Obsession In Into The Wild, By Sean Penn

“In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson Mcandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself.” Into The Wild is a book about a young man who travels across some of the most unforgiving terrain to find his place in life. He travels through the tough Alaskan landscape running from Christopher Johnson Mcandless, and embracing the new life that is slowly coming to him. As Chris runs away from his family, and travels along vast areas of terrain, he makes a

Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, is a memoir about how living in the wilderness and how Chris McCandless lived nearly two years in the wild. Throughout the novel, Krakauer relates Chris’ adventures to his own experience in mountain climbing and living on his own. This is not your typical memoir where the author tells a story about their lives. Jon Krakauer is not the main character; however he tells a story of this boy who leaves his well-developed family for no apparent reason. But not only does he tell Chris’ story, he tells his own by fusing them altogether.

In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer explores the human fascination with the purpose of life and nature. Krakauer documents the life and death of Chris McCandless, a young man that embarked on an Odyssey in the Alaskan wilderness. Like many people, McCandless believed that he could give his life meaning by pursuing a relationship with nature. He also believed that rejecting human relationships, abandoning his materialistic ways, and purchasing a book about wildlife would strengthen his relationship with nature. However, after spending several months enduring the extreme conditions of the Alaskan wilderness, McCandless’ beliefs begin to work against him. He then accepts that he needs humans, cannot escape materialism, and can

The gripping tale of a young man who leaves all that he has and goes to live amidst the natural world, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer showcases the two years Christopher McCandless had spent journeying throughout the United States before his unfortunate death. After graduating from Emory University in 1990, McCandless disconnected with all of his past relations and abandoned the majority of his possessions. McCandless’ decisions either seem extremely unwise or extremely courageous. He had a comfortable life with few worries yet he still chose to toss it all away and venture into unknown territories. What many wonder is why he would do such an irrational thing. Maybe, McCandless’ was simply trying to run away from his perception of reality.

Thoreau once said “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves” following this Chris Mccandless adventures off into the wild on a journey to discover himself without being surrounded by a materialistic society or his family. Sean Penn delicately crafted cinematography in the film into the wild makes use of …. to show the challenges of family relationships, the power of words and self discovery. This is shown through the use of many different filming techniques to emphasise a certain theme.

The desire to be at one with nature sometimes becomes apparent within some of us. Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer highlights the fact that Chris McCandless is a reckless fool and a narcissist due to his carelessness, ignorance, and incompetence.

Obsession is the single most wasteful human activity, because with an obsession you keep coming back and back and back to the same question and never get an answer (Norman Mailer). In “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer tells the story of Chris McCandless. McCandless came from a loving family consisting of his father Walter, mother Billie, younger sister Carnie, and family dog Buck. At a young age McCandless liked to keep to himself and was a little bit antisocial. However he still got along well with all the other kids in school, he had many friends and almost all the kids loved him.

Imagine being stuck in the wild, on the verge of dying from either starvation or freezing to death. There are not enough resources, not enough food, all you have left is to hope. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, is a story written of a man named Chris McCandless who overall did not like his life. He thought society corrupted his dreams that he previously set, and he wanted to get away from all of societies norms. Chris wanted to achieve his dream, he wanted a “thrill” in his life, so, Chris decided to go out into the wild and be a free man. In the process he left behind his family who worried everyday having no notion of his whereabouts. Chris was without a doubt , a very controversial/confusing person. People who have heard his story have reason to believe that he was a foolish, stupid kid who got lost into the wild and got himself killed. However, due to Chris' grit, his ability to look deep inside himself to bring out the real him, and his love of nature are all exceptional. Chris' journey into the threatening Alaskan wilderness was not one of stupidity, but one of self determination and courageousness.

Many people wish they can drop everything important to them and isolate themselves from society; very few people will even attempt this, but Chris McCandless breaks societal norms to accomplish this goal. In Into the Wild, John Krakauer tells the story of this young man’s life to inspire the audience to chase their dreams through the use of logos, involved sentence, and anecdotes.

