Character Chart for Chris

Direct and Indirect Characterization Notes on Christopher McCandless

(Alex Supertramp)

Chapter and page #	Description/quote from novel	What impression you get about Chris with this character trait or description?
Chapter 1, page 4 & page 5	“He wasn’t carrying anywhere near as much food and gear as you’d except a guy to be carrying for that kind of trip.” “Alex admitted that the only food in his pack was a ten-pound bag of rice.”	Chris isn’t really prepared for this trip he is planning to go on. Alex thought he was prepared for the trip he wants to go on but he only has rice and no good gear for hunting or killing animals for food.
Chapter 2, page 12-13 & 12	“I stood on a stump, reached through a back window, and gave the bag a shake” “A real bad smell from inside.”	Alex was lying in the bed dead. He has been dead for about two and a half weeks. Chris was inside dead and people were outside standing looking at him and they didn’t even know.
Chapter 3, page 18 & 21	“You could tell Alexis an intelligent man.” “I can’t believe that tried to buy me a car.”	Alex would work on anything anybody gave him. He didn’t care if it was something gross he did the job anyway. I think Alex should have accepted the new car. Yeah your car mine work fine but still a new car is a new car.
Chapter 4, page 27 & 30	“We’re still getting a lot of mileage out of that old car even now.” “He was wearing long shorts and this really stupid hat.”	Chris didn’t want a new car. His Datsun worked perfectly fine and was getting great mileage. Jan and her boyfriend had found Chris walking along the side of the road and he looked strange at first but they invited him to get in the car and take a ride for some food.
Chapter 5, page 40	“One thing I do remember is that he had this thing about socks.” “Frankly, I was surprised he ever got hired.”	Chris never wanted to wear socks because he wanted to have his toes and feet free. Lori Zarza was surprised that they hired Chris for the job at McDonald’s.
Chapter 6, page 51	“He seemed extremely intelligent.” “You don’t need to worry about me. I have a college education. I’m not destitute. I’m living like this by choice.	Chris was a really smart boy when it came to things. Even though Chris needed help he told people that he was his problem if he died. He chose to live like this.
Chapter 7, page 63 & 66	“He was kind of shy at first.” “I got the impression that this Alaska escapade was going be his last big adventure.”	Didn’t was really a shy person around people he didn’t know. Westerberg to me it sounds like he thinks he might die while on this trip in Alaska.
Chapter 10, page 100 & 101	“The cop had told me that they had more than one hundred fifty calls from folks who thought Alex was their kid.” “228-31-6704”	The cops didn’t want to believe Westerberg for telling them that he had given him a ride because they had received so many calls. Chris’s social security number
Chapter 11, page 106 & 107	“He wasn’t happy about it.” “Even when he was little.”	He wasn’t happy about the achievement he received in third grade because that meant he had to do more work.  Even when he was little he had friends but he could go off and entertain himself for hours.
Chapter 12, page 118	“But there was no way to stop him.” “Chris was good at almost everything he ever tried.”	There was no way in stopping him from leaving Chris did and tried everything anybody told him to do and was good at it.
Chapter 13, page 128 & 131	“Is that even though the pictures were taken ten years apart, his expression is identical.” “His name was printed wrong.”	Chris really didn’t have any emotion.  Chris really wouldn’t have cared if it was right or not. He would have thought it was funny.
Chapter 16, page 158 & 159	“Alex was clean-shaven and had short hair, and I could tell by the language he used that he was a sharp fella.” “You could tell he came from a nice family, Mostly he talked about his sister. He didn’t get along with his folks to good, I guess.”	Chris had a different kind of personality. He sometimes would be nice and clean and other times he would be scruffy and dirty. Chris loved his family more than anything. He fought with his parents a lot, but loved his sister. Chris began lonely towards the end of the book. He just wanted to go and to be with his family.
Chapter 17, page 178	“WOW, It smells like dead birds in here.” “He was looking for more adventure and freedom than today’s society gives people.”	Chris had left a plastic bag filled with feathers and wings of several birds. Chris was not like most people. He wanted to be free and away from everybody. He wanted to have an adventurist life, than just sitting at home watching TV.
Chapter 18, page 189 & 198	“Happiness, only real when shared.” “CHRIS MCCANDLESS. AUGUST?”	Chris realized towards the end of his life that being alone isn’t easy. He began lonely and was not happy. Chris had written a note that he put his real name at the end. He wanted everybody to know who the dead body was in the bus. He wanted people to know that it was him in the bus.