The definition of direct characterization is when a writer simply states the traits of a character. Indirect characterization is used when a writer reveals information about a character and his personality through that character's thoughts, words, actions, along with how other characters respond to that character, including what they think and say about him.
Direct Characterization
1. " He didn't appear to be very old: eighteen, maybe nineteen at most. A rifle protruded from the young man's backpack, but he looked friendly enough." Page 3.
2. "Five feet seven or eight with a wiry build, he claimed to be twenty-four years old." Page 4.
3. "The more they talked, the less Alex struck Gallien as a nutcase. He was congenial and seemed well educated." Page 5.
4. "Westerberg, a hyperkinetic man with thick shoudlers and a black goatee." Page 16.
5. "McCandless was smallish with the hard, stringy physique of an itinerant laborer. There was something arresting about the youngter's eyes. Dark and emotive, they suggested a trace of exotic blood in his heritage-- Greek, maybe, or Chippewa." Page 16.
6. "His face had a strange elasticity: It would be slack and expressionless one minute, only to twist suddenly into a gaping, oversize grin that distorted his features and exposed a mouthful of horsy teeth. He was nearsighted and wore steel-rimmed glasses. He looked hungry." Page 17.
7. "Westerberg, in his mid thirties, a Renaissance man of the plains, he is a farmer, welder, businessman, machinist, ace mechanic, commodities speculator, licensed airplane pilot, computer programmer, electronics troubleshooter, video-game repairman." Page 19.
8. "Jan Burres, a fourty-one-year-old rubber tramp who was traveling around the West selling knick-knacks at flea markets and swap meets with her boyfriend, Bob." Page 30.
9. "He was unheeded, happy, and near to the wild heart of life. He was alone and young and willful and wild hearted, alone amid a waste of wild air and brackish waters and the sea-harvest of shells and tangle and veiled grey sunlight." Page 31.
10. "He was a really good kid. We thought the world of him." Page 30.
Indirect Characterization
1. "We got to talking, he was a nice kid. Said his name was Alex. And he was big time hungry. Hungry, hungry, hungry. But real happy." Page 30.
2. "He wasn't carrying anywhere near as much food and gear as you'd expect a guy to be carrying for that kind of trip," Gallien recalls. Page 4.
3. "He peppered Gallien with thoughtful questions about the kind of smal game that live in the country, the kinds of berries he could eat-- that kind of thing." Page 5.
4. "Alex admitted that the only food in his pack was a ten-pound bag of rice. His gear seemed exceedingly minimal for the harsh conditions of the interior." Page 5.
5. "Alex's cheap leather hiking boots were neither waterproof nor well insulated." Page 5.
6. "Gallien thought the hitchhiker's scheme was foolhardy and tried repeatedly to dissuade him." Page 5.
7. "Alex didn't seem too worried. 'I'll climb a tree' is all he said. He had an answer for everything I threw at him." Page 6.
8. Gallien asked whether he had a hunting license. "Hell no," Alex scoffed. "How I feed myself is none of the government's business. Fuck their stupid rules." Page 6.
9. "If you don't take it, I'm going to throw it away," Alex cheerfully retorted. "I don't want to know what time it is. I don't want to know what day it is or where I am. None of that matters." Page 7.
10. "I thought he'd probably get hungry pretty quick and just walk out to the highway. That's what any normal person would do." Page 7.
In my opinion, Chris McCandless is a very determined and independent guy. All he wants is to be left alone in the wild. He doesn't care about anything or what could happen to him. I don't think that he is going on a suicide mission, however, he wants to be completely secluded from everyone and everything.
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