obriennature

Direct Characterization

1. "he was congenial and seemed well educated" (5) - He was a nice person and was quite smart.

2. "McCandless was smallish with the hard, stringy physique of an itinerant laborer" (16) - He had a fit body that naturally came with the work of a laborer.

3. "hungry to learn" (67) Alex has a desire to learn new things

4 "Determined. Real gung ho" (6) He was exited and upbeat at starting his journey.

5."master of his own destiny" (23) He would not let anyone but himself to decide his fate

Indirect Characterization.

1. "Didn't matter what it was, he'd do it:hard physical labor, mucking rotten grain and dead rats out of the bottom of the hole" (18) - Alex "Chris" was such a loyal and hard worker, that he would do anything to get it done. He was dedicated to whatever work he recieved.

2. "He always had to know the absolute right answer before he could go on to the next thing."(18) - Chris is eager to know all that he could, and is hungry for knowledge.

3.Alex refuses help (including supplies) from Westerburg or Jan Burres(68) - Alex is independent, likes to do things himself

4. Ronald Franz enjoyed spending his time with Chris "Alex" (50) - Alex is very personable and people ejoy his company.

5. Alex sneaks into Mexico (32) - Alex does not care what the government says and likes to do things as he pleases.

In Jon Krakauer's Into The Wild, Chris McCandless is a knowledgeable and pleasant young man, but unfortunately lacks common sense. He seeks adventure, and is quite cold to strangers, but if you get to know him, you see a young man that is quite outgoing and personable. He is noted to have quite a large smile. Alex does not like have his destiny determined by others, and doesn't want to walk the same path everyone else does. Because of this, he defies the laws by going to Mexico illegally, and killing animals without a license. His lack of common sense seems to be his downfall because when you are going on such a large trip, you need to be well stocked up on provisions, equipment etc. and he was not. He loves to talk with others, and once you get him talking with someone with the same interests as himself, he'll never stop talking. He has a very mixed disposition; he can be quiet, outgoing, and quite mysterious.