Chapter 18, The Stampede Trail Summary and Analysis

A quotation from Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago precedes Chapter 18. A passage regarding love for one's neighbor has been underscored by Chris McCandless.

Stymied by the Teklanika River, McCandless returns to the bus on July 8. His journals do not indicate his state of mind, but Krakauer thinks he has decided to wait for the river to subside. McCandless returns to his hunting and gathering routine and finds game plentiful. However the animals he kills are themselves quite lean and provide insufficient calories to make up for what McCandless expends in the hunting. With his survival at stake, McCandless reads Doctor Zhivago and has an epiphany. He highlights a section in the book which speaks to the desire to take refuge in nature, yet the book concludes that genuine happiness must be shared with one's fellow human...