Into the Wild Chapters 8-9 Summary and Analysis

Summary
Before he authored Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote an article about Christopher McCandless for the magazine Outside, a work which generated a good deal of vitriol in the form of communication condemning McCandless's demise as "a foolish, pointless death." These correspondences, many of which were sent by Alaskans, railed against Krakauer for glorifying an imprudent young man whom they believed simply "overestimated (him)self, underestimated the country, and ended up in trouble." Krakauer responds by examining a sampling of "marginal characters" who have, throughout history and for various reasons, felt compelled to challenge the Alaskan wilderness alone, only to be found wanting....