Escaping Your Past

"Despite prodding from Burres, however, McCandless revealed virtually nothing about his family...'-because of what happened to me and my own son. He's out there somewhere, and I'd want someone to look someone him like I tried to look after Alex'" (Krakauer 45).

Topic: The Dynamics of Family

In this quote  Burres tries to dig deeper into Alex's personal life. He realizes that Alex most likely left his family without telling them and this clearly bothers Burres due to his past. Burres says his son is "somewhere out there" suggesting that his son must have disappeared from his life like Alex disappeared from his family. This is an interesting passage because it is one of the few time, so far, that someone has noticed the other side to Alex Supertramp. Throughout all the people that Alex had encountered, most only had positive things to say about him. Things about how happy, helpful, or alive he is. However, Burres is the first to notice the chink in the armor. Essentially, it comes down to how Burres perceives family versus how Alex does. The conflict in the passage is clear when Alex refuses to reveal anything about his family. This is because Alex isn't Chris anymore. Chris belonged to a family that he didn't like and as Alex he attempts to escape his past.