of his life. He went to school, got good grades, went to college, got a degree, and finished with high marks. He did what was expected of Chris McCandless. Now that he has fulfilled those expectations, he can forge his own path, and a big part of that path is to be a wandering soul with an ever-changing horizon.

The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

By definition, a tramp is a person that travels from place to place. This is what McCandless does, and he sees himself as really good at it. He is a "super tramp." The name makes sense, but the name change also helps him create that persona and act that way. Anecdotally, I do this on a daily basis. I'm a teacher, and when I'm at school, I am Mr. Beutlich or coach Beutlich. I behave a certain way, talk a certain way, etc. I put on my teacher persona, and that persona gets put away once I am at home with my wife and kids. It's not a drastic change like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but the names reflect the environment and necessary behavior. That is similar to Chris McCandless and Alex Supertramp.

By choosing a new name, Alex was able to declare his own autonomy and ability to choose his own path in life. Generally, in the context of the United States, choosing a new name for one's self is considered at best eccentric, and, at worst, selfish and insulting to one's parents. However, by naming himself, Alex was able to push back against the control his parents had over him and claim his life for his own.

Our names are incredibly important to our identities, and yet, in the dominant US culture, we are expected to simply accept the name that another individual has given us. This societal expectation that we should not choose our own names is rooted in the expectation of obedience and subordination to parents as authoritarian figures. Additionally, the expectation to not change one's name is rooted in the expectation that one must be loyal to their nuclear family, regardless of affinity. Alex chose to reject dominant society, his old life, and his former understanding of himself. The changing of his name symbolized for him that rejection and a symbolic rebirth. It is unfortunate and representative of the dominant culture that people tend to not acknowledge Alex's chosen name and continue to refer to him by the name of the person he wished to leave behind.

On a practical level, Alex was a generic name that would help keep Chris's family from finding him as he wandered in the western part of the United States. He wanted, in particular, to be free of his controlling father.

On a spiritual level, Chris wanted to shed his old identity, what he called his "false" self, and gain a new, more authentic sense of identity. Abandoning his old name was an important step for him in that process.

The book does not explain precisely why Chris chose Alex rather than Mark or Tom or any other common name. It is possible he was thinking of Alexander the Great, who at a young age conquered much of the known world. Chris had no interest in conquering the world, but he did want to see it, especially nature, and he wanted to conquer himself.

Supertramp, his acquired surname, is easier to understand: it defined him a person tramping or wandering the world. If Chris was thinking of Alexander the Great in calling himself Alex, pairing that with Supertramp reveals a grandiose vision of himself. The naming perhaps suggests why he was willing to take so many risks.

Chris McCandless changed his name to Alex Supertramp because he wanted to leave every aspect of his former self behind.

When Chris McCandless became Alex, he was doing more than changing his name.  He gave away his money, burned all of his possessions, asked his friend to return all his mail to sender, and left the modern world behind.

“Alex?” Gallien responded, fishing for a last name.
“Just Alex,” the young man replied, pointedly rejecting the bait. (ch 1, p. 4)

Names are one of our most powerful connections to the world.  By changing his name to Alex (and later Alex Supertramp), Chris thumbed his nose at society and allowed himself to cut all ties, and begin his adventure on his own terms.

It is not until he was dying did he resume his name in the note he left for help.  He “abandoned the cocky moniker he had been using for years, Alexander Supertramp, in favor of the name given to him at birth by his parents” (p. 198).  At this point the adventure was over, and it was more important to give his family closure.  In the note he reached out to civilization, at the end of his life.