Carine starts the chapter by discussing two pictures of her brother taken ten years apart. In both pictures, McCandless has the same "pensive, recalcitrant squint" familiar to all who knew him. As she shares about her brother, her dog Buckley, a Shetland sheepdog, lies at her feet. Although Buckley had been Carine's dog, McCandless had a special bond with him. After McCandless graduated from Emory and before he left, he had asked if he could come to get Buckley, but at the time Buckley was healing from being hit by a car and his parents said no. In hindsight, Carine, Walt, and Billie wonder if having Buckley along would have changed the risky choices that McCandless took, because they know he loved Buckley and would not have put the dog in a dangerous situation.
In recounting how she was told about her brother's death, Carine says that her husband Chris Fish came home early one night. He acted strangely, saying they needed to talk. Before he told her about McCandless, she tried to joke with him to lift his mood. Once Chris Fish shared that McCandless had died, she "began to scream" and "remained hysterical for the next five hours." After she calmed down, she and Chris Fish headed to Chesapeake Beach where her parents lived. On the way there, Carine asked to stop at their church; she went inside and asked for answers but left without any.
The next day Carine and Sam, her stepbrother who had initially been contacted to identify McCandless, flew to Fairbanks, Alaska to bring home McCandless's remains and the few possessions found with him. They continued on to Anchorage, Alaska where McCandless's body had been cremated. Carine, surprised at the large size of the box, was also upset because the mortuary had engraved the wrong middle initial for her brother's name. On the flight home, Carine ate all the unappealing food offered on the airplane. The thought of her brother starving made her feel like she could not waste any food. This appetite was short-lived; once she got home, she lost ten pounds. McCandless's mother Billie also lost weight, but his dad, Walt, ate compulsively and gained weight. The chapter concludes by discussing Billie, lost in memories, questioning why McCandless felt so compelled to take such dangerous risks.
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Although brief, Chapter 13 reveals the main ideas that surround McCandless's actions and death. Below is a list of these main ideas.
- McCandless's photos demonstrate that he has always been one to rebel against social expectations. The face made in both photos is described as "recalcitrant" as though he did not agree with it and was annoyed by the need to take pictures. This attitude is then seen later in other choices, like helping the homeless while other teenagers were at parties or promising his parents that he would call on his road trips and not following through.
- Carine, Walt, and Billie question keeping Buckley at home when McCandless asks to come to get him. They knew that he loved Buckley and thought that he might have made safer choices to keep Buckley safe.
- McCandless's death contributed to the healing of Carine's relationship with their parents. After his death, she made "peace" with her parents and called their relationship "really good". She recognizes that she is now similar to her parents, who worked all the time to gain wealth.
- Carine's reaction to McCandless's death shows her connection to her brother despite time and distance. She cries hysterically, asks God for answers, and after ten months, still cannot get through a day without crying.
- Walt and Billie McCandless are heavily impacted by McCandless's death. Both parents' appetites are affected. Billie struggles to understand McCandless's choices and is at a loss when looking at his last photos.
Chris McCandless's Family
Both parents were physically affected. McCandless's mother lost eight pounds and his dad gained eight pounds with compulsive eating. McCandless's mother, Billie, would not accept his death. She refused to look at the pictures of the "starved body found in the bus behind her Sushana River" until the dental records confirmed that this person was her son.
At the end of the chapter, Billie flips through the few pictures found on McCandless's camera. She studies these photos, cries, and tries to figure out how to grieve for her son. Billie questions and fails to understand McCandless's need to risk his life in these dangerous adventures.
Chris McCandless's Sister
Carine McCandless is Christopher McCandless's younger sister. Growing up, their parents established a consulting company and worked all of the time. Since their parents were always busy, Carine and her brother learned to rely on one another. Carine and McCandless had a relationship that even he recognized as valuable. Once, when frustrated with his parents, he wrote to Carine, "Anyway, I like to talk to you about this because you are the only person in the world who could possibly understand what I'm saying."
When McCandless died, Chris Fish, Carine's husband, came home early. He was not acting himself, and finally he shared, "It's your brother. They found him. He's dead." Carine could not believe what she was hearing. She became hysterical, resisting any comfort from her husband. She screamed and cried for the next five hours.
Once she had calmed herself, she gathered a few items and started the four-hour trip to her parent's house. Along the way, she stopped at a church and prayed for answers and understanding, but she did not get any. Instead, she now had to pick up his few belongings and remains.
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Below are a few quotes that work to represent the key ideas throughout the chapter and that highlight the impact that McCandless's death had on his family members.
- "In both photos Chris stares at the lens with the same pensive, recalcitrant squint, as if he'd been interrupted in the middle of an important thought and was annoyed to be wasting his time in front of the camera."
- This quote illustrates that McCandless has, even from a young age, felt detached from society's social expectations. His face shows that he is bothered by pictures for holidays and other formalities.
- "My parents can't help wondering - and I admit that I can't, either - how things might have turned out different if Chris had taken Buck with him. Chris didn't think twice about risking his own life, but he never would have put Buckley in any kind of danger."
- This chapter shows how McCandless's death impacted his family. In this quote, Carine discusses how both her parents question what would have happened if they had allowed McCandless to take Buckley, Carine's dog who McCandless had bonded with. They know that McCandless took risks, but understand that Buckley may have prevented McCandless from taking some of the same risks because he would have wanted to keep the dog safe.
- "Carine curled up on the couch in a fetal position, wailing without pause."
- Carine and McCandless had an unexplainable bond. The compassion and love she felt for her brother are seen in part when she finds out about his death. Her emotion and pain left her inconsolable for five hours, and even after that, she would break down and cry regularly.
