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Chris McCandless took all kinds of risks and was more adventurous in a few years than me in my entire 17 years of living. However,to me, Chris is a living example of what not to do in life, and let me explain. Throughout this story, Chris has faced many challenges, and although he perseveres through a lot of them, he simply could avoid so many of these issues if he simply used his brain a bit more. Towards the end of this story (or his life), however, he ends up dying in one of the most uncanny ways ever. You’d expect a man who spent this much time as a Nomad to have basic life skills. But we find this to not apply to Chris, as ends up making a chain of mistakes that ultimately lead to his demise. First, he fails to preserve moose meat he hunted for and it ends up spoiling, but that's not the end of it. He then proceeds to run into a river that seems humanly impossible to cross, especially with how lean his body is. Unsurprisingly to me, however, he ends up not realizing that there was a whole separate avenue he could’ve used to cross the river; all he needed to do was bring a map… that’s right, his ultimate demise ended up being due to his lack of equipment (if you even consider a basic map “survival equipment”).

In addition to this, I also dislike how he left his entire family behind with little regard to how they would react. Sure, you could argue that his decision is justified as he had just learned some devastating news regarding his dad’s double life, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he left his mom and sister back at home to worry about him. To me, it seems like he made a spur of the moment decision, which makes me view him as selfish.

Lastly, I do have to give him credit where credit is due. He gave up $25,000 to charity (which is more than appreciative), and lived his life outside of his comfort zone. He took risks that I could never even bring myself to, and I applaud him for that. But that doesn’t change my opinion on him and make me think of him as any more than a selfish runaway. It’s unfortunate he died so early, but I think that it was just karma catching up to him in the end.

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To be honest, it's hard to tell where my journey will end; but I know what direction I'm aiming my future towards. First off, I plan on attending a university and major in Statistics or accounting. After I finish my education, I want to move back to my hometown in the Big Apple (New York). After all, you know the saying, "there's nothing like home." After I move back to New York, I would want to find a job that would financially support me, while also bonding and reconnecting with my siblings who also live there right now.

As for plans after, I want to travel the world, with Japan and France as my priority destinations. I know not a lot of people get to see their dreams be lived out, so I just hope that in 10 years from now, I'll be happy with my life.

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Summary: There was a lot of debate surrounding the true cause of Chris’s death. At first, they concluded that he was wrong, since alpinum seeds (205) are not acidic. They instead, however, believed that his death was linked to a toxic amino acid (210), rather than a toxic alkaloid. The amino acid L-canavanine was thought to be present in his body around the time of his death (211). However, at the end of the section, it is confirmed that toxic (212) seeds were partially responsible for his death, and the full cause is unknown.

Analysis: Well, I think that if they really committed a team of scientists and botanists to McCandless's death, they could piece it together 100%. But in the end, no one will 100% know how it ended. To be honest, I think he may have killed himself from all the pain he suffered from starvation and such.

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Summary- The Epilogue takes us into a helicopter (Page 200) as we explore the aftermath of Chris’s death at his abandoned bus. His mom collects what remains of his son’s belongings, silently (Page 202) in a state of grief as she thinks about how her son is actually gone. They install a memorial (Page 202) outside of his bus, in loving memory of Chris McCandless. Towards the end, his mom begins to ease up, and finds it comforting (Page 203), knowing that she has some clarity on what happened to her son, after three (Page 203) long years having no clue where he is. She says that, if Chris were still around, she would understand why people find his actions and courage admirable; but he’s dead, so it still pains her. As the epilogue ends, the view of the bus slowly dwindles away.
Analysis- I agree with Chris's mom. Chris's actions were admirable to some who are looking for adventure; but to me, it's foolish. To worry your family like this is just stupid, and I wish Chris had played it safer, instead of being so impulsive and making these nomadic decisions so hastily. I guess I'm just upset at the fact that he had a loving mother and sister back at home and he still, in a way, betrayed their feelings.

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Summary - In this section, Krakauer visits the Teklanika River. The water (173) is relatively high, with a violent flow (174) and current. We learn about the harsh conditions of the river; with that logic (174), it would make sense that it would be difficult to cross (175) the river, even as a healthy man, much less someone as malnourished as Chris. Rummaging through McCandless remaining inventory in the bus, with missing (178) windows, Krakauer comes to the conclusion that his death was due to his willpower. His driver and persistence ended up causing him to to challenge himself with the most dangerous activities. Ultimately, he ended up starving himself to death in the bus.
Analysis- Chris, although perseverant, seemed quite stupid and ignorant. Maybe there were a ton of mental factors that may have also resulted in his death (maybe he was suicidal?), but if there weren't, then he clearly was not trying to keep himself alive. Just starving himself in the river with no sense of direction is inevitably putting the nail in the coffin.

