Into the Wild Dialectical Journal

Not sure what to write for your commentary? Here are some tips:

Jenee Gossard of the UCLA Writing Project (1997) suggests the following sentence starters for students who
struggle with right-hand column responses:
I wonder I noticed
I began to think of I was surprised
I like the idea If I had been
I know the feeling I was reminded of
Common reader responses include:
Feelings (boring, sad, exciting, confusing, strange)
Questions (I wonder why the author wrote these boring parts?)
Images (pictures in the mind, with full sensory response)
Favorite (or detested) words and phrases
Echoes (of other books, movies, television shows, headlines, songs, or poems)
Reaction to characters or events (That Raskolnikov is so self-absorbed!)
Memories (people, events, places youve known)
Connections (to other ideas, people, feelings, books)

KEY-Realist
KEY-Outcast
KEY-Naturalist
KEY- Egocentric

Ch Page Quotation Commentary

apt #
er

1 4 Well isnt it like the magazines.. Surprisingly, Alex thought that Alaska was
all that it was thought to be and looked like
how it was in the magazines, however
Gallien knew that it is way different.

1 5 Alex admitted that the only food in his pack With that said, Alex seems unprepared and
was a ten-pound bag of rice. His gear seemed careless about the fact that Gallien is trying
exceedingly minimal for the harsh to help. He is not stressed that he does not
conditions have the right materials.

1 6 Alex had an answer for everything I threw at I begin to think that Alex is a stubborn
him -Gallien character who knows what he wants to do
and is not going to let anyone stop his from
continuing on this journey.

2 10 These days it isnt unusual for six or seven What event caused this sudden rush in
months to pass without seeing a human Visitors?
visitor; but in early September 1992 in three
separate parties happened to visit the remote
vehicle on the same afternoon.