- "Such bereavement, witnessed at close range, makes even the most eloquent apologia for high-risk activities ring fatuous and hollow."
- This statement is one that Krakauer makes in part because he sees a little of himself in McCandless's spirit. His spending time with McCandless's family during their time of grief made defending the high-risk activities that McCandless loved, feel empty and insensitive. Krakauer, even though he understood the appeal that McCandless felt, could not defend McCandless's choices because he saw the pain his family endured.
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In Chapter 13 of Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer writes about the very close relationship that Christopher McCandless had with his sister, Carine. When Carine's husband, Chris Fish, tells her that her brother is dead, she cried and screams inconsolably for five hours. When she did calm down, she went to her parent's house. She met up with her stepbrother Sam to gather McCandless's remains and his few items.
Although primarily about Carine, this chapter offers glimpses into the grief of McCandless's parents as well. One of their decisions they question was to allow McCandless to take Buckley, the family dog. They did not let McCandless take Buckley but wonder if McCandless would have taken fewer risks had they said yes. The chapter ends with the quote that "even the most eloquent apologia for high-risk activities ring fatuous and hollow." This quote reveals that after spending time with the grieving family, Krakauer cannot see how any defense for the high-risk activities McCandless took is possible. Defense of these activities would be insensitive and empty when speaking to a family that is experiencing so much pain.
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Video Transcript
Little Sister
Author Jon Krakauer has told us several times throughout Into the Wild that Chris McCandless and his sister Carine were very close. In Chapter 13, Krakauer tells us that the two siblings looked enough alike that they were often asked if they were twins.
We also learn that Carine, like Chris, ''is energetic and self-assured, a high achiever, quick to state an opinion.'' The two also share in common the fact that they both fought bitterly with their parents as adolescents. Despite these similarities, Carine and Chris were also vastly different from one another.
Carine, unlike Chris, repaired her relationship with her parents. She appears to have been able to forgive and move on where Chris could not. Carine's lifestyle is also not in keeping with Chris's minimal, anti-capitalist approach.
Carine and her husband own an auto repair shop and hope to make their first million at an early age. ''I was always getting on Mom and Dad's case because they worked all the time and were never around,'' Carine reflects with irony, ''and now look at me: I'm doing the same thing.'' Indeed, Chris used to tease Carine for her capitalist ideals, but it was always a friendly sort of banter.
Saved By a Dog?
In the previous chapter, Krakauer told us about Carine's dog Buckley, Carine's Shetland sheepdog whom Chris adored. We learn in Chapter 13 that Chris had wanted to take the dog with him on his post-college trip across the country. At that point, however, Buckley was recovering from being hit by a car. He was in pretty bad shape and the veterinarian was doubtful he would be able to walk again.
Because of the vet's diagnosis, Chris's parents said he couldn't take the dog with him. They later tortured themselves on this decision, Carine tells us, saying they ''can't help wondering. . . how things might have turned out different if Chris had taken Buck with him.'' Carine further explains, ''Chris didn't think twice about risking his own life, but he never would have put Buckley in any kind of danger.'' Could the dog have saved Chris's life? We'll never know.
News Delivered
After learning how close the siblings were, we can better understand the intense grief Krakauer describes Carine endured when she learned of his death. Carine's half-brother, Sam, had phoned her husband at work with the news. Carine's husband was distraught; he knew how much Carine cared for her brother. He delivered the news simply, ''It's your brother. They found him. He's dead.''
Carine experienced denial at first, saying ''Chris isn't dead.'' Then a blinding grief took over. She screamed and sobbed uncontrollably for four hours. She was in complete shock, and there was nothing her husband could do to comfort her.
Bringing Chris Home
After Chris's identity had been confirmed through dental records, Carine went to Alaska with Sam to collect his belongings and to bring his ashes home. We can see the severe effects of grief in the details Krakauer shares. When one is in such a distressed mental state, odd details become really important. Carine remembers being struck by how big the box of ashes was. She was also fixated for a while on the fact that they made a mistake in labeling the box, giving Chris the middle initial of R instead of J. Carine finally reasoned with herself, ''Chris wouldn't care. He'd think it was funny.''
Carine also found herself compulsively eating all the food that was given to her on the flight home even though ''it was the horrible stuff they serve on airplanes.'' She ''just couldn't bear the thought of throwing away food since Chris had starved to death.''
Lingering Pain
In an interview that took place ten months after Chris's death, Carine tells Krakauer that she still cries for her brother every day. Immediately after his death, she lost ten pounds. She was so grief-stricken that it was hard to eat.
Chris's mother also lost weight, while Chris's dad reacted in an opposite way, gaining weight from compulsive eating. When Krakauer sits at the McCandless's' dining room table, looking at old pictures of Chris, he observes ''a sense of loss so huge and irreparable that the mind balks at taking its measure.'' After this intimate view of this family's suffering, Krakauer writes, ''Such bereavement, witnessed at close range, makes even the most eloquent apologia for high-risk activities ring fatuous and hollow.''
Lesson Summary
Chapter 13 of Into the Wild gives us a closer look at Chris's family after his death. We learn of how he and his sister, Carine, were very close, despite their differences in their monetary pursuits. The family wonders if the same fate would have occurred if Chris had been let to take the family dog with him.
Carine was devastated by Chris's death, and screamed and cried for hours. Later, she and her half-brother Sam flew to Alaska to collect Chris's remains and his belongings. The whole family was drastically affected by the grief which ensued from Chris's death. In observing it, Krakauer tells us that the reality of this pain makes all the best excuses for extreme adventure ''ring fatuous and hollow.''
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