Mccandless's Identity In Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

In the book Into the Wild, the author identifies the theme of McCandless’ elusiveness of his identity leading to the isolation of himself, resulting in costing him his life. Krakauer continuously writes about how McCandless wants to find his identity through traveling and exploring the world and what it has to offer. Though his travels, McCandless finds that in order to achieve in discovering himself, he must dis-attach himself from any relationship he has with anyone and can only stay in places for two weeks at a time. While affable with the strangers he meets on the road, McCandless breaks off all contact with his family. This isolation is a key component in the story, and therefore is also a huge part of the theme. Motifs used in the book