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Summary- The chapter is in the perspective of Chris McCandless, as he assumes the role of a "hunter-gatherer". At the beginning of his story, he befriends Gaylord Stuckey. Although reluctant, Stuckey gives him a ride to Fairbanks, where Chris spends a few days on his own. He struggles looking for food (168), which causes him to have to learn to hunt small game in order to keep himself fed. Eventually, he ups his game and is so proud of himself that he even documents himself killing a moose. He continues this habit of documenting and journaling, but ultimately ends up writing a disastrous journal entry, detailing how he is scared to attempt to cross the river.
Analysis- We, as the audience, learn that his foolishness to obtain a map of his area ultimately enables his demise. To me, this doesn't surprise me, as the entire book throws constant reminders at how unprepared he is when it comes to the situations he puts himself in.

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Summary- This chapter is a continuation of Chapter 14. In it, we learn about his attempt at climbing Devil's Thumb. Besides this, however, the chapter focuses on another key issue, family relationships. We learn about how Krakauer's father was very strict in his upbringing, wanting his kids to be a lawyer/doctor. In his middle age, Krakauer's father experienced symptoms of polio, which caused him to make troubled (Page 152) decisions. Salvaging (Page 151) the best of the situation, his dad resorted to being a junkie and shallow (Page 151) father. After this flashback, we continue on Krakauer's journey, where he attempts the ascent one more time. Having survived (Page 155), he makes it to the top of the summit, where all fear starts to die (Page 156) down.
Analysis- I learned in this chapter how determined Krakauer is as a character. This chapter gave me insight on how far of lengths he'll go to for perseverance. In addition, the Devil's Thumb is even scarier than the name suggests, based off his description of the climbing challenge.

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Summary- In Alaska, we learn about Krakauer's experiences. This causes him to believe that despite recent news and telling, Chris's death was not suicide; but just a folly accident. We learn about Krakauer and his climbing on the Devils Thumb, a dangerous terrain. Krakauer meets another explorer too and makes a lot of progress towards the "finish line". Eventually, he makes it to the top.
Analysis- The chapter, to me, is quite boring. Everything feels like it has been repeated and now we are just going through flashbacks of old characters to take up time. Although I must say that even though there's little plot development, I find these stories quite interesting.

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Summary- After a talk with his Chris's younger sister, we learn about the emotional pain she endures. She constantly is brought down emotionally by her brother's death. They brought his ashes through Alaska to keep with his mother. His mother is also in emotional grievance, as she can only weep out of her motherly nature.
Analysis- This chapter just gave me a newfound appreciation for my siblings. His family grieves him in a way that suggests they barely got any time with him before he left, only to pass away. Despite him not being around, his mother loved him deeply as if he was never gone.

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Summary -As the search for rationale behind Chris McCandless's trip into the wild continue, Krakauer provides anecdotal experiences to attempt to help the search. McCandless took an extended trip into the American West before his graduation, leaving his father with an expensive telescope as a gift beforehand. He kept in contact with home inconsistently, eventually falling out of touch entirely. He returns looking more rugged, with a beard, before he is to begin college at Emory. He works for the student paper and is a top student, but as time passes, he begins to fall apart, becoming anti-social. It is revealed that he learned during his trip that his father kept in contact with his first wife and kids, jumping from house to house. Krakauer believes McCandless was unable to forgive his father's deeds, despite how much more accepting he believed he was. He became ill minded, publishing frantic political opinions in the student paper and living in an unkempt apartment without any sort of phone in his senior year. After he graduates, he paid back his debt to his parents, and drove away. Billie McCandless wakes up in the night, convinced her son was calling for her assistance.
Analysis- This was definitely a plot twist. I don't really blame him anymore for his actions. Finding out something as major as this could be life changing and would definitely cause a rift in my family too.

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Summary- After a talk with Walt McCandless, Krakauer begins to reflect on his own experiences with his father. He starts wondering what drove Chris to make the decisions he did. He ultimately connected this to his parents, as Chris was considered a very smart, yet lazy, student. Chris was also a competitive long distance runner as well, and even attended university in Emory University.
Analysis- Despite being seen as a person that any parent would dream of having, Chris was not happy. Chris had everything going for him, but clearly there was more that was driving him away from being truly happy. This might've been some social issues (maybe bullying?) that his parents ignored that would cause him to run away.

