Half-way point

Responses to Chapters 1-10 question
Chapter 1

1.       1.       The personal history of Chris McCandless, in the Author’s Note, describes him as a young man from a nice family who lived on the East Coast. Chris hitchhiked to Alaska and was found dead in a bus. He grew up in a suburb of Washington D.C. He was great student and athlete. He graduated with honors from Emory University in 1990. Then he decided to start his adventure. He left all his belongs and donated his money. (pg. 1 of Author’s Note)

2.       The themes that Jon Krakauer introduces in the “Author’s Note” are  “the grip wilderness has on the American imagination, the allure high-risk activities hold for young men of a certain mind, the complicated, highly charged bond that exists between fathers and sons.” (pg. 2 Author’s Note).

3.       The purpose of the quoted material at the beginning of Chapter One is to show the reader what is about to come. It also sets a mood and theme for the story to begin. The reader also receives some information about Alex. (pg. 1)

4.       Alex, or Chris McCandless, is the hitchhiker who Jim Gallien picked up on the road. “Alex” did not give a last name and only carried a backpack and a .22 caliber rifle. He said he was from South Dakota and that he was going to live off the land.  He seemed like an intelligent young man. (pg. 4 and 5)

5.       Jim Gallien is a union electrician who lives in Alaska. He is a hunter and woodsman. He met McCandless because he was driving to Anchorage and saw McCandless hitchhiking and gave him a ride. (pg. 4)

6.       Gallien’s assessment of McCandless is that he is an educated man who was not completely ready for the adventure he was getting himself into. He was concerned with the amount of clothes and food that McCandless had with him. He also knew that McCandless’s gun was not strong enough. (pg. 4 and 5)

7.       Gallien tried to give McCandless some advice, such as how hunting was not easy where he was going and how he may not eat much. Gallien also tried to scare him through stories about bears. He also answered all of McCandless’s questions and offered to buy him some gear, but McCandless refused. (pg. 5, 6, and 7)

8.       McCandless responds to Gallien’s offer by refusing any money or buying any gear. Gallien gives McCandless some rubber boats are better insulated. (pg. 6 and 7)

9.       Gallien decides not to alert the authorities about McCandless because he thinks that McCandless will just become hungry and walk back out to the highway. (pg. 7)

10.   It is ironic because McCandless dies of starvation in the bus. When he gets hungry he is going to just keep going. He is also not a normal person. He does not make normal decisions.

Chapter 2

11.   Krakauer would include a quote from the author Jack London as a heading for this chapter two because Chris McCandless’s loved this author. Jack London was an adventure and nature themed author. It was also carved into piece of wood discovered the place of McCandless’s death. The quote is about the darkness and lifelessness of the wild, which relates to the death of McCandless. (pg. 9)

12.   The purpose of the detailed descriptions of Mt. McKinley, Denali, and the Stampede Trail was to explain some history of the area. It also explains how the old bus Chris was found in got there. It set a mood for the reader as well. It helps the reader understand the setting more. (pg.10)

13.   Chris McCandless was supposedly killed by starvation, but because the body was so decomposed, the doctors were not exactly sure if anything else caused his death. His body weighed about 67 pounds. (pg. 13 and 14)

Chapter 3

14.   Wayne Westerberg owns a grain elevator in Carthage. He runs a combine crew. He picked up the Chris when he was hitchhiking. Westerberg did not have much hope for Chris because he was a hitchhiker. Chris turned out to be the hardest worker though. Wayne and Chris got along really well. Chris stayed in touch with Westerberg even after he left. (pg. 16,17 and 18)

15.   A rubber tramp is someone who owns a vehicle. A leather tramp is someone who does not have a form of transportation, so they walk or hitchhike. This is describes the culture of the richer and poorer people. (pg. 17)

16.   The author said that McCandless found a family with Westerberg and the employees because they did activities together, such as cooking for each other, drinking together, and chasing women together. It was the closest thing to a family and friends the McCandless ever had. McCandless had a lasting bond with these people. (Pg. 18 and 19

17.   McCandless left Carthage because there was no work in the grain elevator because Westerberg got in trouble with the law. (pg. 19)

18.   War and Peace was important to McCandless because he gave his treasured version to Westerberg. He wrote a note to Westerberg saying, “Listen to Pierre.” He was trying to help him. (pg. 19)

19.   McCandless was raised in an upper-middle class family in Annandale, Virginia. His father worked for NASA. Chris’s mother was named Billie and father was Walt. They had eight total children. McCandless was closest to Carine. Chris graduated from Emory University with a 3.72 grade average. (pg.19, 20)

20.   He did not want to sell his car. He donated his money. (pg. 20, 21)

21.   McCandless made the change to his name. He changed his name to Alexander Supertramp. (pg. 23)

Chapter 4 and 5

22.   This statement applies to Chris because he left he thought he was leaving to start new and get away from his old life, when he was really learning about himself and how hard it was going to be to try to survive in the desert. He had problems navigating the canals and finding food. He became extremely lost as well. (pg. 34 and 35)

23.   Jan Burres is the women who saw Chris foraging for food and offered him a ride. She sells knick-knacks and has a boyfriend named Bob. Chris stayed with them for a week. After that he stayed in touch and sent postcards. (pg. 30 and 31)

24.   He traveled through many rivers, a reservation, and a wildlife refuge. He loved the desert and the nature that came with it. He crossed the border, into Mexico with it. He got lost with all the canals and irrigation. He ended up in a swap, lost, where some duck hunter found him and took him out to the ocean. The ocean was harsh. There were waves. He broke his oar. After that experience he abandoned the canoe. (pg. 32,33,34,35, and 36)

25.   In his writing about his Mexican adventure, Chris writes in third person, using Alex as his first name. (pg. 34,35, and 36)

