Were Krakauer and McCandless similar? If so how?

Krakauer, like McCandless, was a willful, self-absorbed, passionate, and moody child who had problems with male authority figures. He becomes obsessed with climbing in his late teens, and spends all of his time fantasizing about, planning and undertaking dangerous climbs. At twenty-three, he plans on an especially dangerous climb in Alaska, the Devils Thumb, and determines that he will go it alone. He is dimly aware that he might be getting in over his head, but that is part of the point, and only encourages his zeal.

Krakauer illuminates a lot of parallels between himself and McCandless, and we see how he probably can understand McCandless’s motivations deeply, without having ever met him, because of their similarities in life circumstances and personalities. This does raise the question, however, of if he can really tell this story impartially, or might he be imposing his own story onto McCandless’s, which, with his death, can never be completely known. Lastly, there is the two men's shared conflicts with their fathers.