Into The Wild
by Jon Krakauer
Table of Contents
Cast of Characters
Christopher Johnson McCandless: The protagonist of Krakauer’s reconstructed story, McCandless also calls himself Alexander Supertramp. McCandless is a young man from an affluent American family who gives away all his money and travels around the United States to pursue his dream of experiencing the world fully. He idealistically plunges into the Alaskan wilderness, alone and without adequate supplies, where he dies of starvation in August of 1992.
Jon Krakauer: The author and narrator of Into the Wild. Krakauer shares personal details of his own experiences as a mountain climber and his relationship with his father in order to shed light on the story of McCandless.
Carine McCandless: The younger sister of Christopher McCandless. He had a close relationship with her growing up, but they were not in contact during the last two years of his life.
Walter McCandless: Father of Christopher and Carine, as well as six children from a previous marriage. He is a successful engineer, formerly employed by NASA, who works in the development of radar systems.
Billie McCandless: Walter’s second wife; mother of Christopher and Carine. She is also Walter’s business partner.
Sam McCandless: Christopher McCandless’s half-brother, the first in the family to know about Chris’s death. He receives a call from Alaska State Troopers and identifies his half-brother from a photograph.
Chris Fish: Carine’s husband. He informs her of her brother’s death.
Jim Gallien: An Alaskan electrician who gives McCandless a ride to the Stampede Trail. Gallien is alarmed by McCandless’s lack of supplies and wants to buy better boots and provisions for him. McCandless refuses these offers, though he reluctantly accepts an oversized pair of rubber boots and some sandwiches. Gallien later reports his encounter with McCandless to Alaska State Troopers, after the...
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