Throughout history, people encounter a stage in their lives where they feel the necessity to assert their independence and challenge their abilities and self-worth. In the book, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, the author shares his understanding and kinship with the main character, Chris McCandless, a young man who thrusts himself into a life of solitude and a harsh environment during his search for meaning to his life. Krakauer depicts himself and McCandless as modern day transcendentalists with an abundance of competency, resourcefulness and skills as naturalists. Although McCandless chose to experience a life of solitude and face the hazards that nature presents, his lack of preparedness prevented him from completing his endeavor successfully.

Into the Wild, written by John Krakauer tells of a young man named Chris McCandless who 1deserted his college degree and all his worldly possessions in favor of a primitive transient life in the wilderness. Krakauer first told the story of Chris in an article in Outside Magazine, but went on to write a thorough book, which encompasses his life in the hopes to explain what caused him to venture off alone into the wild. McCandless’ story soon became a national phenomenon, and had many people questioning why a “young man from a well-to-do East Coast family [would] hitchhike to Alaska” (Krakauer i). Chris comes from an affluent household and has parents that strived to create a desirable life for him and his sister. As Chris grows up, he

Into the Wild is a documentary film by Sean Penn that follows the life of Christopher Johnson McCandless, a vagabond who tramped across the United States for two years before his journey led him to Alaska, where he lived in the wilderness, sheltered by an abandoned transportation bus, preceding his death. McCandless grew up with all the privileges of being raised in the suburbs by a middle class family, he later went on to graduate from Emory University in Georgia, and seemed to have his whole life stretched out in front of him. However, he did the exact opposite of what was expected, severed all ties with his family, and adopted a life of chosen homelessness, where his travels led him on wild adventures across the country. Many speculate that McCandless was pushed to do this in order to spite his overbearing and abusive parents who verbally and physically assaulted each other in front of their children, demanding they pick a side. Some say it was McCandless’s desire to free himself from all material constraints and the burden of societal pressures. Taking a psychological approach, McCandless

Sean Penn’s film Into the Wild explores the confronting discovery that happiness and value in life are not found in isolation but when shared with others. The film tracks the journey of Christopher McCandless who embarks on a “climactic battle to kill the false being within”: to become immersed in the natural landscape, free from his materialistic dependence on the modern world which ultimately cut him off “from the truth of his existence”. As Chris moves through the vast landscapes of the wild the slow motion tracking shots and wide-angle cinematography of Chris depicts a sense of restoration and spiritual enlightenment. Ironically, however, as Chris’ supplies become scarce, the callous nature of the wild is depicted as he succumbs to its

Into the Wild is a modern day exploration of liberty found by eschewing custom and flinging oneself into the literal wilderness. Exploring Christopher McCandless' true story, the film couches McCandless' search for freedom in noble terms, quoting Lord Byron, for example. In addition, both John Stuart Mill and Anne Norton would appear to agree with McCandless' adventure, though there is also the cautionary possibility that McCandless was troubled and selfish rather than noble. John Stuart Mill and Anne Norton both argue for throwing off custom in order to find greater personal freedom. In that respect, McCandless certainly was a man after their own hearts. Unfortunately, it could also be forcefully argued that McCandless was utterly ignorant and lacked respect for the wilderness, for others who knew how to live in the wilderness, and for the family that he put through hell. Even 10-year-old girl scouts know that you should always be prepared but McCandless, a grown, intelligent man, did not bother to prepare himself. Consequently, McCandless could be viewed as a noble adventurer or as a fool.

Into the Wild directed by Sean Penn is a biographical film based on the life of Chris McCandless. This film explores Chris's views of the world and society and also how society influences the decisions he makes. In this film Chris is shown as an idealistic but arrogant man who is, contemptuous of society, as he believes society has taken a wrong turn; therefore, he abandons all his materialistic possessions(donates all his savings to charity), family and identity(adopts name Alexandra Supertramp) in order to find solace in nature, isolating himself from society and loved ones in order to find the ‘truth’. However, his naivety in believing he could survive and return unscathed from the wild with his academic skills is proved wrong as his lack