Chapters 4 & 5

Chapter 4 Highlights

• Begins Oct. 1990
• Datsun is found near Detrital Wash in Nevada
• Loose change, 25 pounds of rice and keys are left in the ignition.

Chapter 4 (Continued)

• What does it tell us about which state the car is left in?
• The sudden appearance of a car makes the reader investigate further.

Ch. 4

• July 6th (journal writing)
• Goes off-road and sets up camp
• From there - massive storm rolls in, nearly sweeps Chris away, and he's unable to start his vehicle. Chris believes his car to be broken
• Proceeds to abandon the car, hide it, and buries his remaining belongings
• Burns all the money he has (120 dollars)
• Attempting to hide the problem from his parents and police officers.

Some Common Themes Seen

Untitled Slide

• Journey of self-discovery
• Reckless behavior?
• Good Fortune
• Renouncing of materialism

Chapter 4

• "Allowing his life to be shaped by circumstance"..
• Begins hitchhiking after suffering from heatstroke from hiking into the desert.
• Lake Tahoe to Oregon

Detrital Wash

• On the way towards Oregon - Meets Jan and Bob Burres
• Jan and Chris have a good bond going and Jan takes him under her wing.
• Taught Chris tramping and hitchhiking while living with them for a week.

Materialism

• Parents finally get the ticket for McCandless' hitch-hiking.
• Walt and Billie begin to hire an investigator
• Investigator learns of the donation to OXFAM - $24,000 dollars.

Mexican Border Journey

• Chris buys a canoe in AZ a little later...
• Decides to boat down Colorado River to go across Mexican Border
• Meets some hunting guides who bring him to the ocean - in which he is very grateful for.

January 1991

• Chris begins camping along the coast - living off of rice and fish
• Abandons the canoe after an awful storm and heads back north.
• Gets picked up by immigration in the mean time - smooth talks his way out of being detained but loses his rifle.

The Slabs

Finally..

• Hitchhikes throughout the Southwest and ends up in Las Vegas
• "Feels uncomfortable in society."
• Leaves a job in Vegas once again and heads back to the Desert - finds his camera is destroyed.
• Chris begins to embellish the poverty stricken life.
• Freedom and Self-Reliance comes with a price.

Bullhead City, AZ

Ch. 5 Focus Points

• Gets a job at McDonald's - flipping burgers for two months.
• Coworkers explain of Chris as responsible, but resented wearing shoes and socks at work.
• McCandless begins to enjoy Bullhead City for awhile - ending up living with an old man named Charlie.
• Meets up with Jan and Bob eventually at "The Slabs"

Chapter 5

• Chris helps Jan sell secondhand books; shows a favor to "Call of the Wild"
• 17 year old girl named Tracy develops crush on Chris - but he has no desire to be with her.
• Fancies Jan over Tracy and begins opening up to her about his life he left behind.
• Motherly figures > Romantic relationships
• After a week of living at The Slabs, Chris once again wants to leave and heads to CA to grab his last paycheck.

Henry David Thoreau

Who is this Dude?

• Born in 1817
• Died in 1862
• From Massachusetts
• Became a Harvard graduate
• Worked as a teacher for awhile, and then proceeded to work in a pencil factory for his family.

He eventually became good friends with a man named Emerson.

Who is Emerson?

Emerson

• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Also born of MA
• Harvard graduate
• Graduated 13th in his class of 1,959.
• Also elected class poet.
• He was a teacher, professor, poet, scholar, lecturer.

Emerson Continued

• Lectured about Nature
• "Nature is a metaphor, or image of the human mind."
• Died of pneumonia in 1882.
• Supported the Anti-Slavery movement and disgraced by bloodshed.

Ways he "Transcended"

• Used a piece of land that Emerson owned on Walden's Pond
• Bought building supplies, and built a small house
• Wanted to write his first book and see if it were possible to live by working one day and "resting" 6.

Experiment

• Thoreau stayed at the pond for two years (1845-1847)
• During those two, spent one night in jail
• Took a trip to Maine to climb a mountain.
• Eventually dies of TB.