Chris McCandless made the mistake of failing to communicate with his family while on his journey to Alaska. He spent moments with people in different parts of the nation while hitchhiking, most of them whom inferred that McCandless kept his background “hidden”. One such person whom Chris associated with was a man named Wayne Westerberg, who lived in South Dakota. Although Westerberg was not seen too often throughout the story, nevertheless he was an important character. Introducing himself as Alex, McCandless was in Westerberg’s company for quite a while: either for a few days or several weeks. Westerberg first realized the truth about Chris when he discovered his tax papers, which stated “McCandless’s real name was Chris, not Alex.” Wayne