Getting to know Christopher McCandless thorugh Direct and Indirect Charcterization

Direct Characterization: when the author specifically tells the reader what a character looks and acts like.




Indirect Characterization: when the author shows the reader what the character does, says, thinks, and feels; which allows the reader to make his/her conclusions about the character.






Direct Character Traits about Christopher McCandless


1. "eighteen, maybe nineteen years old at most" (Jim Gallien, pg. 3)


2. twenty four years old (pg.4)

3. five feet seven or eight (pg. 4)

4. Was built "wiry" (Jim Gallien, pg. 4)

5. “At the time of autopsy, McCandless’ remains weighed sixty-seven pounds” (pg. 14)


6. “Dark and emotive eyes” (Wayne Westerberg, pg. 16)


7. “Greek or Chippewa heritage” (Wayne Westerberg, pg. 16)

8. “He had the kind of sensitive good looks that omen made a big fuss over” (Wayne Westerberg, pg. 16)

9. “His face had a strange elasticity” (Wayne Westerberg, pg. 17)


10. “He as nearsighted” (Wayne Westerberg, pg. 17)










Indirect Character Traits about Christopher McCandless

1. “He was determined” (Jim Gallien, pg. 6)

2. “He could talk for hours” ( Wayne Westerberg, pg. 16)

3. “McCandless was smallish with the hard, stringy physique of an itinerant laborer” (Wayne Westerberg, pg. 16)


4. “He was the hardest worker I’ve ever seen” (Wayne Westerberg, pg. 18)


5. “ He never quit in the middle of something” (Wayne Westerberg, pg. 18)


6. “ He was extremely ethical” (Wayne Westerberg, pg. 18)


7. “ He set pretty high standards for himself” (Wayne Westerberg, pg. 18)


8. “You could tell right away that Alex was intelligent” (Wayne Westerberg, pg. 18)

9. “He read a lot, used a lot of big words” (Wayne Westerberg, pg. 18)

10. “Sometimes he tried too hard to make sense of the world” (Wayne Westerberg, pg. 18)






I think Christopher McCandless is different from everyone else. To me, he seems like he doesn’t care about wealth and having expensive items. Instead, he cares about what it is really like to live life. He seems like he loves nature. He also seems like a very hard worker and dedicated person. He never gives up, no matter how hard things can be. Christopher McCandless seems like a very nice and generous man, and doesn’t expect much out of a person.
http://www.christophermccandless.info/images/chris8.jpg