Read "To Build a Fire" by Jack London.
Consider, why does the protagonist venture into the wilderness? What leads to his failures? How is the protagonist unequipped for survival? What parallels can you make to Chris McCandless and his story. Draw direction connections between the quotes in Into the Wild and London's short story.
There are only 2 characters in this story, the man, and the dog. Both of which are not given any names.... In fact none of them are. Not even the old man that he talks about. As the story progresses you realize that nature is described very vividly; every mountain, stream, valley, creak, county is given a name. You get a very good idea of the type of environment this man is venturing out into.
ReplyDeleteThe man and the dog are foils for one another. We are told that the man is "without imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances." and constantly reminded that the dog only has instinct. The man ends up dying just like Chris McCandless. Chris inspired everyone that he came across (most notibly Jan and Wayne), he had a certain charisma to him. Fearless, he went to chase his dreams. The Man on the other hand, simply wanted to go to camp and meet up with his "boys". Both are completely different. The Man seems to have an air of arrogance to him as he dismisses the Old Man's advice to bring at least one other person when the temperature is fifty degrees below zero. He starts the fire and fails but still thinks he can win against nature.
A quick Google search tells me that the author, Jack London, was a writer during the naturalism movement of the early 1900's. You can clearly see that the themes of the story reflect this. The Man and Chris had completely different motives and personalities but nature has no morals. Nature does not favor one over the other. Nature can not be influenced by man, and so, nature kills both of them. The Man and Chris both die from the cold. Nature is what it is: relentless, amoral, and cold.
Frankie provided a nice synopsis of the story, and I agree that the two characters are different, but they are similar in their deaths.
ReplyDeleteBoth the man and McCandless fell because they thought that they could survive in the wild in extreme conditions. The man paid no attention to the fact that the temperature was at least colder than fifty below despite having his spittle crackled in the air; McCandless believed that he could survive in the wild with little more than a ten-pound bag of rice. It was a miracle for McCandless to have stumbled upon the abandoned bus and acquired all of the supplies left from past campers. Even so, this only prolonged his life. The man was not as lucky; he died before he could reach his camp.
Had there been another person present, both of these characters may have survived. The man and McCandless share the flaw of having forsaken the company of a fellow human. The man did not heed the old-timer's advice, and McCandless walked into the wild with the intention of escaping civilization. The presence of another person to start a fire for the man or to take care of McCandless when he was paralyzed would have saved their lives.
The nature of these two individuals, however, are fundamentally different. The man had a foolish ego in undertaking his journey alone. Before he got into trouble, he had the mentality that, "Any man who was a man could travel alone." McCandless was different. It can be argued that he started off similarly, wanting to adventure alone, but over time, he grew to learn that having the company of others is a part of life, recording that: "[Tolstoy] was right in saying that the only certain happiness in life is to live for others ..." It is implied that this was only a short vacation. He wanted to go back to his family. He did not have the hubris that the man had; he merely wanted to live in the great outdoors and he was prepared to die for his cause. The possibility of death never occurred to the man until disaster struck.
Furthermore, McCandless would not have approved the man's treatment of the dog. The man did not hesitate to attempt to kill the dog for his own survival; McCandless was reluctant to kill animals for food. His family also added that had McCandless brought the family dog along with him on his adventure, he would have never taken the risks that he took. His will to protect his dog, who he treats as family, may have led to his survival.
I also want to note that: McCandless also fell through ice once during his journey, but he survived.