has lost over 25 pounds.
February 24, 1991: Unearths the few belongings that he buried in the sand when he abandoned his Datsun.
February 27, 1991: Buries his backpack and hitchhikes into Las Vegas.
May 10, 1991: Leaves Las Vegas.
July–August, 1991: Possibly living in coastal Oregon, sends a postcard to Jan Burres complaining about the interminable fog and rain.
October 1991: Arrives in Bullhead City, Arizona, where he works for two months at McDonald's and lives in an empty RV overseen by an old man named Charlie.
December 9, 1991: Sends a postcard to Jan Burres in Niland, California, including a map so she and boyfriend Bob can visit him in Bullhead City.
December 13, 1991: Unexpectedly appears at Burres's campsite at The Slabs campground in Niland.
January 1992: Meets Ronald Franz while hitchhiking near California's Salton Sea.
February 1992: Dropped by Franz at the San Diego waterfront. Mails Jan Burres a postcard telling her that he has been living on the streets in San Diego for a week.
March 5, 1992: Sends postcards to Burres and Franz from Seattle.
March 12, 1992: Calls Franz from Coachella, California, in the desert not far from the Salton Sea and asks Franz to pick him up.
March 13, 1992: Spends one night at Franz's house.
March 14, 1992: Driven by Franz to Grand Junction, Colorado.
March 14 (approximate) to March 28, 1992: Works at Wayne Westerberg's grain elevator in Carthage, South Dakota.
March 1992: Leaves Carthage, bound for Alaska.
April 13–15, 1992: Stops at Liard Hot Springs in British Columbia, Canada, where he is stuck for two days before hitching a ride with Gaylord Stuckey in the cab of his sunflower-seed-hauling truck.
April 18, 1992: Hitchhikes north. Takes a photo of the sign that marks the official start of the Alaska Highway.
April 18–21, 1992: Reads up on edible plants at the University of Alaska's Fairbanks campus. Buys a used gun and sends postcards. Leaving the campus, hikes west.
April 22, 1992 (approximate): Pitches his tent on frozen ground not far from the Stampede Trail.
April 28, 1992: Waking down the highway, is picked up by Jim Gallien, a truck-driving electrician on his way to Anchorage. A three-hour drive brings McCandless to the Stampede Trail.
April 30, 1992: Sees Mt. McKinley.
May 1, 1992: Finds an old bus beside the Sushana River and writes "Magic Bus Day" in his journal. Decides to stay for a while, taking advantage of the bus's ". . . crude comforts."
May 5, 1992: Kills and eats a spruce grouse.
May 9, 1992: Shoots a small squirrel and writes "4th day famine" in his journal.
Mid-May, 1992: With only four hours of darkness each night, can forage for edible plants. Feasts on lingonberries and rose hips.
May 22, 1992: A crown falls off one of McCandless's molars.
May–June 1992: Regularly eats squirrel, spruce grouse, duck, goose, and porcupine.
June 9, 1992: Kills a moose and takes a photo of himself with the carcass.
June 10, 1992: Amid hordes of flies and mosquitoes, butchers the moose carcass and tries to preserve the meat.
June 14, 1992: Discovering maggots on the carcass, abandons it to the local wolves.
July 3, 1992: Prepares his backpack and sets out on the 20-mile hike back to the road.
July 5, 1992: What had been a series of frozen beaver ponds in April has become a lake. What once was an easily fordable river is now a raging torrent that McCandless cannot cross. Heads back to the bus.
July 8, 1992: Arrives back at the bus.
July 30, 1992: Writes in his journal, "EXTREMELY WEAK, FAULT OF POT. SEED. MUCH TROUBLE JUST TO STAND UP. STARVING. GREAT JEOPARDY."
August 5, 1992: Writes "DAY 100! MADE IT!" and "BUT IN WEAKEST CONDITION OF LIFE. DEATH LOOMS AS SERIOUS THREAT."
August 9, 1992: Sees a bear but doesn't shoot it, kills five squirrels.
August 11, 1992: Kills and eats a ptarmigan.
