Characterization of Christopher Johnson McCandless

Direct Characterization: when the writer explicitly tells the reader what the character looks like

Indirect Characterization: the writer shows the reader what the character does, thinks, says, and feels, and how other react to the character, and the reader draws his/her own conclusion

Direct Characterization

• He was an “elite athlete.”
• Wiry, hard, stringy build
• “He was an extremely intense young man."
• Five feet, eight inches tall
• 24 years old
• Nice
• Determined
• Smallish
• "Dark, emotive eyes"
• Sensitive good looks
• Slack and emotionless face
• Gaping, oversized grin with horsy teeth
• Nearsighted and used steel-rimmed glasses
• Hard-working

Indirect Characterization

• Christopher McCandless was smart, with a "3.72 grade point average" (page 20).  He "seemed well-educated" and asked "thoughtful questions" (page 5).
• Chris McCandless had a set of ideals that he clung to with "a streak of stubborn idealism" (Author's Note second page).  He was also "extremely ethical" (page 18).
• He knew what he was facing, but he still wasn't very smart about the wilderness, with his "seemingling insignificant blunders" that cost him his life (Author's Note second page).
• He cares about other people, but not his family.  He has sent postcards and letters to people he met along the way, but the last anyone in his family heard from him was a short note attached to his transcript (page 22).  He also told the post office to return the letters he received from his parents, but not until the beginning of August so they would not know what was going on (page 22).
• Chris McCandless doesn't really like modern society; he liked Carthage, with its "plebian virtues and unassuming mien" (page 18).
• He ignores what he wants to, like the danger of bears, and the lack of trees to climb if he gets in trouble (page 6).  He also loves Jack London, but he ignores the fact that Jack London spent less than a year in the Alaskan wilderness, and he ended up taking his own life.
• He like the wilderness, but he was scared of dying in it by himself, so he wrote an S.O.S. note (page 12).
• He didn't like material goods, so he donated all his money and "would not longer accept or receive gifts" (page 20).

• He did "too much thinking" (page 18).  He wanted to be "master of his own destiny" (page 23).

Conclusion of Christopher Johnson McCandless

Christopher Johnson McCandless was unusual young man who did not like modern society.  He was also an idealist who was not very practical; he wanted to go into the wilderness, but he based his expectations on works of fiction, and he did not bring enough gear to survive.  However, he realized this too late.  Additionally, although it was good that he was trying to find his destiny, he was mean to those who loved him.  He may have had some problems with his family, but it was very selfish of him to simply leave, to try and hide himself from them.  Overall, Christopher Johnson McCandless had some problems that he needed to make peace with, and he almost did, but died in the midst.