Jon Krakauer’s observation about not grasping “personal mortality” is based in the idea that young people usually view death as an abstraction. Limited experiences play a large part in the young person’s inability to believe in their own death. They are likely to view death as connected only with the elderly or those who are seriously ill, and this perspective generally changes only if a loved one suddenly dies. Krakauer conveys that a grasp of personal mortality largely evaded Chris McCandless, at least until he was very near death. The author notes a shared characteristic of “heedlessness,” as they ignored indications of danger or believed they would be unaffected. Chris’s father says that even when very young, Chris acted as though the odds did not apply to him.

Krakauer shows similarities between his own and Chris’s limited views through recounting adventures they had when young. His adventure was a climb up Devil’s Thumb mountain, which he barely survived. In the other case, Chris encountered numerous difficulties in canoeing on the Colorado River. Krakauer shows that both young men behaved as if they could not die in dangerous circumstances.

Chris’s acceptance of mortality apparently comes only very near the end of his life, as indicated by the note he left behind. He wrote that he was “injured [and] near death,” which turned out to be the case.