Into the Wild

In the spring of 1990, Christopher McCandless obtains his undergraduate degree from Emory. Watching him get his degree are his wealthy parents, Walt McCandless and Billie McCandless, and his teenaged sister, Carine McCandless. Before his parents and sister head home to Virginia following the convocation, Chris, refusing his parents' gift of a new car to replace his old Datsun which he states works perfectly fine, tells them that he has thoughts of going into Harvard Law, he having received excellent grades in what were largely classes focusing on global social consciousness. Walt, Billie and Carine will learn by the end of the summer that Chris had no intention of going to Harvard as he has since moved from his apartment in Atlanta without a word to them, he arranging with the post office to hold his mail for a couple of months before being "returned to sender" to give him a head start in his escape from his family. Chris' Datsun is eventually discovered abandoned in the Arizona desert, the authorities believing it being done on purpose as opposed to Chris being abducted. Walt and Billie intend to continue to search for Chris until they know conclusively what has happened to him. Carine, having had much the same upbringing as Chris, believes she understands what he is doing in making this escape. What he has done is either donated most of his money to Oxfam or burned it, and has destroyed all of his ID in an effort to start life anew as a child of the Earth, he rechristening himself Alexander Supertramp. This move is in rebellion to much of western society, and most specifically against the type of life his parents epitomize, they who he believes should never have gotten married and are hypocrites in portraying what they believe society expects of them, being generally unhappy with each other and life in the process. He ultimately wants to live off the land, carrying with him only what material possessions he will need, but wants to experience freedom by traveling the country by thumbing rides or riding the rails, working the odd job until he earns enough to purchase what he needs at any give time, and obtaining some skills he knows he will need to survive in the destination he has in mind when he is ready: the wilds of Alaska. Despite stating that he does not want or need attachments, he does make some human connections along the way, and not necessarily to/with like-minded people.