2 11 Thompson, Samuel, and Swanson, however, These men are clearly thrill seekers that are
are contumacious Alaskans with a special willing to take huge risks to be able to go out
fondness for driving motor vehicles where and have fun. I personally feel that only
 Into the Wild Dialectical Journal
motor vehicles arent really designed to be
driven..
2 10 These days it isnt unusual for six or seven
months to pass without seeing a human
visitor; but in early September 1992 in three
separate parties happened to visit the remote
vehicle on the same afternoon.
2 11 Thompson, Samuel, and Swanson, however,
are contumacious Alaskans with a special
fondness for driving motor vehicles where
motor vehicles arent really designed to be
driven. Upon arriving at the Teklanika, they
scouted the banks until they located a wide,
braided section with relatively shallow
channels, and then they steered headlong
into the flood.
3 18 It was a different story with Alex. He was the
hardest worker Ive ever seen. Didnt matter
what it was, hed do it: hard physical labor,
mucking rotten grain and dead rats out of the
bottom of the hole jobs where youd get so
damn dirty you couldnt even tell what you
looked like at the end of the day. And he never
quit in the middle of something. If he started a
job, hed finish it. It was almost like a moral
thing for him. He was what youd call
extremely ethical. He set pretty high
standards for himself.
3 18 It was a different story with Alex. He was the
hardest worker Ive ever seen. Didnt matter
what it was, hed do it: hard physical labor,
mucking rotten grain and dead rats out of the
bottom of the hole jobs where youd get so
damn dirty you couldnt even tell what you
looked like at the end of the day. And he never
quit in the middle of something. He set pretty
high standards for himself.
4 27 Ignoring posted warnings that off-road driving
is strictly forbidden, McCandless steered the
Datsun off the pavement where it crossed a
broad, sandy wash
people that are highly experienced and well
prepared with needed and emergency
materials, as well as good backup for help
especially in emergency situations are the
people that should be allowed to go about
doing these risky activities. But even those
people need to be very careful.
What event caused this sudden rush in
Visitors
These men are clearly thrill seekers that are
willing to take huge risks to be able to go out
and have fun. I personally feel that only
people that are highly experienced and well
prepared with needed and emergency
materials, as well as good backup for help
especially in emergency situations are the
people that should be allowed to go about
doing these risky activities. But even those
people need to be very careful.
He is a workhorse, very committed. He
never leaves a job incomplete. That is
something that employers look for when
they try to hire people. He would have done
well in a job or at life in general.
He is a workhorse, very committed. He
never leaves a job incomplete. That is
something that employers look for when
they try to hire people. He would have done
well in a job or at life in general.
I begin to think that the danger of outside
forces do not affect him and he is just going
to do what he wants to do.
 Into the Wild Dialectical Journal
4 26 When the ranger looked inside the car he
found a Gianini guitar, a saucepan containing
$4.93 in loose change, a football, a garbage
bag full of old clothes, a fishing rod and
tackle, a new electric razor, a harmonica, a
set of jumper cables, twenty-five pounds of
rice, and in the glove compartment, the keys
to the vehicles ignition
4 Five days later another ranger returned to the
abandoned vehicle, managed to jump-start it
without difficulty and drove it out to the
National Park Service maintenance yard at
Temple Bar
4 29 Surprisingly, Instead of feeling distraught
over this turn of events, moreover,
McCandless was exhilarated: He saw the
flash flood as an opportunity to shed
unnecessary baggage
4 Chris was very much of the school that you
should own nothing except what you can
carry on your back at a dead run.
4 Leaving the river for a day to track a herd of
wild horses, he came across a sign warning
that he was trespassing on the U.S. Armys
highly restricted Yuma Proving Ground.
McCandless was deterred not in the least.
4 End of But this is not important. It is the
4 experiences, the memories, the great
triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in
which real meaning is found
4 31 Chris had given away his college fund to
OXFAM
5 39 He was holding down a fulltime job, flipping
Quarter-Pounders at a Mcdonalds on the
main drag, commuting to work on a bicycle
5 39 Open a savings account at a local bank
5 46 He acted offended when Burres tried to give
him money but he wouldnt take it
5 44 Mccandless had been infatuated with London
All of Alexs asest were simple, yet he still
acted as if he did not need them or want
them. He did not want to be found and
wanted his where abouts to be a secret, so
that no one can find him.
Alex obviously did not really try to start the
car and make it run because the rangers
instantly got it started without even trying.
These showed his careless actions towards
certain ideas.
This is unusual because most people would
not see these particular natural disasters as
unsafe and scary whereas Alex thinks that
they are exhilarating and there were
opportunities ahead
Christopher McCandless could live a normal
life, if he chose to do so, and in fact,
behaved normally for most of his life. It was
in seeking absolute truth and peace from
society that he became more eccentric.
Chris McCandless thought about life deeply
and lived accordingly, mostly without
harming others; thats not being crazy.
Money was obviously not a huge necessity
in his life, and he believed he could live
perfectly with large amounts of money.
Surprisingly, he is working and staying in a
solitary place rather than being completely
nomadic.
This looks like he is turning his life around
and going back to normal ways of living.
He continued on with little amounts of
money and seemed completely fine with
that.
He loved Jack London's books and looked
 Into the Wild Dialectical Journal
since childhood
6 48 After hiking back up to camp, he gets a ride
from Robert Franz
6 51 Over the next few weeks McCandless and
Franz spent a lot of time together
6 52 Franz grew increasingly fond of Mccandless
7 63 Alex wasnt a total space cadet of anything,
dont get me wrong. But there was gaps in his
thinking - WEsterberg
7 63 It was pretty obvious he didnt get along with
his family, but he never said much about any
of them expect Carine, his little sister. He said
they were pretty close
7 65 When Alex was in South Dakota he was
outgoing and extremely personable when the
spirit moved him, he charmed a lot of folks
8 80 Parallels have been drawn between John
Waterman and Chris Mccandless
9 92 Ruess was just as romantic as McCandless
9 92 The freedom and simple beauty of it is just
too good to pass up
9 94 Atleast they tried to follow their dream
10 102 The detectives showed Same a photo of Chris
and it was described as His hair was long,
and he had a beard. Chris almost always had
short hair and was clean-shaven. And his face
in the picture was extremely gaunt
10 101 The social security number turned out to be
genuine
11 104 The hardest part Is simply not having him
around anymore
11 106 [Chris] got up in the middle of the night,
up to his as someone he followed the beliefs
of.
They get along well together and continue to
talk and get to know eachother.
Chris felt comfortable enough to even hitch
into town to his apartment and bbq steaks.
He liked him for his naturalist personality
and realist since he was so different than
any other person Franz talked to.
Wayne explained how he was not a total
weird guy, however he was different than
most people making him an outcast in
society.
He has not forgiven his parents so he does
not mention them that much. He is close
with his sister and talks to her about most
issues. They have the same personality.
This was unusual due to Alexs eccentric
and strange personality which made him
steer away from the norms in life and not
express his feelings and personalities to
others.
They both made journeys in Alaska and
share similar qualities in their personalities.
Ruess and Mccandless shared many of the
same characteristics.
Mccandless looked at life from a different
perspective than most
Ruess and Mccandless are two people who
achieve what they set their mind to and do
not give up or sacrifice anything.
Most ordinary people in the world would not
go into the wild knowing they could suffer
with starvation and many other factors,
however Chris accepts the fact and yet still
takes a photograph of himself even though
he is not in the best shape.
Mccandless had trust in Wayne and left his
social security number with him.
Chris did not consider how his actions would
affect the lives around him, his intentions
were very selfish, and therefore, foolish
Even from a young age, chris was foolish
 Into the Wild Dialectical Journal

