May 12, 1990: Christopher McCandless graduates from Emory University with honors. He tells his parents he is going to spend the summer in his Datsun driving around the country. June 1990: Chris mails his final transcript to his parents and a short letter. This will be the last time they hear from him. July 6, 1990: At Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada. July 10, 1990: Leaves his car on the side of the road after a flash flood. He gathers a backpack of items and sets out on foot. July–August 1990: Hitchhikes to California where he meets Jan Burres and her boyfriend Bob. Later takes off and ends up in Cut Bank, Montana where he meets Wayne Westerberg. August 1990: Chris’s parents drive to their son’s apartment to find that it has been vacant for some time. August 10, 1990: Receives a ticket for hitchhiking in California. October 1990: The police will find his car and use it for drug deals and sting operations. October 28, 1990: Chris reaches the Colorado River. He walks south through the desert, arriving in Arizona where he buys a used canoe. October–November 1990: Canoes on the Colorado River. Sends a letter to Westerberg. December 1990: A private investigator is hired by Chris’s parents and discovers that he gave $24,000 to OXFAM. December 2, 1990: Reaches the Morelos Dam and the Mexican border. December 6, 1990: Comes across dangerous waterfalls on the Colorado River.  December 12, 1990: Gets a ride to the Gulf of California from some duck hunters. December 14–24, 1990: Pulls his canoe out of the water. Sets up camp. December 25, 1990: Finds shelter from high winds and stays there for 10 days. January 11, 1991: Gets back into his canoe but is almost drowned in a storm. January 16, 1991: Ditches his canoe and head north. January 18, 1991: Chris is caught by immigration while trying to get back into the U.S. and spends a night in jail. February 3, 1991: Goes to apply for a job and an ID in Los Angeles but changes his mind. February 9, 1991: Camps at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. February 24, 1991: Digs up some items he buried when he ditched his car. February 27, 1991: Buries his backpack and hitchhikes into Las Vegas. May 10, 1991: Leaves Las Vegas. July–August, 1991: Maybe living in Oregon and sends a postcard to Jan Burres. October 1991: Arrives in Bullhead City, Arizona, where he works for two months at McDonald's and is given an RV to live in by an old man named Charlie.
in California (257-262). In the beginning of the story Panchito is returning home from working
Chris’s parents had only good intentions for him as every parent would for their child which is why they entered him into a gifted school. However all this opportunity never seemed...
and off police work in Dodge City, Wyatt decided to move to Tombstone, Arizona. He
Chris wanted to seek refuge from his home because of what he found out about his father. After Chris’s sophomore year of college at Emory University, during the summer he went on his usual cross-country wanderings. He went to California to visit the El Segundo neighborhood where he'd spent the first six years of his life. He called a lot of old family friends who still liv...
Chris a sixteen year old African male enter into therapy seeking professional help. Chris grew up in an urban neighborhood in New York, together with his mother and father. Chris develop problems due to longing attention. He begins to act out, hang around with the incorrect crowd, and get into fights.
his life with petty crime in Brooklyn, New York. After escalating his way up in
forever. On this day, MTV first aired with its very first music video by The Buggles
The story starts off with Chris hitchhiking in Alaska. He had decided to get away from the world and live in Alaska, Jack London style. He had hitchhiked all the way from South Dakota to Alaska. Chris was very excited about the trip. He was going to go into the wilderness alone. ?There was no talking him out of it. He was determined. He couldn?t wait to get out there and get started? (Krakauer 6). The story goes on a little more about his Alaskan odyssey, and then it goes back in time.
leave behind. He did not notify anyone not even his parents, which in my opinion was cruel and immature on his part. For instance, “ ‘ We were all worried when we didn’t hear from him,’” says Carine, “ ‘and I think my parents’ worry was mixed with hurt and anger’” (Krakauer 125). Chris made it to seem if he was also escaping his parents in order to do what he wanted to. Also, even though Chris felt he did not need money, he did because this adventure was a trip, which he was supposed to come back from.
He left and “walked into the wild”, as he said, to escape his problems (Krakauer, 69). He never confronted his dad about his feelings. Carine McCandless talks about this personality trait in Chris saying, “Chris was the sort of person who brooded on things. If something bothered him; he wouldn’t come right out and say it” (Krakauer, 122). He changed his name, He wasn’t trying to take pride in his “adventure”. It was an extra and unnecessary precaution to ensure that his problems would not affect his escape. Chris McCandless changed his name and then continued his life ignoring all of the problems he had ever
by the name of Christopher McCandless, who creates a new life for himself by leaving
All in all, it is interesting how the trials of life can lead a person into an awakening that inspires millions. Many people believe that walking “into the wild” to live off the land and find himself alone in nature was arrogant, foolish and irresponsible. Chris lacks of knowledge about the wild was a major factor in his death. Chris did not plan how he will survive in the wilderness without proper equipments. He misunderstood that he would have no problem in setting in the wild. Chris immature manner and decisions lead him to starvation and ultimately death. If he planned it out in the beginning he would have saved his life.
To show McCandless being “intelligent”, Krakauer used the part in his book where McCandless graduated from college. McCandless attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated in April of 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in both history and anthropology. He also maintained a 3.72 grade point average during his college experience. Wayne Westerberg, one of the many people that McCandless encountered throughout his journey, even said that, “You could tell right away that Alex was intelligent.
year after he was born. My nephew would occasionally visit his father but never understood why
His actual prison sentence was three years, yet he served only twenty-two months in the federal prison at Lompoc, California, which was known to have a “country-club” atmosphere. Another four months was spent at a Brooklyn halfway house.