Intention

The letter written by Christopher McCandless and then published by Jon Krakauer in his book Into the Wild has two main intentions. First, McCandless’ intention is to inform Ronald Franz, his friend, of his whereabouts and of his plans for the future. Secondly, McCandless’ intention is to persuade Ron to adopt a nomadic and adventurous lifestyle.

Since McCandless' letter was included in the book Into the Wild, it may also be interesting to consider author Jon Krakauer's intentions behind including it. 

McCandless wants to inform Ron of his whereabouts

The letter McCandless sends to Ron is initially meant to inform him of McCandless’ whereabouts. Since the beginning, McCandless lets Ron know that he is safe and that he is working in South Dakota: “I have been working up here in Carthage, South Dakota for nearly two weeks now. I arrived up here three days after we parted in Grand Junction, Colorado” (p. 208, ll. 1-3). With this example, McCandless also relies on ethos to depict himself as a working man an...