26.   When living in Las Vegas, Chris learns what he believes to be the true meaning of life. Chris says, “It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found.” (pg. 37)

27.   In Bullhead City, Chris worked at a McDonalds, but was not loved by anyone. He stayed in the area for two months. He lived in trailer for a while, but was bugged by a man named Charlie. Chris, in general, loved the area. (pg. 39, 40, and 41)

28.   Slab was old navy base that was abandoned. In November, the weather was cold. Older people and drifters would move to the area at this time. It was a popular area for older, exiled, and unemployed people. There were men, women, and children, but most had had a difficult life or were living in a difficult situation. Cheap (pg. 43)

29.   Jan Burres says that Chris was very helpful because he helped run her table at the flea market. He loved reading books, especially books by Jack London. She says, “He was playful, like a little kid.” (pg. 45) She says that he was great with animals and had a musical side. He did not like talking about his parents or family. She finally says, “Alex has a great kid, but he could really make me mad sometimes.” (pg. 46) (pg. 43, 44, 45, and 46)

30.   Burres’s though that Chris had the ability to survive in Alaska. She was worried for him, but she thought he could handle it. She says, “He was smart. He’d figured out how to paddle a canoe down to Mexico, how to hop freight trains, how to score a bed at inner-city mission. He figured all of that out on his own, and I felt sure he’d figure out Alaska, too.” (pg. 46)

Chapter 6 and 7

31.   Ron Franz was a Christian, who was in the army. While he was away, his wife and child died because of a drunk driver. Because of this incident, Franz started drinking. He eventually quit, but was very lonely. He started “adopting” children and caring for them. Franz entered the story when Chris was walking from the bajada and Franz decided to give him a ride. Krakauer thinks that Chris did not really care too much about the relationship, “but the affection he (Franz) felt was genuine, intense, and unalloyed.”(pg. 55)Franz truly wanted to help Chris. He even tried to adopt him. (pg. 49, 50 55)

32.   Anza-Borrego is a desert state park, which was close to Salton Sea, where Chris and Franz were. Chris also set up camp there. The bajada is beneath the badlands of the Anza-Borrego.(pg. 48 and 49)

33.   The tragedy of Ron Franz’s life is that his wife and only child were killed by a drunk driver in a car accident. (pg.50)

34.   Franz truly loved Chris. He felt a “genuine, intense, and unalloyed” feeling for him. Franz requested to adopt Chris. (pg. 51)

35.   Franz taught Alex about leatherwork. Chris made a belt that had symbols from many places he had visited. Franz was impressed by his work. Leathermaking was a bonding time for Chris and Franz. (pg. 51 and 52)

36.   The author says, “McCandless looks tan, strong, and healthy.” McCandless was very excited to be heading north.(pg. 55)

37.   Chris advised Franz to get out Salton City and to start living on the road. He told him to go see some sites, especially the Grand Canyon. He told him to move around and be “nomadic.” He tells him to put a camper on the back of his truck and just leave. Franz responds to this letter, but putting most of his possessions in a storage locker and he moved to the bajada. He just waited there for Chris to return, though. (pg. 57 and 58)

38.   Ron Franz learned about McCandless’s death from some hitchhikers he had picked up. This death changed Franz’s life. He started drinking again, but it made him sick. He even renounced God and left the church. Franz took a turn for the worse. (pg. 59 and 60)

39.   Wayne Westerberg was annoyed at the beginning of the chapter because he was trying to replace a bushing on the combine that had broken down three times before. (pg. 62)

Chapter 8 and 9

40.   McCandless and his father’s relationship was hard. They were both stubborn and high-strung. His father, Walt, wanted control, while Chris wanted to be independent. Chris followed his father’s orders, but after college he ended it with him. Chris may have hated his father, but he loved his sister, Carine. They were close. He said that she was very beautiful. He also wrote to her saying that he was separating from their parents. He wanted nothing to do with them. (pg. 63 and 64)

41.   The purpose of including the full story of Gene Rossellini is that his story was very similar to Chris McCandless For example; they were both brilliant students who read all the time. They had similar life styles. In the end, they both die. (pg. 73,74, and 75)

42.   Krakauer was motivated to include the story of John Waterman because similar to Chris McCandless and Gene Rossellini. Waterman was younger though. He was a very promising young alpinist, but he was mental ill. Waterman also had some problems with his father and had a close relationship with his sibling. Waterman’s story was different and intriguing. (pg. 75, 76,77, and 85)

43.   The purpose of including the story of Chris McCunn in the narrative is because it gives the reader more of a feel about how McCunn truly felt. It also helps connect McCunn and McCandless. (pg. 81)

44.   Everett Ruess was born in 1914. He moved around many times as a child. He went to Otis Art School and Hollywood High. His first real trip by himself was when he was sixteen. He hitchhiked through many places, eventually meeting Edward Weston. Ruess was a good painter and block printer. He went home and earned his high school diploma, but after that he went back to the road. He lived from a backpack, for most of his life. He changed his name several times and sent letters to family members and friends. He went on one of his trip, at the age of twenty, and was never found again. He loved the American West. He traveled through Arizona, New Mexico, and California. He went through the Grand Canyon and other places with natural beauty. He was obviously in love with nature and his surroundings. (pg. 89-95)

45.   Ken Sleight’s conclusion about Ruess and McCandless is that they were both loners but wanted to be around people too. They liked companionship, but then they would get frustrated or annoyed with those people and have to leave again. Sleight also thinks that Ruess drowned not that he was murdered or fell. Sleight says, “Kind of different. But him and McCandless, at least they tried to follow their dream. That’s what was great about them. They tried. Not many do.” (pg. 95)