Characterization Chart

Chapter and page #	Description/quote from novel	What impression you get about Chris with this character trait or description?
Chapter 1, page 4	“Five feet seven or eight with a wiry build, he claimed to be 24 years old and said he was from South Dakota.  He explained that he wanted a ride as far as the edge of Denali National Park, where he intended to walk deep into the bush and ‘live off the land for a few month.’”	Chris is not physically fit for walking into such a dangerous environment.  He seems a little crazy.
Chapter 2	Chris’s remains weighed only 67 pounds when he was found Pg. 14	He dies of starvation because he was unprepared.
Chapter 3	“McCandless was smallish with the hard, stringy physique of an itinerant laborer. There was something arresting about the youngsters eyes. Pg. 16	Chris wasn’t the biggest guy but him seemed to have striking charisma
Chapter 4	“He was a nice kid. Said his name was Alex. And he was big-time hungry. Hungry, hungry, hungry. But real happy. Said he’d been surviving on edible plants he identified from the book. Pg. 30	Chris was all about pride and the feeling of accomplishing a goal. Having nothing and making something of it.
Chapter 5	“Nice guy, yeah, a pretty nice guy,” Charlie reports. “Didn’t like to be around to many people, though. Temperamental. He meant good, but I think he had a lot of complexes. Pg. 42	Chris moving around and gets itchy feet after being in a place for a long time. He could always handle being by himself and is journey was about solitude.
Chapter 6	“The boy had said his name was Alex-he’d declined to give a surname-and that he came from West Virginia. He was polite, friendly, and well-groomed. Pg.51	Chris Doesn’t want anyone to know where he is from in case they try to figure out information about him and call his parents.
Chapter 7	“He was kind of shy at first,” says Borah. “He acted like it was hard for him to be around people. I just figured that was because he’d spent so much time by himself. Pg. 63	Chris was awkward around people he just met and again, doesn’t like to be around people to begin with.
Chapter 10	When Sam was looking at pictures of Chris. “He has long, and he had beard. Chris almost always had short hair and was clean shaven. And the face in the picture was extremely gaunt. Pg. 101-102	Chris wasn’t able to bath or shave up in Alaska so he ended up looking like a homeless individual.
Chapter 11	“Christopher Johnson McCandless came into the world with unusual gifts and a will not easily deflected from its trajectory.” In the third grade Chris was put into the gifted and talented classes. “He wasn’t antisocial-he always- had friends, and everybody liked him-but he could go off and entertain himself for hours. He didn’t seem to need toys or friends. He could be alone without being lonely.” Pg. 107	Chris just didn’t think friends were important. He had them but he didn’t need them. While most people seem to revolve around friends and desire contact and relationships. Chris could be detached and be perfectly content. Maybe that’s why in Chris’ mind he seemed perfectly sane because he could handle being alone.
Chapter 12	“Chris was good at almost everything he ever tried,” Walt reflects, “Which made him supremely confident. If you attempted to talk to him out of something, he wouldn’t argue. He’s just nod politely and then do exactly what he wanted.” Pg. 119	Because Chris was good at a lot of things and didn’t think the odds didn’t apply to him so to him he wasn’t taking any risks in the wild. His confidence convinced himself he would make it.
Chapter 13	“Like Chris, Carine is energetic and self-assured, a high achiever; quick to state an opinion.” Pg. 129	All these traits that were listed would be extremely influential to thinking he would be fine in Alaska even though he had no past experience.
Chapter 16	“Alex didn’t come out and say too much at first,” stuckey reports. “And by the end he kind of let his guard down. He was a dandy kid. Real courteous, and he didn’t cuss or use a lot of that there slang. You could tell he came from a nice family. Mostly he talked about his sister. He didn’t get along with his folks too good, I guess. Told me his dad was a genius, a NASA rocket scientist. Pg. 159	Chris obviously came from a good family but whether he knew it or not, he picked up a lot from his parents. The right way to act and present yourself.     -In my opinion Chris McCandless was no where close to being a insane nut-job. He had  huge impact on people that he just met for the first time. He came off as an intelligent person which in fact he was. The way he grew up and his incredible thinking out-of-the-box was very influential. Who is t say Chris was a kook who had no feelings for other people especially his parents. He had a good reason to resent his parents but maybe he couldn't worked things out. Being alone was enjoyable for Chris. He didn't think the odds applied for him and he was good at almost everything he did. That was a supreme confidence builder. He didn't let people tell him what to do becuase that's that living your own life. He did what he wanted and had control of his life. Chris McCandless was just a human being that knew what he wanted