Into the Wild #2, Character Maps.

There are many similarities between the character Everett Ruess and Chris McCandless in Into The Wild. Although McCandless didn't take his adventure until about a half century later than Everett, they sound a lot like eachother in their correspondence to people. Some of the other similarities are that they were both undeterred by physical discomfort, they both changed their names upon embarking on their journeys, and their odysseys both ended in death. Another more obvious similarity is that Chris McCandless and Everett Ruess both left behind their life in the modern day society to travel, and get something more meaningful out of life.

McCandless always found a way to survive under the harshest of conditions until his demise. He survived the heat, and canoed for an extremely long way, and many more things. He went from place to place touching people's lives and leaving again. He was very determined about what he was doing, which is what probably kept him alive for so long. Ruess also survived and did not care about physical discomfort. In the book on page 92-93, he wrote a letter to his friend saying "For six days I've been suffering from the semi-annual poison ivy case--my sufferings are far from over," he also said that for two days he could not tell whether he was dead or alive and that "I get it every time, but i refuse to be driven out of the woods." This illustrates his dedication to his cause and that he is not deterred by physical discomfort.

When Chris McCandless began his journey, he referred to himself as Alexander Supertramp. He went by Alex mostly, but sometimes he kept his last name and called himself Alex McCandless. Everett Ruess however, changed his name many times. In some of his letters of correspondence, there is documentation of him referring to himself as Lan Rameau, Evert Rulan, and lastly, Nemo. Everett etched the name Nemo--Latin for "nobody"--twice before his disappearance. Chris McCandless also etched Alexander Supertramp on the bus before he died.

Both McCandless' and Ruess' odysseys were terminal. They both ended up dying for their desire to search for the beauty in life and get more meaning out of it. Though Chris' remains were found, Ruess' whereabouts remain unknown. They both were willing to live life on the road and possibly die because they felt detatched from the world, they were uninterested in civilized life, school, and society's laws, rules, and guidelines. They both wanted something more.