August 12, 1992: Posting an S.O.S. note on the bus door, forages nearby for berries. Writes his final journal entry: "Beautiful blueberries."
August 18 or 19, 1992: Dies, apparently of starvation, in his sleeping bag in the bus along the Sushana River in Alaska.
September 1992: Hikers and hunters discover McCandless's S.O.S. note, then his body in the bus.
Into the Wild By Jon Krakauer Study Help Full Glossary for Into the Wild
Alkali flats Dry lake or salt flat consisting of fine-grained sediments.
Antimony Silvery element used as a flame retardant and in ball bearings.
Anza-Borrego Desert Southern California desert roughly two hours northeast of San Diego.
Arctomecon californica Rare California bear-paw poppy.
Arroyo Dry creek bed.
ATV All-Terrain Vehicle.
Badlands/bajada Any section of barren land where rapid erosion has cut the loose, dry soil or soft rocks into strange shapes, as in various places in the Western United States.
Bear-paw poppy See Arctomecon californica.
Bight Bay formed by a curve in a river.
Black River River in the eastern Yukon region of Alaska.
Bryce Canyon Natural amphitheater located in a remote area of southwestern Utah.
Bullhead City City in Arizona along the Colorado River.
Captain Ahab Captain of the whaling ship Pequod, in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick.
Cibola National Wildlife Refuge Rests on the lower floodplain of the Colorado River between Arizona and California, surrounded by desert.
Chollas Kind of cactus.
Colorado River Indian Reservation Indian reservation established in 1865 and composed of members of the Mojavi, Hopi, Navajo, and Chemehuevi nations.
Combine Machine that harvests grain crops, commonly corn, soy, oats, and wheat.
Cordova Small Alaska city located on the east side of Prince William Sound.
Crevasse Deep crack or fissure, especially in an ice sheet or glacier.
Davis Gulch A gulch, or narrow gorge, in southern Utah with an oasis at its bottom.
Denali National Park U.S. National Park and Preserve containing Mount McKinley, North America's highest mountain.
Dillard, Annie (b. 1945) Pulitzer prize–winning American author of narrative nonfiction.
Edwards, John Menlove (1910–58) British writer and rock climber.
El Capitan Popular mountain destination for rock climbers located in California's Yosemite National Park.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803–82) American poet and Transcendentalist philosopher whose works include the essay "Self-Reliance."
Emory University Private university located in Atlanta, Georgia, founded by Methodists in the 1830s.
Escarpment Steep slope or cliff formed by erosion.
Fireweed Wildflower so named because it is one of the first plants to grow on ground that has been burned.
Glacial till Unsorted sediment deposited directly by the glacier.
Gogol, Nikolai (1809–52) Ukrainian-born Russian novelist and playwright who often mocked the corrupt morals of society and the ineptitude of government; his best-known story is "The Overcoat."
Haines, John (b. 1924) Former poet laureate of Alaska.
Imperial Valley Agricultural community in California bordered by the Colorado River to the east and the Salton Sea to the west.
Inupiat People native to Alaska's northwest arctic region.
Kayenta Anasazi Ancient Native Americans who created pictographs and rock art in the deserts of the American southwest.
Kerouac, Jack (1922–69) American author and member of the so-called "Beat" writers who wrote the seminal novel On the Road.
Kobuk River River located in the arctic region of northwestern Alaska.
L'Amour, Louis (1908–88) American author of popular Western novels.
Lake Mead Largest reservoir in the United States, located on the Colorado River in Nevada and Arizona.
Lake Powell Reservoir in southern Utah.
Lake Tahoe Large, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada range, located along the border of California and Nevada.
London, Jack (1876–1916) American author and social activist best known for his novels Call of the Wild and White Fang.
Manson, Charles (b. 1934) Cult leader in the1960s convicted of murdering six people.
Mexican serape Long, blanket-like shawl similar to a poncho.
Mojave Desert High desert bordered by the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, and Tehachapi Mountain ranges.
Morro Bay California city on the ocean in San Luis Obispo County.
Muir, John (1838–1914) Scottish-born California naturalist and preservationist.
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for U.S. civilian aeronautical space program.
