After finishing Into the Wild, I tried to think about how this book related to other stories that I have either read or seen on film. One that came to mind was a movie that I have just recently watched, a 1987 film called Dances With Wolves. Directed, produced, narrated, and starring Kevin Costner, the movie takes place during the civil-war era, with a young Kevin Costner playing John C. Dunbar, a Union lieutenant who is assigned to a new post in the far west. Upon reaching his post, Dunbar befriends some Sioux neighbors whom he grows accustomed to seeing. Through various events, Dunbar protects the Sioux from white intruders, with the Sioux returning the favor, as they save him from being executed for treason. Dunbar loves the wild and the animals in it, making him very similar to Chris McCandless.
McCandless and Dunbar have similar opinions on living life and what is most important in it. After being given the choice to be appointed any base that he wants, he chooses the one furthest out west, which little does he know is abandoned. He chooses the harsh wild over a cushy military base supplied with all the food that it will ever need. Even more so, he is there alone. He is forced to fend for himself in the wild until somebody brings in reinforcements, which never happens. He wants to be one with nature, to explore all that it has to offer. He does not care whether or not it is dangerous. All he cares about is being in the west, taking in the atmosphere and enjoying the scenery around him. I think Dunbar wants to get away from all of the fighting that is talking place, another reason why he chooses the remote area. I think this can also be related to McCandless, who wants to get away from society as a whole and just explore. In a conversation with Sgt. Fanbrough over where Dunbar will be appointed to next, Fanbrough questions, “You want to see the frontier?” to which Dunbar responds, “Yes sir…before it’s gone” (Blake). Seeing as the time period in which this movie takes place is a time of expansion, Dunbar is worried that if he does not see it now, the west will become industrialized like every other part of the country. I think he feels that the wild is one of the few areas of the world where one can just be one their own and explore their soul, kind of like McCandless. It is the once place where things have not been discovered, where possibilities are endless, which is what makes it so appealing to McCandless. Finally, I think both characters realize that although the wild is a fantastic place, one cannot live their entire lives there. There comes a time where one needs to move on and go back to where they truly belong. For McCandless, he realizes that “it’s time to bring his ‘final and greatest adventure’ to a close and get himself back to the world of men and women” (Krakauer 168). For Dunbar, he comes to terms with the fact that living a life with the Sioux would be a difficult task to handle, so he chooses to go back to civilization. In the end, both realize that going against what is normal to others is difficult, yet in the end can be very rewarding.
I've also just watched Dances with Wolves, and I have to say I love that movie. I never noticed how similar the movie is to Into the Wild. Both Dunbar and McCandless seem to have the similar adventurous spirit, wanting to see the all that nature has to offer. However I believe Dunbar and McCandless' reasons for separating from society are different. In you post you seem to depict them being the same. I believe Dunbar wanted to explore the frontier out of curiosity. He wanted to see what nature was like untouched by man, and at it's natural state. He also in the beginning doesn't want to go back to civilization because he uses the excuse that he needs to man the fort and that it's "his" fort and need to take responsibility for it. On the Contrary Chris McCandless I believe to different reason for living in the wild. I believe McCandless was searching for his identity and also possibly self-gratification and exploring nature. I Don't think it was the mysterious nature and unknown of the wild that provoked him to leave like Dunbar. Although the both wanting to leave society and civilization for it's hectic ways, ultimately Chris and Dunbar wanted to fulfill different aspect of their lives. McCandless wanted self knowledge about himself and happiness and Dunbar was curious and wanted to experience life on the frontier.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen this movie however I did read the book "Three Cups of Tea," which also correlates to Chris McCandless. In the book, although it differs a lot from Chris because he is trying to create schools in an impoverished town, but he and Chris both share the love for adventure. The main character, Greg Mortenson, attempts to climb K2 in Pakistan. He is described as an adventurous person who is also extremely persistant in what he is doing. I feel like that is exactly like Chris because even though many people have told him not to go on his adventure into Alaska, Chris does not take their advice and continues to go off into the wild.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this post, I couldn't help but compare "Dances With Wolves" (in addition to "Into the Wild") to James Cameron's "Avatar." The two films are very similar in subject matter, and not just because "Avatar" is sometimes referred to as "Dances With Smurfs." In "Avatar", Jake Sulley find s himself exploring the alien planet Pandora. Pandora ultimately becomes for Jake what the almost "gone" west becomes for John C. Dunbar. Also, Pandora becomes for Jake what the Jack London-glorified wilderness is for Chris McCandless. Jake absolutely falls in love with the planet of Pandora, and chooses to live among its inhabitants, the Na'vi instead of being reinstated in the Marines. That being said, I think both Jake and Dunbar are similar in that they want to explore what has not been colonized by man and that is pure, untouched, and beautiful wilderness. However, and I do agree with Kayla on this, I think that they are different from McCandless in terms of what they are looking for. Jake and Dunbar are mainly looking to explore exhilarating new places whereas Chris traveled to Alaska more as an escape from real life. Still, I do agree with what you said about both Dunbar and Chris (and in my case, Jake as well) feel that the wild is the only true place where they can explore their own souls. I as well am a big fan of "Dances with Wolves" and I enjoyed this post very much.
ReplyDelete-Mitchell
P.S. I REALLY hate to be the movie nerd here, but the movie came out it 1990. Thats all, I'm done.
I have to say I agree although I think you can go as far as to say that Chris is trying to escape a fight of a different kind, one with society. Society is constantly fighting itself, the lower class against the upper classes and this fight Chris would constantly fight by supplying homeless people with food and constantly giving. I think once he began to realize that he was the only one fighting on the side of the lower class he felt he needed to remove himself from this clash of economic classes.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost that we read in class. Both Dunbar and McCandless took the road less taken instead of the other one. Even though it is different for everyone, the two choices the characters had to make could be interpreted as the two roads. In the case of Dunbar, the safe, secure and common route was the military base where everything was provided. For McCandless, his safety route would be to settle down, get a job, and live a life among society. Both took the road more adventerous and mysterious. They did not know what would be beyond the bend, but even so they trudged through the undergrowth to the western wilderness. This was their chosen path that led them to the next different diverged road in their life; and to them "that has made all the difference" (Frost). For Chris, his enlightenment, but also his death.
ReplyDelete