Chris McCandless' Direct and Indirect Characterization

1. According to Teachingcomics.org, direct characterization tells the audience what the personality of the character is by directly stating words describing a character.  Indirect characterization shows things that reveal the personality of a character.  The reader has to draw inferences based on how the character speaks, thinks, acts, and looks

2. Direct

-Hitchhiker

-5'7 or '8

-Wiry build

-24 years old

-From South Dakota

-Congenial

-Well-educated

-Curious

-Afraid of water
-Dark and emotive eyes
-Smallish with the hard, stringy physique of an itinerant laborer
-Didn't like wearing socks
-Dirty
-Dependable
-Temperamental
-Socialized with people
-Helpful
-Friendly
-Flirtatious 
-Loved animals
-Musical
-In-shape
-Liked the Washington Redskins

Indirect

-Misjudging- Jim Gallien realized in the car ride that Chris was only carrying a 10-pound bag of rice for the harsh conditions.  Chris also had cheap hiking boots that were not insulated nor water-proof and only a .22 caliber rifle which wouldn’t kill big game.  He had no ax, no bug dope, no snowshoes, and no compass.  Chris misjudged the journey, thinking it would be easy, but he does not have the necessities to survive in the wilderness. (p.5)

-Arrogant- Gallien tried to dissuade Chris or "Alex" to go to the Stampede trail by telling him that a .22 rifle wouldn’t kill a huge grizzly bear that could attack him.  Chris simply replied by saying, "I'll climb a tree," as if he wasn’t too worried about it.  When Gallien tried to convince him not to go to the Stampede trail, Chris had a rebuttal or answer to every situation that Gallien threw at him. (p.6)

-Foolish- McCandless left his perfect life, education, money, parents, and housing to go trek through the wilderness of Alaska.

-Independent- McCandless went alone on this excursion through the wild, and stayed alone for 16 weeks until death.

-Rude- When Gallien asked if McCandless has his hunting license, he replied, "Hell no, how I feed myself is none of the government's business.  F*** their stupid rules."  It is very rude to curse like that to a stranger that you just met. (p.6)

-Mysterious- Why would McCandless leave his life behind to live in the wilderness? Nobody, including Gallien, knows anything about this hitchhiker.

-Risk-taking- McCandless does not know how his decision to live in the wild will end up, but he took the risk and only brought a few scarce items to live in a freezing climate.

-Vulnerable- Chris McCandless' vulnerability was the reason that Wayne Westerberg wanted to take him under his wing. (p.16)

-Careless- We know McCandless didn’t care about anything because he burned his money, sold his cars, and left home to go into the wild.

-Lonely- Chris never let his parents know that he was leaving home and going into the wild.  When he arrived in Alaska, he hiked across mountains by himself.

3. I am getting the impression that Chris McCandless has ulterior motives that he doesn't want anyone to know about.  If he didn't, why would he tell Gallien that his name was Alex when it's really Chris?  I think the way that McCandless acts is very strange and sketchy.  Chris McCandless, I think, has hidden talents that he just gave up on for some reason.  Chris, I think, has his own beliefs and doesn't care what anyone else has to say.  I think he will do what he wants, when he wants, and he won't let anyone stop him.

Image from: http://intelligenttravel.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/22/into_the_wild.jpg