Into the Wild Characters & Character Analysis

Into the Wild Important People

Christopher Johnson McCandless

Chris McCandless is the subject of Jon Krakauer's non-fiction book, Into the Wild. A writer and wilderness enthusiast, Krakauer writes a brief story for Outside magazine when Chris's body is discovered in the Alaskan wilderness. Chris's story stays with Krakauer, inspiring him to further research the young man in a quest to understand what went awry. Krakauer's interest in Chris is sparked by certain similarities between them. Krakauer believes that his own youthful escapades might easily have ended fatally, and he writes Into the Wild in an attempt to defend Chris from his critics. Many people have responded to Chris's death with anger, seeing Chris as a foolhardy young man who threw away every advantage he was given in life. Indeed, many aspects of the story bear out this opinion. Krakauer asks the reader to acknowledge the similarities between Chris's story and the rebellious rashness of all youth. The author...
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