The border between society and the wilderness is an abstract one. It is a border that countless individuals have been fascinated by- notably individuals such as Henry David Thoreau and Jack London. Another person who embraced the concept of this border was a young man named Christopher McCandless. Christopher McCandless was a college student turned nomad in his early twenties who deserted his former cushy American suburban life to walk into the wild. His extraordinary story was forever immortalized in Jon Krakauer’s biographical account Into the Wild.
Christopher McCandless truly and wholly crosses a metaphorical border from society to the wild. McCandless separates himself entirely from every person in his life. He sheds his identity and burns his money and legal documents. He shuns the conventions of the American society that he detests. In turn, he solely focuses on the beauty of the wild. McCandless travels across the nation with one shining goal in mind- Alaska. This is the place of Jack London-induced fantasies. To Chris, Alaska was the last true place of wilderness. There were places in Alaska left relatively untouched by humanity. He craved this wilderness. McCandless reached the Stampede trail in Alaska and lived completely on the land. He was harmonious with nature alone, for he had no human contact for months. The border between society and wilderness in the United States is extremely elusive, for this country is so developed. Can one truly shed the conventions of society that are ingrained into the mind from birth? Christopher McCandless truly attempts to do so. For him, the Alaskan wilderness is the one thing left that has not ruined by the destructive hands of humanity. In comparison nature seems pure and simple, whereas society seems complicated and often negative. It is not so hard to fathom that some individuals need release from society.
McCandless has dalliances with individuals he meets on his journey, but in the end Chris chooses the wild above all. To Chris, his existential crisis could only be cured by crossing the border from society into pure nature. He exuberantly explains his journey as “the climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution…no longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild.” (2664-73) He wants no part in the average American life that surrounds him.
It is extremely difficult to escape, however. In the end Chris perishes alone in the wilderness. The land proved to be inhospitable to his extended survival. Crossing the border into complete wilderness is treacherous. McCandless took an extraordinary leap into the wild, and for the first time in his life felt a sense of fulfillment. He crossed this border in a way that very few individuals have. Although he met his end here, he found peace outside the realm of society. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, which Chris highlighted in his journal in the wild, “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” By crossing the border into nature, Chris found his truth.
^ Still frames from the film rendition of Into the Wild (2007)
^ Actual picture of Christopher McCandless during his time
in the Alaskan wild
Random side note on another border in Into the Wild:
The experiences of the Mexico/United States border-crossers
are often very hit or miss, based on the accounts we have read so far in class. It is interesting to find that some cross the
border with relative ease, while Border Patrol catches others and delivers
harsh consequences. One particular
example that intrigues me is Christopher McCandless’ venture across the
Mexico/United States border. McCandless
simply floated across the Mexican border: “Worried that he would be denied
entry because he was carrying no identification, he sneaked into Mexico by
paddling through a dam’s open floodgates and shooting the spillway below…his
entry of Mexico is either unnoticed or ignored” (Krakauer 539-48) Granted he
crossed this border in the mid-nineties when security may not have been as
tight as present day, but still he is victorious. Is crossing the border unnoticed simply a
matter of chance? Or does it help to be American?
Sources:
Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997.
Sources:
Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997.
I never read the book or watch the movie Into The Wild but I remember that when I went to Alaska Christopher McCandless’s bus was one of the things I went to see, and his story reminds me of one I heard about more recently. I’m not sure if anyone has heard about the Pennsylvania Hermit but his story is similar, only it predates McCandless by about 200 years. I went to Indian Echo Caverns, located outside Harrisburg near Hershey, last April and that is when I first heard the story of William Wilson the Pennsylvania Hermit. William lost his faith in society when his sister Elizabeth was convicted of murder of her newborn child (she left in the field in her neighbor’s yard because she had it out of wedlock and in the 1790s that was a big deal). She had been sentenced to death by hanging and when she was put on “death row” she became extremely spiritual and her brother William when to Philadelphia (the capital of PA at the time) to see if they would grant her a pardon so she could live out the rest of her life in jail but not be hung. His request was granted and the papers were entrusted to him, but when he was riding to get back to the town in time to stop the execution a storm hit and one of the bridges he had to cross had been submerged under the rising river and he was forced to wait until the water went down and when he got to town it was just in time to she his sisters last twitch while she hung. The experience sent him off into what was then the vast Pennsylvania Wilderness and he found what is now Indian Echo Caverns and he lived there for 19 years until he died and his story was left in the journals he kept. Part of the cavern tour I took was looking at the ledge that William used for his living quarters in the caverns.
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was really ironic because just the other day my sister was asking me if I had this book because her teacher had assigned it for class. She was the first time I had heard of the book and I didn't know anything about the story before I read your post. I think it's very courageous to detach oneself from society and attempt to live apart from it. Though McCandless was able to do it, I believe that as of today his feat would be very hard to achieve. Today we are so entrenched in society, dependent on our cell phones, Ipads, cars and television that we probably wouldn't last more than a week (I know I wouldn't). I wonder, since he was all alone, how did they eventually find his body? As for your comment about his crossing into Mexico, I do believe that being American is an advantage when crossing the border. The label "American" pulls a lot of weight and can turn heads the other way.
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