Chris McCandless can be categorized as a Romantic. Krakauer describes McCandless as idolizing writers such as Thoreau and Emerson (Transcendentalists). However, McCandless does not share Thoreau's and Emerson's optimistic view of human nature (consider how he viewed his parents and many other humans with whom he came in contact).

American Romanticism emphasizes the purity of nature and its power to teach humans life lessons. McCandless certainly demonstrates this quality. Not only did he want to go into the Alaskan wilderness to test himself, but according to Krakauer, he also showed a desire to want to learn as much as he could from the wilderness. Similarly, Romantics believe in the power of the individual, and McCandless--on numerous occasions--proved that he wanted to "go it alone." At times, he accepted help from others, but apparently did so only to be able to achieve his goal of entering the wild by himself. He truly seemed to believe that he would be able to conquer nature.

There are a lot of terms that can be used to describe McCandless. My favorite one from the book is how Jim Gallien, who gave Chris a ride to the trailhead in Alaska, described Chris as “excited.” Chris’s excitement at finally living his dream of an “Alaskan adventure” had to do with his desire to be apart from other people—to leave the petty trivialities and emotional entanglements of life in society behind for the purer and simpler life in the bush. There is also the sense that Chris, ever the high achiever, felt that this was a kind of ultimate test, a way to demonstrate to himself and others that he could make it on his own. Chris felt that nature was a teacher and that, like any good student, he would be able to “master“ what it had to teach.