Into the Wild is a 1996 non-fiction book written by Jon Krakauer.
It is an expansion of Krakauer's 9,000-word article on Christopher McCandless titled "Death
of an Innocent", which appeared in the January 1993 issue of Outside.
The book was adapted to film in 2007, directed by Sean Penn with Emile Hirsch starring as
McCandless.
Background
Christopher Johnson McCandless grew up in suburban Annandale, Virginia.
After graduating in May 1990 with high grades from Emory University, McCandless ceased communicating
with his family, gave away his college fund of $25,000 to Oxfam, and began traveling across
Western United States, later abandoning his 1982 Datsun after a flash flood.
On April 28, 1992, McCandless hitchhiked to the Stampede Trail in Alaska.
There he headed down the snow-covered trail to begin an odyssey with only 10 pounds of
rice, a .22 caliber rifle, several boxes of rifle rounds, a camera, and a small selection
of reading material—including a field guide to the region's edible plants, Tana'ina Plantlore.
His backpack was later found to contain his wallet, holding multiple forms of identification,
his social security card, $300, and library cards.
A map of the area was also found in his backpack.
He declined an acquaintance's offer to buy him sturdier clothing and better supplies.
McCandless died of starvation sometime around the week of August 18, 1992, after surviving
more than 100 days.
Summary On September 6, 1992, Christopher McCandless's
body was found inside an abandoned bus in Alaska.
One year later, author Jon Krakauer retraced McCandless' steps during the two years between
college graduation and his demise in Alaska.
McCandless shed his legal name early in his journey, adopting the moniker "Alexander Supertramp",
after W.H. Davies.
He spent time in Carthage, South Dakota, laboring for months in a grain elevator owned by Wayne
Westerberg before hitchhiking to Alaska.
Krakauer interprets McCandless's intensely ascetic personality as possibly influenced
by the writings of Henry David Thoreau, and McCandless's favorite writer, Jack London.
He explores the similarities between McCandless's experiences and motivations and his own as
a young man, recounting in detail Krakauer's own attempt to climb Devils Thumb in Alaska.
Krakauer also relates the stories of some other young men who vanished into the wilderness,
such as Everett Ruess, an artist and wanderer who went missing in the Utah desert during
1934 at age 20.
In addition, he describes at some length the grief and puzzlement of McCandless's parents,
sister, and friends.
Cause of death McCandless survived for approximately 119
days in the Alaskan wilderness, foraging for edible roots and berries, shooting an assortment
of game—including a moose—and keeping a journal.
Although he planned to hike to the coast, the boggy terrain of summer proved too difficult
and he decided instead to camp in a derelict bus.
In July, he tried to leave, only to find the route blocked by a snow-melt swollen river,
which was tragically unfortunate as there was a hand-powered tram just upstream.
On July 30, McCandless wrote a journal entry which reads, EXTREMLY WEAK.
FAULT OF POT.
SEED...
Based on this entry, Krakauer hypothesized that McCandless had been eating the roots
of Hedysarum alpinum, an edible plant commonly known as wild Eskimo potato, which are sweet
and nourishing in the spring but later become too tough to eat.
When this happened, McCandless may have attempted to eat the seeds instead.
Krakauer first speculated that the seeds were actually from Hedysarum mackenzii, or wild
sweet pea, which contained a poisonous alkaloid, possibly swainsonine or something similar.
In addition to neurological symptoms such as weakness and loss of coordination, the
poison causes starvation by blocking nutrient metabolism in the body.
However, Krakauer suggests that McCandless had not confused the two plants and instead
a more likely scenario is that he was poisoned by mold growing on the local flora he had
gathered.
Upon further analysis Krakauer's hypotheses were proved to be incorrect.
Rather McCandless starved to death due to lack of nutrition.
The 2007 film adaptation by Sean Penn shows Chris confusing two different plants, mistakenly
choosing the wild sweet pea rather than the wild potato.
According to Krakauer, a well-nourished person might consume the seeds and survive because
the body can use its stores of glucose and amino acids to rid itself of the poison.
Since McCandless lived on a diet of rice, lean meat, and wild plants and had less than
10% body fat when he died, Krakauer hypothesized that McCandless was likely unable to fend
off the toxins.
However, when the Eskimo potatoes from the area around the bus were later tested in a
laboratory of the University of Alaska Fairbanks by Dr. Thomas Clausen, toxins were not found.
Krakauer later modified his hypothesis, suggesting that mold of the variety Rhizoctonia leguminicola
may have caused McCandless's death.
Rhizoctonia leguminicola is known to cause digestion problems in livestock, and may have
aided McCandless's impending starvation.
Krakauer now hypothesizes that the bag in which Chris kept the potato seeds was damp
and the seeds thus became moldy.
If McCandless had eaten seeds that contained this mold, he could have become sick, and
Krakauer suggests that he thus became unable to get out of bed and so starved.
His basis for the mold hypothesis is a photograph that shows seeds in a bag.
