Chapters 11-13: Family History

The epigraph in Chapter 11 is a quote that McCandless highlighted about needing a purpose. In Chapter 12, there's another quote McCandless highlighted, but this one is about wanting truth instead of money and fame. Chapter 13 starts with a quote from The Stars, the Snow, the Fire: Twenty-Five Years in the Northern Wilderness.

As a child and teen, McCandless was very smart and fearless. He began backpacking at age eight and loved it ever since. He always had an adventurous soul. As a teen, he began objecting to rules. McCandless had a lot of natural talent, but he would put up a wall if people tried to coach him. His personality had always been puzzling. I think those were all indications as to who he would become, because he was very similar as an adult to how he was as a child.

I think I am a lot different than I was as a child. When I was younger, I thought the most important things in life were having friends and getting good grades. Now, I prefer to keep my friend circle small and I don't care about getting good grades, even though I still get them. I wanted to be a doctor, live in a foreign country and have a family some day. Now, I want a simple job, to stay in the U.S., and I want to live either alone or with one other person. However, certain aspects of my personality have remained the same throughout my life, such as my stubbornness, independence, my love of proving people wrong, and my tendencies to do things differently than most people would.