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm (1844–1900) Prussian-born philosopher who believed in questioning all ideas and doctrines and proposed theory of the "Super Man."
Niland Small, mostly agricultural town in Imperial County, California.
Nordwand German for "north face" as in describing a mountain.
Ocotillo Succulent native to the American southwest.
Pacific Crest Trail Hiking and horseback-riding trail that runs between Mexico and Canada through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington.
Ptarmigan Medium-sized game bird.
Saguaros Giant cactus with thick, spiny stems and white flowers native to the southwestern United States.
San Jacinto Peak Highest peak of the San Jacinto Mountain range, a favorite of naturalist John Muir.
Saltbush Various plants of the goosefoot family, frequently growing in saline or alkaline soil, as in salt marshes or desert areas.
Salton Sea Saltwater lake located below sea level in the Colorado Desert.
Sierra Nevada Mountain range in California and Nevada that is 400 miles long and 70 miles wide.
Stegner, Wallace (1909–93) Essayist and novelist of the American West; his most famous work is the novel Angle of Repose.
Stikine Ice Cap Extremely large ice field on the Alaska–British Columbia border known for its technically difficult ice-climbing peaks.
Thoreau, Henry David (1817–62) American author, poet, naturalist, and philosopher who wrote Walden, about living simply in natural surroundings.
Tolstoy, Count Leo (1828–1910) Russian writer and aristocrat who late in life became a fervent anarchist and pacifist; his most famous novels are War and Peace and Anna Karenina.
Topographic map Map that depicts both natural and man-made features.
Twain, Mark (1835–1910; born Samuel Clemens) American humorist, satirist, and novelist; wrote the novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
United States Geological Survey Agency that studies the country's landscape, natural resources, and potentially threatening natural hazards.
Wells, H. G. (1866–1946) English historian and science-fiction author.
Weston, Edward (1886–1958) Famous photographer of the American west.
White gypsum Very soft, white, and chalky mineral.
Whymper, Edward (1840–1911) English illustrator, mountain climber, and explorer.
Yarrow Flowering plant known in herbal medicine and folk medicine to staunch the flow of blood from a wound.
Yosemite National Park U.S. National Park located in California.
Yuma Proving Ground One of the largest military sites in the world, where the U.S. Army tests weapons.
Alkali flats Dry lake or salt flat consisting of fine-grained sediments.
Antimony Silvery element used as a flame retardant and in ball bearings.
Anza-Borrego Desert Southern California desert roughly two hours northeast of San Diego.
Arctomecon californica Rare California bear-paw poppy.
Arroyo Dry creek bed.
ATV All-Terrain Vehicle.
Badlands/bajada Any section of barren land where rapid erosion has cut the loose, dry soil or soft rocks into strange shapes, as in various places in the Western United States.
Bear-paw poppy See Arctomecon californica.
Bight Bay formed by a curve in a river.
Black River River in the eastern Yukon region of Alaska.
Bryce Canyon Natural amphitheater located in a remote area of southwestern Utah.
Bullhead City City in Arizona along the Colorado River.
Captain Ahab Captain of the whaling ship Pequod, in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick.
Cibola National Wildlife Refuge Rests on the lower floodplain of the Colorado River between Arizona and California, surrounded by desert.
Chollas Kind of cactus.
Colorado River Indian Reservation Indian reservation established in 1865 and composed of members of the Mojavi, Hopi, Navajo, and Chemehuevi nations.
Combine Machine that harvests grain crops, commonly corn, soy, oats, and wheat.
Cordova Small Alaska city located on the east side of Prince William Sound.
Crevasse Deep crack or fissure, especially in an ice sheet or glacier.
Davis Gulch A gulch, or narrow gorge, in southern Utah with an oasis at its bottom.
Denali National Park U.S. National Park and Preserve containing Mount McKinley, North America's highest mountain.
Dillard, Annie (b. 1945) Pulitzer prize–winning American author of narrative nonfiction.
Edwards, John Menlove (1910–58) British writer and rock climber.
