Ronald Frankz and McCandless establish a father-son type of relationship in Into the Wild. Identify one benefit or drawback that each gets out of...

In McCandless, Franz finds the sense of family he lost years ago, when his wife and son died. Since then, he'd sponsored local children, and even paid for some of them to go college. When he meets McCandless, he finds someone he can connect with, someone he can worry about, somebody who cares about him. When McCandless leaves for Alaska, he gives Franz something to look forward to (his return), but when Franz hears of McCandless's death, he gives up his faith and starts drinking again.

In Franz, McCandless finds sort of a father figure, someone to look up to and get advice from. McCandless's anger at his own father kept him from respecting him, and perhaps Franz filled that void. Still, Franz does the same thing McCandless's parents did; he tries to reign McCandless in, to make him see reason and be careful. Perhaps this is why McCandless pushed Franz away, and evaded the issue so smoothly when Franz asked to adopt McCandless.