Chris McCandless in All Ages

Personal Past: Chris was an adventurous person. He was deep, thoughtful and wild all at the dame time. He was personable and very smart. He resisted any instructions, rules and control. If he wanted to do something and someone came along and told him to do it, he would drop it like a hot pan. He was driven to be his own person and be independent from anyone else. He was a charming little kid who could sell anything from vegetables to copies. As a teen, he was a talented boy in school and on the track. He ran his heart out like nobodies business. As an adult he was carefree and finally on his own. He loved life and everything it had to offer.

Family Past: Walt and Billy had a rocky relationship in the beginning which came to light to Chris over one summer while he was in college. Chris was furious to find out that a portion of his childhood was a lie and that his parents were very different people than he thought they were. This made Chris very mad at his parents and was probably the spark that sent him over he edge of near hatred for them.

Grief: This chapter goes over the moment when Carine hears of Chris's death and how mainly she deals with it. It's a fairly hard one to read for me.

What's in a Name?

The names we are given are out identity. They become us and it's how we are identified by our friends, family and everyone we interact with. Mothers and fathers name their children after something they love. A pregnant mother would not say "hmmmm, Jaime sounds good, I guess." a mother thinks "Jaime is one of the most beautiful names I've heard. Jaime is a family name. Jaime means so much to me." and that name becomes you. When I was little, I used to want to change my name to Jennifer. I have no idea why, I just really liked that name. I was so upset that every substitute or anyone reading my name would pronounce it "Hi-may" because that's how it would be pronounced if it were a boys name. I hated it with a passion. But now I don't think I could ever change my name. It would mean changing who I am. I don't want to escape my past or my family like Chris did. I would love to be adventurous and daring and I would love to try living off the land, but I couldn't give up my friends or my family. My first name is who I am and it's who I always will be. I definitely would change my last name when I get married, because that seems right to me. In my opinion, it seems very detached when a woman doesn't take her husbands name. Like she doesn't want to change for someone, and I think that's what love is. You love someone enough to marry them and change your name for them. Though the "Jensen-Sandberg's" end with my sister and I, we still have my cousin's the "Landman-Sandberg's" to carry on the name.

The Tracks Chris Left

Chris wanted ties back to his family and his home. It seemed he wanted to disappear completely and be his own person, but he knew he couldn't. Once in society, always in society. He knew that he couldn't revoke his SSN or really change his name, so he would always be tied to the "real" world forever. He didn't really want to fight it though. He knew he had done all he could to distance himself from it, but he couldn't run from it. If he ran, he wasn't himself. He was not the kind of person to run away, he was the kind of person to run toward things. He didn't leave tracks, he just didn't completely sever himself from society and the real world.

Why the Interruption?

Jon Krakauer wanted to show people that Chris was not like every other person that died in the wilderness. He was sane and happy, and he just wanted to be free.

The Purpose of Chapters 8-10

Chapter 8 and 9:
This chapter has a few purposes. It tells about readers of the issue of Outsider Magazine which featured Chris almost bashing him. Saying he was a child, unprepared, stupid, ignorant and overconfident to name a few. This shows the reaction people have to the story that was in the magazine. I think that Krakauer put these in the book on purpose because he doesn't want his readers feeling the same way. He want's his readers to make more of a connection with Chris than the people that wrote in to the magazine. I, certainly, feel some strong disagreement with the people who wrote in, and I think that that was Jon's intention. It also relates Chris to many other people who have died in the wilderness of Alaska and how they were emotionally unstable and actually wanted to die. He tells these stories because he want's to show that Chris was different. He didn't want to die. He wasn't like every other kid that died in the wilderness. He was Chris McCandless, a much different person than anyone could ever imagine. He was witty, like the other men that died. He was smart like them, adventurous like them, and driven like them, but he had much more than they had. Though it seem's ironic, he was a rational, forward thinker who knew between right and wrong and safe and unsafe. Had he not eaten the wrong plant, he would still be alive today, I think.

Chapter 10:
This chapter illustrates the search for the identity of Chris McCandless. The main thing I noticed was that so many people had thought Chris was their brother or friend. So many people had known someone like Chris or is missing a loved one. Maybe the people calling in actually knew Chris at one point. Krakauer is fitting the pieces together himself and this portion of how they found his identity was vital to the story.

Chris and His Father

Chris had a certain dislike for his father. I can understand that he did not want to be controlled, yet that is all his father wanted to do. They were very similar people with very slight differences, and those differences are what drove them apart. They were both independent, "high strung" men. Walt wanted to be in control of his life and his son's and Chris wanted control of his life. They both wanted control when only Chris really had the right to it. I agree that Chris was right in the decision to distance himself from his parents, but not in the decision to cut them out completely. They really loved him and he should have known that. They should have shown him that more. He should have also tried to meet them half way and send them letters or postcards or maybe just a picture to let them know he is alive and happy, and still thinks of them.

Ronald Franz

Ronald Franz was a character who had been in a rut for awhile. He had been doing the same thing every day for a very long time. He was fairly sad inside, and Alex really brought out the best in him. He really started living his life after he met Alex, which is kind of sad. He definitely has my sympathy because he felt that Alex was a very meaningful person who he thought of as a son. Alex taught him how to live and make the best of things, and it's extremely sad reading his reaction to Chris's death.