This theory was also proved false as no mold was found.
However, in 1997, Dr. Thomas Clausen—the biochemist at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks,
who examined the wild potato plant for Jon Krakauer—concluded after exhaustive testing
that no part of H. alpinum is toxic.
Neither the roots nor the seeds.
Accordingly, McCandless could not have poisoned himself in the way suggested by Krakauer in
his 1996 book Into the Wild, and in every subsequent reprinting of the book over the
next decade.
Likewise, Dr. Clausen’s analysis of the wild sweet pea—given as the cause of McCandless’
death in the 2007 Sean Penn film—has also turned up no toxic compounds, and there is
not a single account in modern medical literature of anyone ever being poisoned by this species
of plant.
Moreover, Penn’s on-screen excerpt from the ethno-botany guide McCandless was using,
indicating otherwise, is a complete fiction, for all that this plant lore text actually
states is that the wild sweet pea "is reported to be poisonous".
The rest of it is simply made up.
Thus, even if McCandless made a mistake of botany, something that even Krakauer claims
is unlikely, he would not have been poisoned as portrayed in the Penn film.
In December 2012, Ronald Hamilton, a published author and retired bookbinder at the Indiana
University of Pennsylvania proposed a different theory.
His belief was that McCandless died from lathyrism due to the presence of a neurotoxin known
as ODAP within the seeds.
The onset of lathyrism causes weakness and inability to walk, ultimately resulting in
paralysis of the legs and death.
Hamilton states that the symptoms are consistent with McCandless' reports of being too weak
to walk.
Laboratory tests, performed at the request of Krakauer, confirmed that seeds from H.
alpinum do contain the toxic protein.
However, the American Chemical Society has stated that attempts to confirm the presence
of ODAP in H. alpinum through the use of high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry
methods have been inconclusive.
Another possible cause of McCandless' death is rabbit starvation, which is a form of malnutrition
caused by excess consumption of protein, typically in the form of lean meat.
Possible dangers of a diet in which protein makes up more than 35% of a person's total
energy intake include hyperammonemia, hyperinsulinemia, diarrhea, fatigue, and in extreme or prolonged
cases, death.
Early trappers and explorers sometimes suffered from this when eating a diet that consisted
solely or primarily of lean meats.
The most plentiful and accessible food source for him over the winter months likely would
have been game, which would have provided almost no fats or carbohydrates which his
body would have needed as an energy source.
Characters Christopher McCandless/Alexander Supertramp:
A small, yet strong young man with deep eyes who is portrayed as likeable despite his stubborn
disposition.
Wayne Westerberg: A man with thick shoulders and a black goatee who is described as being
successful at whatever he does, good and bad.
Jan Burres: A woman who was traveling around the West selling items at flea markets with
her boyfriend when she met Alex. Ronald Franz: A strong, 80 year-old marine
with a barrel chest, strong arms, and a kind heart.
He is also a devout Christian and serves as a father figure for “Alex Supertramp,”
offering to adopt him.
Major themes Into the Wild addresses the issues of how
to be accepted into society, and how finding oneself sometimes conflicts with being an
active member in society.
Most critics agree that Chris McCandless left to find some sort of enlightenment.
He also tries to find his way in the wild with as little material possessions because
"it made the journey more enjoyable."
His extreme risk-taking was the hubris which eventually led to his downfall.
Film adaptation
A film adaptation directed by Sean Penn was released in September 2007 starring Emile
Hirsch as McCandless.
The film emphasizes, and in some cases exaggerates, certain aspects of personal relationships
that McCandless experienced, including his parents' domestic conflicts and his own interaction
with teenager Tracy Tatro, played by Kristen Stewart.
Other interactions portrayed in the film, however, seem very accurate based on Krakauer's
research, including the characters of Jan Burres, played by Catherine Keener, and "Ronald
Franz", played by Hal Holbrook.
The film's depiction of McCandless's death differs from the theory put forth by Krakauer
in the later edition of the book.
McCandless's story is also the subject of the 2007 documentary by Ron Lamothe named
The Call of the Wild.
In his study of McCandless's death, Lamothe concludes that McCandless ran out of supplies
and game and starved to death and was not poisoned by eating the seeds of the wild potato.
A survival show set in Alaska, entitled Out of the Wild, is inspired by the story.
The Christopher Johnson McCandless Memorial Foundation, headed by McCandless' parents
Bille and Walt, with the editorial and writing input of family and friends, released the
2010 book and DVD Back to the Wild.
The Photographs & Writings of Christopher McCandless.
The material includes hundreds of McCandless' previously unseen pictures and journal entries.
Jon Krakauer has written a piece in the book's introduction, while Hal Holbrook - who appeared
in the Penn film - narrates the DVD.
References
External links Back To The Wild, following up from the original
book.
Finding Into the Wild's Magic Bus, A book inspired trip to the magic bus and a complete
guide to finding it.
Hiking The Stampede Trail, a guide to hiking to Bus 142 on the Stampede Trail.