El Capitan Popular mountain destination for rock climbers located in California's Yosemite National Park.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803–82) American poet and Transcendentalist philosopher whose works include the essay "Self-Reliance."
Emory University Private university located in Atlanta, Georgia, founded by Methodists in the 1830s.
Escarpment Steep slope or cliff formed by erosion.
Fireweed Wildflower so named because it is one of the first plants to grow on ground that has been burned.
Glacial till Unsorted sediment deposited directly by the glacier.
Gogol, Nikolai (1809–52) Ukrainian-born Russian novelist and playwright who often mocked the corrupt morals of society and the ineptitude of government; his best-known story is "The Overcoat."
Haines, John (b. 1924) Former poet laureate of Alaska.
Imperial Valley Agricultural community in California bordered by the Colorado River to the east and the Salton Sea to the west.
Inupiat People native to Alaska's northwest arctic region.
Kayenta Anasazi Ancient Native Americans who created pictographs and rock art in the deserts of the American southwest.
Kerouac, Jack (1922–69) American author and member of the so-called "Beat" writers who wrote the seminal novel On the Road.
Kobuk River River located in the arctic region of northwestern Alaska.
L'Amour, Louis (1908–88) American author of popular Western novels.
Lake Mead Largest reservoir in the United States, located on the Colorado River in Nevada and Arizona.
Lake Powell Reservoir in southern Utah.
Lake Tahoe Large, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada range, located along the border of California and Nevada.
London, Jack (1876–1916) American author and social activist best known for his novels Call of the Wild and White Fang.
Manson, Charles (b. 1934) Cult leader in the1960s convicted of murdering six people.
Mexican serape Long, blanket-like shawl similar to a poncho.
Mojave Desert High desert bordered by the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, and Tehachapi Mountain ranges.
Morro Bay California city on the ocean in San Luis Obispo County.
Muir, John (1838–1914) Scottish-born California naturalist and preservationist.
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for U.S. civilian aeronautical space program.
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm (1844–1900) Prussian-born philosopher who believed in questioning all ideas and doctrines and proposed theory of the "Super Man."
Niland Small, mostly agricultural town in Imperial County, California.
Nordwand German for "north face" as in describing a mountain.
Ocotillo Succulent native to the American southwest.
Pacific Crest Trail Hiking and horseback-riding trail that runs between Mexico and Canada through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington.
Ptarmigan Medium-sized game bird.
Saguaros Giant cactus with thick, spiny stems and white flowers native to the southwestern United States.
San Jacinto Peak Highest peak of the San Jacinto Mountain range, a favorite of naturalist John Muir.
Saltbush Various plants of the goosefoot family, frequently growing in saline or alkaline soil, as in salt marshes or desert areas.
Salton Sea Saltwater lake located below sea level in the Colorado Desert.
Sierra Nevada Mountain range in California and Nevada that is 400 miles long and 70 miles wide.
Stegner, Wallace (1909–93) Essayist and novelist of the American West; his most famous work is the novel Angle of Repose.
Stikine Ice Cap Extremely large ice field on the Alaska–British Columbia border known for its technically difficult ice-climbing peaks.
Thoreau, Henry David (1817–62) American author, poet, naturalist, and philosopher who wrote Walden, about living simply in natural surroundings.
Tolstoy, Count Leo (1828–1910) Russian writer and aristocrat who late in life became a fervent anarchist and pacifist; his most famous novels are War and Peace and Anna Karenina.
Topographic map Map that depicts both natural and man-made features.
Twain, Mark (1835–1910; born Samuel Clemens) American humorist, satirist, and novelist; wrote the novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
United States Geological Survey Agency that studies the country's landscape, natural resources, and potentially threatening natural hazards.
Wells, H. G. (1866–1946) English historian and science-fiction author.
Weston, Edward (1886–1958) Famous photographer of the American west.
White gypsum Very soft, white, and chalky mineral.
Whymper, Edward (1840–1911) English illustrator, mountain climber, and explorer.
Yarrow Flowering plant known in herbal medicine and folk medicine to staunch the flow of blood from a wound.
Yosemite National Park U.S. National Park located in California.
