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)

Chapt Page Quotation Commentary

er #

1 7 I dont want to know what time it
is. I dont want to know what day it
is or where I am. None of that
matters.
This quote has a meaning that is
larger than what it represents. It
shows how desperate Alex, the main
character, is to get away from society
and move on away from all the people
so he can truly find himself in a place
where no one else is.

1 6 There was just no talking the guy
out of it, Gallian remembers. He
was determined. Real gung ho
This quote expresses Alexs
determination thoroughly as he tries
to break away from society. It also
represents how persuaded he is on
leaving

1 4 The rivers are big and fast. The
mosquitoes will eat you alive. Most
places there arent a lot of animals
to hunt. Livin in the bush isnt no
picnic.
This quote symbolizes and helps the
reader visualize the type of terrain the
land is and how harsh it is. It also
worries the reader on whether or not
Alex will be able to survive on the
land under these wretched conditions.

4 27 After piloting it west out of Atlanta, It reveals part of Chris personality as

hed arrived in Lake Mead National being a happy person as the book
Recreation Area on July 6, riding a tells us how he had been on a
giddy Emersonian high. Ignoring spiritual high. It also tells us how he is
 posted warning signs that off-road
driving is strictly forbidden
4 30 He told us about abandoning his
car, about burning all his money. I
said Why would you do that for?
Claimed he didnt need the money
4 32 That you should own nothing but
what you carry on your back at a
dead run.
4 33 In the distance spiky, chocolate-
brown mountains floated on eerie
pools of mirage. 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.
Chapt Page Quotation
er #
5 39 Its a good place to spend the
winter and I might finally settle
down and abandon my tramping
life, for good. Ill see what happens
when spring comes when spring
comes around, because thats
when I tend to get really itchy feet
5 42 Didnt like to be around too many
people though. Temperamental.
He meant good, but I think he had
a lot complexes...
5 44 He was so enthralled by these
tales, however, that he seemed to
forget they were works of fiction,
constructions of the imagination
that had more with Londons
a bit of a rebel by showing us how he
is capable of taking his own path
This act that he portrayed has
managed to distinguish himself as
someone who doesnt care for
materialistic things such as money.
This shows us how Chris is a man
without materialistic things by
deserting all of his things in order to
live a simple man
This reveals to us how Chris is a bit of
a rebel by ignoring the signs
prohibiting people from entering the
compound but he is unfazed and
moves forward into the area. He also
gives us an accurate description of
where Chris was at the time of his
adventure so we can understand his
brave, courageous attitude better
Commentary
This shows us whats going on with
Chris at the moment because at this
point, he might be getting tired of
running away from society. It also
gives us an accurate description of
why and how Chris gets his urge to
continue on his journey.
This quotes gives us more evidence
on Chris personality, which is
something the author tends not to
reveal too much of. It also tells us a
little bit of why Chris acts the way he
does, which we now know is in a
complex way.
This shows and explains where Chris
gets his imagination from and motive
to go to Alaska. It also shows us that
the work of Jack London and the
many books that he has written
 romantic sensibilities than with the
actualities of life in the subarctic
wilderness.
6 51 I thought he was too nice a kid to
be living by that hot springs with
those nudists and drunks and
dope smokers.
6 48 Nobody, however, was affected
more powerfully by his or her brief
contact with the boy than Ronald
Franz, who was eighty years old
when their paths intersected in
January
6 56 The very basic core of a mans
living spirit is his passion for
adventure.
7 64 Im going to divorce them as my
parents and once and for all and
never speak to either of those
idiots again as long as I live. Ill be
through with them once and for all,
forever
7 66 With his education, nobody
thought that he was going to work
at a goddamn grain elevator for
the rest of his life.
Chapter Page # Quotation
7 67 Considering that I only spent a
few hours with in Alexs
company, it amazes me how
how much Im bothered by his
death.
seems to be the center of Chris
imagination and motivations. And he
does a lot to never let anyone know
about this.
In this quote, you can see how Franz
is moved and compelled by Chris
innocence in fact to even go as far as
to take pity on him. He also gives off a
vibe that was different from the other
people
This quote shows us how Chris was
able to affect many people on his path
and his long lasting effect on them. Its
also interesting that he was able to
affect one of the more elderly
characters in the book.
This quote reveals one of Chris
biggest motivation and why it is. It
also gives us an insight on one of
Chris mottos
This quote shows us how there is a
bit of tension between Chris and his
parents. You can see how anxious he
is to break away from his family. It
also reveals his concerning
relationship with his father.
This quote represents Chris time,
which is unexpected, unique, and
spontaneous. It also shows how he
tends to separate himself from
society.
Commentary
This quote summarizes the
reaction of the people who have
heard about his death, which is
said in a sad, surprising tone. The
most affected seems to Franz
because of his emotional
attachment to him.
8 71 Same story: idealistic,
energetic young guys who
overestimated themselves,
underestimated the country,
and ended up in trouble.
8 72 McCandless is, finally, just a
pale 20th century burlesque of
Londons protagonist, who
freezes because he ignores
advice and commits big time
hubris.
9 90 A callow romantic, an
adolescent esthete, an atavistic
wanderer of the wastelands.
9 92 Ruess was just as romantic as
McCandless, if not more so,
and equally heedless in
personal safety
9 97 The papar risked their lives--
and lost them in untold droves--
not in the pursuit of wealth or
personal glory or to claim new
lands in the name of any
despot
10 102 His hair was long and he had a
beard. Chris almost always had
short hair and was clean-
shaven
11 108 Later, we bought an Airstream
trailer and traveled with that.
This quote tends to represent a
negative, harsh point of view that
readers got when reading the
article on Chris. In fact, one reader
tends to see him as someone who
isnt different from the others.
The author of this quote tends to
see Chris as just another one of
Jack Londons characters, who
Chris was a fan of, and ends up
dieing do to their own ignorance.
They also go as far as to say that
they dont pity him.
This quote describes not only
Everetts character, but Chriss as
well. It shows how both of them
are alike in ways but different in
time periods.
Once again, this quote shows a
comparison between Everett and
Chris. And it accurately describes
how they could care less about
safety and more on how they plan
to get to their next destination.
I thought this quote represented
Chriss character very well. You
can see that both the papar and
Chris were unselfish but heroic
instead, which is something the
two had in common.
This quote reveals how much
Chris sacrificed in terms of
cleanliness in order to make this
trip. It also tells that he seemed to
have his attention elsewhere rather
than on himself.
This quote shows where Chris had
gained his hunger for adventure,
 Chris loved those trips, the
longer the better.
and he showed it until the day he
died. It also reveals one of the key
reasons as to why Chris
abandoned everything in his life in
order to make a new one.

