Even throughout his countless pleas for help, his parents acted like nothing was wrong. McCandless grew up in what was thought to be a wonderful household, but through the experiences of his sisters and the letters he wrote which are documented in Return to the Wild, we see that their household was, in fact, very unhealthy. In Return to the Wild, Carine Mccandless and two of Chris’s half-sister's addressed life in the McCandless house(s). When their father, Walt McCandless, moved into a home with a woman named Billie and started having children with her, he was still all the while married to his first wife Marcia and continued to have children with her. In fact, Walt was dividing his time between the two homes: one with Billie, Chris, and Carine and another with Marcia and their six children, which included Chris' older half-sisters Shelly and Shawna. Carine and her two half sisters agreed that their father was controlling and domineering, with a temper that expressed itself in angry, verbal outbursts, threats, and even physical attacks on his wives Billie and Marcia. Growing up in this household, it is a fact that Chris did not face a happy childhood. Surrounded by material things and emotionally unstable parents, he and his siblings were even sometimes forced to watch their father abuse their mother, Billie. Their parents often yelled at the children "Kids, kids, come look what your father is doing to me,' and “kids, get in here now, look what your mother is making me do." Even though the evidence of their abusive household is supported by every one of the eight siblings, and through Chris's letters, his parents, Walt and Billie McCandless say that "[This] fictionalized writing has absolutely nothing to do with our beloved son,