Yuma Proving Ground One of the largest military sites in the world, where the U.S. Army tests weapons.
Character List
Christopher Johnson McCandless Intelligent, idealistic young man who believes that life is best lived alone, in nature. He spends two years testing his theory throughout the western United States before entering the wilds of Alaska unprepared and starving to death. Calls himself "Alexander Supertramp" or just "Alex."
Anchorage couple Pair who stumbles upon an abandoned bus along Alaska's Sushana River in August 1992. They read McCandless's S.O.S. note on the rear door and perceive a rotting smell emanating from the bus.
Jan Burres and Bob Itinerant couple who meets McCandless in the summer of 1990 when he is searching for edible berries alongside U.S. Highway 101. Estranged from her own son, Jan takes a special interest in McCandless.
Charlie Old man who lives outside Bullhead City, Arizona, and suggests that McCandless live in an empty RV of which Charlie is a caretaker.
Ronald Franz Eighty-year-old man who gives McCandless a ride from Salton City, California, to Grand Junction, Colorado. After McCandless's death, Franz heeds the young man's advice to "hit the road" and live off the grid.
Jim Gallien Last person to see McCandless alive. In April 1992, he drops off the young man on Alaska's Stampede Trail, giving McCandless his boots and advising him to reconsider his plan to live off the land.
Jon Krakauer The author. Describes his own youthful assault on a notorious Alaskan peak to offer comparisons with and insights into McCandless's journey.
Carine McCandless Chris's younger sister and confidante.
Samuel Walter McCandless Chris's father, a NASA scientist and entrepreneur who develops advanced radar systems. Married twice, Walt McCandless has a total of eight children. Chris is from his second marriage.
Wilhelmina "Billie" McCandless Chris's mother and Walt's second wife, who works with Walt on various business ventures involving his radar systems.
Ken Thompson, Gordon Samel, and Ferdie Swanson Moose hunters who happen upon the bus in which McCandless has died of starvation.
Wayne Westerberg Grain elevator operator who befriends McCandless in north-central Montana in the fall of 1990. Westerberg offers him a ride, a place to stay, and then a job.
Christopher Johnson McCandless Intelligent, idealistic young man who believes that life is best lived alone, in nature. He spends two years testing his theory throughout the western United States before entering the wilds of Alaska unprepared and starving to death. Calls himself "Alexander Supertramp" or just "Alex."
Anchorage couple Pair who stumbles upon an abandoned bus along Alaska's Sushana River in August 1992. They read McCandless's S.O.S. note on the rear door and perceive a rotting smell emanating from the bus.
Jan Burres and Bob Itinerant couple who meets McCandless in the summer of 1990 when he is searching for edible berries alongside U.S. Highway 101. Estranged from her own son, Jan takes a special interest in McCandless.
Charlie Old man who lives outside Bullhead City, Arizona, and suggests that McCandless live in an empty RV of which Charlie is a caretaker.
Ronald Franz Eighty-year-old man who gives McCandless a ride from Salton City, California, to Grand Junction, Colorado. After McCandless's death, Franz heeds the young man's advice to "hit the road" and live off the grid.
Jim Gallien Last person to see McCandless alive. In April 1992, he drops off the young man on Alaska's Stampede Trail, giving McCandless his boots and advising him to reconsider his plan to live off the land.
Jon Krakauer The author. Describes his own youthful assault on a notorious Alaskan peak to offer comparisons with and insights into McCandless's journey.
Carine McCandless Chris's younger sister and confidante.
Samuel Walter McCandless Chris's father, a NASA scientist and entrepreneur who develops advanced radar systems. Married twice, Walt McCandless has a total of eight children. Chris is from his second marriage.
Wilhelmina "Billie" McCandless Chris's mother and Walt's second wife, who works with Walt on various business ventures involving his radar systems.
Ken Thompson, Gordon Samel, and Ferdie Swanson Moose hunters who happen upon the bus in which McCandless has died of starvation.
Wayne Westerberg Grain elevator operator who befriends McCandless in north-central Montana in the fall of 1990. Westerberg offers him a ride, a place to stay, and then a job.