Into the Wild

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a best-selling non-fiction book about the life and the death of Christopher McCandless. The book was published in 1996. Krakauer intersperses McCandless's story with a discussion of the wilderness experiences of people such as John Muir and John Menlove Edwards, as well as some of his own experience.

The book has been optioned for a movie to be directed by Sean Penn. Emile Hirsch has been cast as Chris McCandless. The film's U.S. release date is set for September 21 2007 [1].

Synopsis

Into the Wild is the story of Christopher McCandless. After graduating from Emory University, one of America's best schools, McCandless gave away his savings of $25,000 to OXFAM and disappeared, eventually abandoning his car and burning all of his money in the desert. A man named Jim Gallien dropped McCandless off at Stampede Trail in Alaska. There McCandless headed down the trail to begin his Alaskan odyssey with only 10 lbs. of rice, a .22 caliber rifle, a camera, and some rifle rounds. He was discovered several months later by moose hunters, dead in the Alaskan wilderness. The book begins with Christopher's body being found near an abandoned bus and retraces where he traveled during the two years he was missing, including time he spent in Carthage, South Dakota with a man named Wayne Westerberg, and in California under the name Alexander Supertramp. He also meets up with a "rubber tramp" named Jan Burres and her boyfriend Bob. Krakauer relates McCandless' intense personality as possibly influenced by the writings of Leo Tolstoy, Thoreau, and Jack London (his favorite writer). In addition, the author explores the similarities between McCandless's experiences and motivations and his own as a young man. Krakauer describes, in fairly great detail, his attempt to climb Devils Thumb in Alaska. He also recounts the stories of other young men who disappeared in the wilderness, such as Everett Ruess, an artist and wanderer who disappeared in the Utah desert in 1934 at age 20.

McCandless died after 112 days in the Alaskan wilderness, apparently after having eaten Eskimo potato (Hedysarum alpinum) seeds. As Krakauer explains, McCandless had been eating the roots of the plant, which are edible. The seeds, however, can contain toxic chemicals at certain times of the year. The toxins act as a defense mechanism to deter animals from eating the seeds and to ensure the survival of the plant. The toxin prevents the absorption of glucose into the body, causing starvation. In other words, someone who consumes these seeds could eat 10,000 calories every day and still starve. The author points out that it is possible for someone to consume the seeds and live. This can happen when the body already has enough stored glucose to essentially ride it out. Since McCandless generally lived on a diet of rice and had a less than 10% body fat, his body was unable to survive the effects of the toxin. However, the potatoes from the area around the bus were tested in a lab UAF (University of Alaska Fairbanks) and there was no sign of toxins in the potatoes. This leaves a large amount of doubt into what McCandless actually died from. The obvious answer is starvation.

Characters

• Chris McCandless
• Jan Burres
• Bob - Boyfriend of Jan Burres
• Wayne Westerberg
• Ronald Franz
• Walt McCandless
• Billie McCandless
• Carine McCandless

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