Because it is a work of non-fiction, Into the
Wild doesn't have a traditional climax; the end of the story is known from
the start, and the book is more dedicated to tracing Chris's path and trying to analyze
his actions. However, in a purely story-telling sense, the climax comes when Chris
decides to return to civilization:
In his journal he now wrote, "Disaster. .. .
Rained in. River look impossible. Lonely, scared." He concluded, correctly, that he
would probably be swept to his death if he attempted to cross the Teklanika at that
place, in those conditions. It would be suicidal; it was simply not an
option.
(Krakauer, Into the Wild,
Amazon.com)
This incident
caused Chris to hike back to the old bus, and the rest of his personal story is that of
a man unable to fend for himself anymore. Despite the fact that he had lived
more-or-less comfortably for almost four months, he was unable to continue hunting and
gathering enough food to live; an experiment in smoking the meat of a moose failed, and
so he had no fallback when he began starving to death. His final note, a plea for help,
is almost a self-fulfilling prophecy; at that point, it was unlikely that he could have
survived on his own no matter what happened.
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