found his way outside without waking his enough to break into his neighbors house
parents, and entered a house down the street for candy
to plunder a neighbors candy drawer.

11 109 Chris was a high achiever in almost Anyone would kill to have the credentials he
everything that caught his fancy. has, yet he threw them away to live in the
Academically he brought home As with little wild, which led to his death
effort.

11 113 Chris didnt like going through the channels, Chris did not like conforming to the social
working within the system, waiting his turn. norm.

12 118 Near the end of his trip, chris had gotten lost Chris knowingly went into the wild with the
in the Mojave Desert and had nearly thought of not coming out alive, however he
succumbed to dehydration still went through with his trip and almost
succumbed to dehydration.

12 120 When his old friends from Emory saw him at a This was the point in chriss life where he
party, he seemed very introverted, almost was very self absorbed and did not want to
cold hear about the lives of his friends.

12 120 I remember he would come home every night This is unusual for a college student to be
accounting on the kitchen so caring and precise with his money to
make it an every night thing where he
counts it all up.

12 120 Social life at emory revolved around This confuses me because most people, not
fraternities and sororities, something Chris all go into college wanting to meet new
wanted no part of people and try new things, however Chris
was offered a presidential spot in the
fraternity and even denied that.

13 129 Like Chris, Carine is energetic and self It begins to become blatantly obvious that
assured, a high achiever, quick to state an Carine and Chris share many of the same
opinion qualities as well as a close bond.

13 128 Chris didnt think twice about risking his own Chris had a ton of love for his dog and
life, but he never would have put Buckley in strangely enough he was willing to sacrifice
any kind of danger and risk his own life by going out into the
wild but would never put Buck in danger.

13 131 During the flight home, Carine ate every Since Chris has unfortunately died from
scrap of food the cabin attendants set in front starvation, Carines response to that was to
of her eat every scrap of food so that none of it
would go to waste and to pay respect to
Chris.

14 134 My suspicion that McCandlesss death was
unplanned, that it was a terrible accident
comes from reading those few documents he
left behind and from listening to the men and
women who spend time with him over the final
year of his life.
If McCandless death was unplanned and on
accident then why did he go into the wild so
unprepared and without any knowledge of
what he was getting himself into.

16 162 The only food Mccandless carried was a ten- This fully describes how unprepared
pound bag of rice. Mccandless was. This is the only item he
brought with him and also the heaviest
 Into the Wild Dialectical Journal

option to bring.

16 165 Mccandless was cut off from the rest of the He was completely alone through this whole
world journey which meant he was seeking help
within himself to uncover his personal truth.

16 168 Mccandless seemed ready, perhaps, to go Surprisingly, after the long journey it seems
home that Mccandless gets to the end wanting the
reassurance of home but when he needs
help the most no one is there to save him.

16 163 Two years he walks the earth, no phone, no this passage shows how McCandless feels
pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate about his journey so far, right after he walks
freedom. into the wilderness. He is clearly proud of
himself, and proud of what he has
accomplished, and deeply excited for the
Alaskan greatest adventure.
16 169 I have lived through so much, and now I think Fortunately, Mccandless had the opportunity
I have found what is needed for happiness to find his own personal truth and
experience the wild through his logical
eccentric personality and unusual views on
life.