McCandless’s hitchhiking is symbolic of his transient lifestyle and unwillingness to be tied down to any place, any person, or any rules.
Hitchhiking Quotes in Into the Wild
The Into the Wild quotes below all refer to the symbol of Hitchhiking. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Anchor Books edition of Into the Wild published in 1997.
Chapter 7
Quotes
No, I want to hitch north. Flying would be cheating. It would wreck the whole trip.
Related Characters:
Chris McCandless (speaker)
Related Symbols:
Hitchhiking
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Hitchhiking Symbol Timeline in Into the Wild
The timeline below shows where the symbol Hitchhiking appears in Into the Wild. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4 - Detrital Wash
Hitchhiking throughout the Southwest, Chris goes to Los Angeles to get a job and ID, but...
(full context)