Into the Wild Book
Into the Wild opens with the discovery of Christopher McCandless’s remains by a group of hunters visiting Denali National Park and Preserve for their annual trip. They contact authorities for assistance, leading to the arrival of the FBI, who subsequently recover the body. Author Jon Krakauer then meets Wayne Westerberg, who knew McCandless under the name “Alex McCandless.” Westerberg offers an initial profile of the young man during a conversation in a bar in Carthage, Wisconsin.
He recalls McCandless as a bright, engaging, and determined individual, having employed him intermittently at his grain elevator. Insights into McCandless’s comfortable, middle-class upbringing in Virginia and his aversion to materialism deepen Krakauer’s understanding of him, prompting reflections on the initial phase of McCandless’s journey westward in his used yellow Datsun.
Shortly after graduating from college, McCandless travels to Lake Mead in Nevada, where a flash flood damages the Datsun’s engine. He abandons the vehicle along with several other belongings. Following two months of wandering, he impulsively purchases a canoe and paddles down the Colorado River toward Mexico, a journey that spans five months. Meanwhile, the McCandless family begins to search for their missing son. After his canoeing adventure, McCandless resides and works in Bullhead City, Arizona, where he is briefly taken in by an elderly man named Charlie. He soon leaves to meet Jan Buress and her former boyfriend in California, where he participates in the social life of Buress’s drifter camp but departs abruptly, eager to start his journey to Alaska. Krakauer later receives a letter from Ronald Franz, who recounts the father-son bond he formed with McCandless. This narrative serves as a springboard for Krakauer to explore the impact of McCandless’s adventurous choices on those around him.