Krakauer's attitude toward McCandless

• "Although he was rash, untutored in the ways of the backcountry, and incautious to the point of foolhardiness, he wasn't incompetent- he wouldn't have lasted 113 days if he were. And he wasn't a nutcase, he wasn't a sociopath, he wasn't an outcast. McCandless was something else- although precisely what is hard to say. A pilgrim, perhaps." (Page 90)

Krakauer is concluding, from what he knows of McCandless, that he is a sane individual, if not brilliant. After he wrote the article about McCandless he received many letters saying that McCandless had a death wish going in to the Alaskan wilderness without experience. However, Krakauer had an experience very similar and can relate to McCandless and his hunger for adventure. He does not think McCandless was batty but as an explorer.

• "...but Christopher Johnson McCandless came into the world with unusual gifts and a will not easily deflected from its trajectory." (Page 110)

Based on the information Krakauer has collected about McCandless, he concludes he is a unique and stubborn individual. Not many people attempt the journey McCandless did. He took a major risk and it cost him his life. McCandless was not going to change for anyone and was going to do what he wanted. I think Krakauer understood McCandless complex personality.

• "It would be easy to stereotype Christopher McCandless as another boy who felt too much, a loopy young man who read too many books and lacked even a modicum of common sense. But the stereotype isn't a good fit. McCandless wasn't some feckless slacker, adrift, and confused, racked by existential despair. To the contrary: His life hummed with meaning and purpose." (Page 187)

After the article about McCandless was published, many people considered him a foolish boy. Krakauer disagreed with them. He saw McCandless as someone who was finding the meaning of life. Krakauer looked past the stereotypical remarks about him and tried to find what McCandless was looking for. He puts in his opinions throughout the novel and they are consistent in stating he understands McCandless.

• "But i believe we were similarly affected by the skewed relationships we had with our fathers. And I suspect we had similar intensity, a similar heedlessness, a similar agitation of the soul." (Page 159)

Krakauer compares himself to McCandless. They both had a strained relationship with their fathers. This influenced both of them deeply. They both had a passion for the wild. Krakauer was a mountain climber and traveled the same path McCandless did in Alaska. I think Krakauer saw some of himself in McCandless. This made it easier for Krakauer to sympathize with McCandless and why he did what he did.

• "...like Chris McCandless, I was a raw youth who mistook passion for insight and acted according to an obscure, gap-ridden logic." (Page 159)

Krakauer saw other similarities between himself and McCandless. They are both passionate people and misunderstood their feelings. They both thought they understood the world when they still had a lot of life ahead of them. Krakauer related his own life to McCandless. He understood the risks McCandless took because he took some life and death risks too.