Chapter Page # Quotation Commentary

12 118 We had our hearts in our This distinguishes Chris as

mouths the whole time he was
gone but there was no way to
stop him
someone who is committed and
doesnt care about others opinion
on his decisions. It also shows us
how focused he is on reaching his
goal and ultimately portrays him as
being unstoppable

12 120 But when I asked Chris to This incident explains to us that

show me how he wrote it, to
explain why it worked the way it
did, he refused. All you need to
know is that it works you
dont need to know how or
why.
Chris has a very conservative,
secretive part to his personality
that we tend to learn about more
and more as the story goes on. It
also reveals this new attitude Chris
gets as a teenager.

13 128 Chris stares at the lens with
the same pensive, recalcitrant
squint, as if hed been
interrupted in the middle of an
important thought and was
annoyed to be wasting his time
in front of the camera
This quote shows the serious side
of Chris personality. It also reveals
to us how reserved he tends to be
and how he doesn't like to be
distracted since he is always
thinking

13 132 I just dont understand why he This shows how Chris had left his
had to take those kind of family stunned and confused when
chances they found out he was dead. It also
reveals how separated he was
from his family

14 134 My suspicion that McCandless The author in this quote gives his
death was unplanned, that it view on Chris death and it shows
was a terrible accident how he believed in Chriss skill to
survive. He also says that he
believes this because of the

16 158 Some of them may wait a
week or more in between rides.
But McCandless experienced
no such delay.
16 170 McCandless was a weak
swimmer and had confessed to
several people that he was in
fact afraid of the water
17 174 He was looking for more
adventure and freedom than
today's society gives people
Chapter Page # Quotation
journals he read from Chris
This situation of Chris hitchhiking
shows how lucky he was. It shows
that somehow he had been able to
travel all across the country due to
the kindness of the people he
meet. It also shows us how cared
about him, even when he thought
no one did.
This quote that the author says is
one of the more interesting ones
that he has said as he describes to
us on how Chris is afraid of the
water, which is interesting to hear
because the book rarely mentions
anything about fears that Chris
had. It also shows us that even
though he tries to distance himself
from normal human behaviors,
deep down inside, he knows hes
only human too.
This quote distinguishes Chris as
someone who is always in search
of something, which we eventually
find out to be himself. But as every
adventure is started it must end.
And Chris adventure ended in a
horribly, sad way
Commentary