Chapter 12

In this chapter, Krakauer continues with the exploration of Chris’ character and how it was formed during his youth. The chapter focuses on the road trip undertaken by Chris after graduating from high school. Before starting his journey, Chris had promised his parents that he would call them every three days. He complied with this initially but soon stopped calling them. When he returned home, he looked exhausted and was underweight.

McCandless was a brilliant student and received near-perfect grades during his first year of college. He wrote for the school newspaper. But the summer after his second year at Emory, Chris’ personality appeared to have changed. He became distant and removed. Chris had apparently revisited his childhood home California, and discovered that he had been born to his mother, Billie, while Walt was still married to his first wife, Marcia. Further, two years after Chris was born, Walt had another child with Marcia. Chris feels betrayed but never confronts his parents.

Over the next few years, Chris grew more and more distant. After his graduation, he finally ceased to communicate with his parents. In July 1992, two years after Chris had disappeared, Billie woke up after hearing the sound of Chris asking for help.

Chapter 13

In this chapter, Krakauer interviews Carine, Chris’ sister. She talks about the day she found out about her brother’s death. She remembers about how Chris was her close confidant even though they were different in many ways. Unlike Carine, Chris did not care for material gains. Ten months have passed since Chris’ death but Carine cannot get through a day without crying about her brother. Carine and her husband were informed about Chris’ death shortly after his body was discovered. They traveled to Alaska to bring home Chris’ remains along with a few of his belongings.

Chapter 14

In this chapter, Krakauer gives us a glimpse of his own tryst with adventure. Based on his own experiences in Alaska as a young man, Krakauer arrives at the conclusion that Chris’ death wasn’t suicide, but rather an accident. His conclusion is also confirmed by the evidence provided by Chris’s journals.

When Krakauer was twenty-three, he decided to scale Devil’s Thumb alone and believed that it would be a life-changing experience. During the climb, he escaped a fatal fall through an ice crevice at Stikine Ice Cap. He then sets up camp on a plateau and waits for his supplies to be air-dropped, which are delayed because of heavy snowfall. Krakauer continues to climb up the glacier but soon realizes that the ice wall is way too thin. He decides to stop his climb and descend.

Chapter 15

Shaken, Krakauer decides to smoke some marijuana to calm his nerves but accidentally sets his tent on fire. This incident reminds Krakauer of his estranged relationship with his father. Lewis Krakauer, a physician, wanted his son to pursue a career in medicine. The father and son grew apart as the author grew older and made his own life decisions. Later, Lewis suffered from polio and got addicted to painkillers and attempted suicide. The author claims he inherited his “off-kilter ambition” from his father, which prevented him from accepting defeat.

Motivated by his love for mountain climbing, Krakauer resolves to try to climb the peak once again via a different route. However, he is almost buried alive under the snow and unable to reach the summit. He learns that ambition is not enough to win this battle and that he needs favorable conditions too. It is this incident in his own life that makes him believe that Chris was not suicidal but curious and interested in testing his own limits.

Analysis of Chapter 12 to Chapter 15

These chapters give us more information about Chris’ life as a young man and his relationship with his family. It shows the kind of world that Chris inhabits and later wants to escape. His alienation from his parents after learning about his father’s affair is an indicator of his high moral standards. By familiarizing the reader with the grieving family, Krakauer is forced to face the real consequences of the life of adventure chosen by Chris.

In conversations with Carine, one gets the sense of the bond she shared with Chris. Her anecdotes remind one of the important role that Chris played in his family. Their grief and irreparable loss manifests in their body through weight fluctuations.

In chapters 14 and 15, Jon Krakauer gives us a glimpse into life. This part of the book is, therefore, more akin to a memoir. He describes his attempts to climb the Devil’s Thumb, which also shows the different approaches that people with similar ambitions can take. While Krakauer wants to scale the peak, he is equally aware of existing dangers. We are also made privy to his estranged relationship with his father, another similarity with Chris.

From Krakauer’s experiences, the reader can perhaps assess Chris’s state of mind and his reasons for undertaking this “odyssey.” Like Krakauer, Chris too was in a state of transcendence when he was closer to nature.