Into The Wild Prompt #3
He had successfully kept Jan Burres and Wayne Westerberg at arms length, flitting out of their lives before anything was expected of him. And now hed slipped painlessly out of Ron Franzs life as well. Jon Krakauer. During Chris McCandlesss trek to Alaska, he dramatically impacted the lives of many with his charismatic personality, but he was never around long enough to really get to know them. The ones left with the strongest impressions were Jane Burres, Ronald, and Wayne Westerberg. Each took a strong liking towards him and developed a longing relationship. The feeling was mutual with Chris, the protagonist of Into the Wild, a non fiction novel by Jon Krakauer. He kept each of them informed on his journey with post cards expressing his gratitude for their friendships.
Jan Burres developed a motherly bond with Chris. They met in Bullhead City when she took him in when he strongly desired food and rest. Although she was a rubbertramb with scarce resources, she did the best she could to provide for him. They shared a playful friendship as noted by Krakauer, McCandless was especially attentive to Burres, flirting and clowning with her at every opportunity. He liked to tease me and torment me she recalls. Jan carefully encouraged his untamable spirit while reminding him of the inevitable dangers of his path. As a mother herself, she attempted to convince him to return to his family to console their worries. Have you let your people (parents) know what youre up to? Id keep at it until hed change the subject though because what happened between what happened to me and my own son. Hes out there somewhere, and Id want someone to look after him like I tried to look after Alex, quotes Burres. She developed such a strong connection with Chris because he reminded her of her estrangement from her son.
Similarly to Jan, Ronald Franz developed a fatherly bond with Chris. Deprived of his wife and son, the old man desperately searched to find meaning in his life. Upon meeting Chris in Salton City, Ronald spontaneously developed an attachment to him with hopes to fill his unbearable void. When Franz met McCandless, his long-dormant parental impulses were kindled anew supports Krakauer, They became good friends and Ronald always went out of his way to accommodate him. He became devastated upon Chriss initiative to depart and begged for his reconsideration. Krakauer states, The boy (Chris) unmasked the gaping void in Franszs life even as he helped fill it. When McCandless departed as suddenly as hed arrived, Franz found himself deeply hurt. Ronald tried his final shot to win Chris over by asking for his permission to adopt him. Chris avoided the matter, breaking Ronalds heart. In a letter, Chris persuaded Ronald to abandon his life of conformity and live life on the road. When news of Chriss death reached him, he restarted his habitual drinking and lost all faith in God.
Chris quickly became accustomed to Wayne Westerberg on his visit to South Dakota. Wayne had an open-minded rowdy spirit appreciated by Chris Wayne didnt judge him on his questionable aspirations and accepted them. Krakauer informs, Westerberg, for his part, didnt concern himself with McCandlesss family problems. Whatever reason he had for being pissed off, I figured it must have been a good one Westerberg explains. He gave Chris shelter and work so that he could support himself whenever Chris was around. Though he valued Waynes friendship, he never stayed long enough to get to know him well. Chris sent his last postcard to Wayne hinting that it might be the last contact that they will ever have.
Although brief, his contact and encounters were often cherished. Ron, Wayne, and Jan all had a comparable relationship with Chris whether they looked at him as a son or he looked to them as a parent.
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