Why did McCandless abandon the Datsun?

Why did McCandless abandon the Datsun?

• A. He wanted to travel by foot.
• B. The car was stolen.
• C. Engine ruined from flood and wouldn't work.
• D. He needed a larger vehicle.

Answer: (C)

The key idea is that the car was rendered unusable by a flood, so abandoning it was a practical response to a broken engine rather than a preference to travel in a different way. When the flood damaged the engine and it wouldn’t start, keeping and repairing the Datsun would have been futile; leaving it behind allowed him to continue his journey into the wilderness with whatever gear he had. This moment also signals his shift toward a leaner, more self-reliant approach to survival. The other options don’t fit the situation: the car wasn’t stolen, there wasn’t a need for a larger vehicle, and while traveling on foot follows from the abandonment, the immediate cause was the engine damage caused by the flood.

The key idea is that the car was rendered unusable by a flood, so abandoning it was a practical response to a broken engine rather than a preference to travel in a different way. When the flood damaged the engine and it wouldn’t start, keeping and repairing the Datsun would have been futile; leaving it behind allowed him to continue his journey into the wilderness with whatever gear he had. This moment also signals his shift toward a leaner, more self-reliant approach to survival. The other options don’t fit the situation: the car wasn’t stolen, there wasn’t a need for a larger vehicle, and while traveling on foot follows from the abandonment, the immediate cause was the engine damage caused by the flood.