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Summary: Jim Gallien sees a front page article about a boy's death, and believes he knows the identity of the body, and attempts to provide intel to Anchorage police. What he doesn't realize, however, is that he repeated a lie that Chris told him,  Coincidentally however, Krakauer hears a description of McCandless on the a radio show, phoning the Alaska State Troopers, who unfortunately dismiss him due to lack of evidence,. A detective reaches Chris McCandless's half brother, Sam, and identifies a photo of Chris. This leaves him to explain to his parents that Chris is dead.
Analysis: This chapter seemed the most odd to me. It's hard to keep track of all the dramatic events that go on and remember the role of each character, old and new ones.

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Summary: The chapter does not focus on Chris as much as it focuses on a new character, Everett Reuss. His journey started around 1934 and shares many similarities to Chris's journey. This includes the idea of acting nomadic, name changing, and identity swapping. In the end, however, Reuss's body was never found. The author proposes many theories as to what may have happened to him.
Analysis: In my opinion, this chapter just goes to show how many people act on people just like McCandless. These urges to achieve adrenaline can cause men towards a state of isolation if acted upon. These actions can lead to unforeseeable and dangerous consequences.

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Summary: At the beginning of this chapter, Jon’s article on Alex and his journey is published. He receives letters on how many people think Alex is insane. This chapter features 3 other people and their stories in the wild. In all 3 stories, they failed their journeys and ended up dying.
Analysis: While I don’t understand the point of recapping other peoples stories, I guess these stories attempt to try to get an understanding on why Alex went into the wild.

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Summary: This chapter takes place back in Carthage. Alex works back at the grain elevator for 4 weeks.
Analysis:

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Summary: While Alex takes shelter, he runs into an army veteran, Franz, who was an alcoholic. Franz tries to convince Alex to leave, which ultimately ends in Alex telling him not to worry about him. In South Dakota, Alex writes Franz a letter, giving him advice. To our surprise. Franz actually listens to Alex’s advice. After finding out Alex died, however, he goes back to his alcoholic lifestyle and stops going to church.
Analysis:

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Summary: This chapter is very vague in Alex’s location, as he stopped photographing his adventures as often. Alex continues hitchhiking, with brief stints working at different places, including a mcdonalds. In the end, he ends up living at the edge of town. He writes to Jan and Bob and visits them. He helps them and works on selling used books.
Analysis:

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Summary: Near Atlanta, a car in which McCandless ditched after a flash flood (page 26) is discovered. In it were his legal documents, car keys, some spare change (page 26), and other things. Alex enters Mexico illegally and is arrested for a night. After that, he re enters America through the South.
Analysis: This chapter makes me realize how much of an impact he really had. The fact that there was evidence found 2 months later that ties to him

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Summary: In the quiet (page 15) town of Carthage, houses were all clustered (page 16) together, like a small community. Here we meet Westerberg, who offered Alex shelter and work at his grain elevator. Alex seemed to be having a great time, enjoying everyone's company. However, nothing (page 22) was the same after Westerberg was arrested for selling black box satellite for TV's. This led to Alex being left solo on his journey again, without his friends. With his boss and friend gone (page 22) It felt like his destiny (page 23) to go on this journey alone.
Analysis: I think that this chapter shows that there really was a chance for Alex to avoid his tragic death. Had Westerberg not been arrested, who knows what could've become of Alex. Maybe he'd still be alive, but I know he appreciates Wayne for everything he offered to Alex.
#newfriend #blackbox #workinghard

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Summary: Taking place in the northern margin of the Alaska Range, the trail (page 10) contained a body that was discovered by Samuel that morning (page 13). The remains (page 13) included five rolls of exposed film, an SOS note, and a diary. Towards the end of the chapter, it is revealed that there was zero forms of identification (page 14). The question remained, who (page 14) is this guy, and why (page 14) was he here.
Analysis: This chapter introduces a different change of pace that I enjoy. The end of this chapter also leaves us in a state of suspense as we also wonder about the origins of the man.
#Who #Why #confused

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Summary: Starting his journey in Fairbanks, Alex is met by Jim Gallien, an electrician (page 4). Alex tells him he is from South Dakota, and asks to be dropped off as far as the edge of Denali National Park. Jim Gallien looked at the hitchhiker's (page 3) gear and thought he was far too unprepared for a journey and stay that long. Concerned (page 5) for Alex, he even proposes using his own money (page 6) in order to get Alex better gear, which he refuses. In the end, Jim can do nothing to convince him, and just wishes Alex the best of luck in staying alive (page 7).
Analysis: To me, Alex seems like an arrogant man. To refuse assistance from Jim does not make him seem any stronger or more independent. This just makes him seem naive and stupid.
#Thejourneybegins #Stupidity