Outcasts & Names

At first, Krakauer criticizes his own work.  He talks about the different responses he got back from his original article about McCandless.  Many responses came in and said that Chris was just like every other person that tried to live in the woods.  People said that he was not anything special and there were many nut cases just like him.  However, Krakauer does not come back and directly "bash" these people that put down his writing.  He goes on to say how crazy these other explorers were.  Many of them were crazy and did not stand out.  They went into the expedition with even less tools and less knowledge.  These people did not make an impact on as many lives as Chris McCandless did.  You can see Krakauer talk about the emotions that Chris brought out in people.  He had an eighty-year old man nearly in tears when he heard about the tragic death.  The author discretely says, "You're wrong about Alex Supertramp," by giving examples of all "other" explorers that were not near as important.  Alex was different and an important notable figure.

As you can see, Chris McCandless had changed his name to Alex Supertramp.  There are many different theories on why he did this.  I think the most obvious was to hide is identity.  Another idea is that he wanted to become something else.  This was his temporary self before he could return home and to his true identity.  Many people have gone through phases and changed their name.  My one friend in high school always went by "Mikey."  As we got older, he put an end to it.  He wanted to be referred to as Mike.  He felt that it was more mature and it was time for change (although he never did mature or change).  Some people may change their name in hopes of changing their personalities or way of life.  I feel as though "Alex" had returned to his true identity "Chris McCandless" and found himself through this journey because that is the name he signed on his last note.