Into The Wild

A couple of years ago I watched the movie "Into The Wild" about Christopher McCandless and his 2 year journey from college grad to his eventual demise in the Alaska wilderness. I have just finished reading the books Return to The Wild and Into The Wild and as usual the books are much better than the movie.

I have read a lot about Alexander Supertramp over the last several months on the internet and I have to say that between what I learned of him from the books and on the net I am rather impressed with his philosophy on life and society, more so I envy him in many ways. For a young man of his age to have the spiritual enlightenment that he possessed is pretty rare in todays world.

I find myself connecting to his ideology in many ways, his thoughts on society and just how screwed up our "civilized" world really is. He had a connection with his spiritual self that few people today can recognize, much less act on and pursue. It is truly sad what his final fate ended up being and I have seen some pretty nasty comments about him by some on the internet saying he was delusional and mentally unstable. I have to disagree with those comments, he was in fact very much less delusional than many in our society that think the way we live is the right way.

A quote of his from the book that really stood out and has stuck with me:

“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”

There is so much truth in his statement, many of us are unhappy with many of our circumstances yet very few will take action to change what they are unhappy about. We have in fact been conditioned through the conveniences of modern society to accept a life of security and conformity and those conveniences do eventually destroy the human spirit. It's very similar to a convict that has spent decades in prison, they become institutionalized and are dependent on that institution for their existence and many can't handle the outside world.

"You know, about getting out of this sick society...........You know, society! Cause, you know what I don't understand? I don't understand why people, why every person is so bad to each other so often. It doesn't make sense to me. Judgment. Control. All that, the whole spectrum. Well, it just..."

He makes a great point here about society, it is truly screwed and is getting worse everyday. We live in a society that is painted to us as "The American Dream" where if we work hard enough we can have it all, but in reality it is just a dream. It pits people against each other along divisive lines of religion, race, creed, sexual orientation, political ideologies, and many other factors.

We have become such a dog eat dog society that people will literally walk over a dead or injured person and not even lend assistance or check on them, yet we call ourselves "civilized". Well if what we are now and the direction we are heading is civilized, then I find myself really questioning if I want to be a part of this civilization. It has occurred to me through my readings and observations of mankind that the more civilized we become, the less civility we possess.

My family and I moved to ND a couple of years ago to escape the rat race of central Florida and we have discovered a much slower paced way of life. However to me it still is not enough, even though we own our land, have off grid electric, and are for all basic terms self sufficient, I still feel that it's too much most of the times. I often have told my wife that if it wasn't for her and the kids I could pack up my pack and head out with no destination in mind, nothing but the destination of experiencing the ultimate freedom of leaving society and the constraints of our material world behind.

She usually replies that she's gonna take away my books and the DVD of Into The Wild because it makes me restless. That's when I remind her that it's not the books about Supertramp, or any other books that make me restless. It's my spirit, it's the feeling I have in the inner most part of my soul that this life we lead is wrong on so many levels and that everyday it destroys a piece of the spirit of our existence.

If only Supertramp would have been a little more experienced in living off the land and would have been a little more prepared then we would have known the entire story, from his point of view, of his journeys. I am quite sure that there was more to be told than what was in the movie or the books, but sadly that part of the story died with him in the Magic Bus on the Stampede Trail that day.

For anyone who hasn't seen the movie or read the books I highly recommend them. It is a great movie and even better books.

It was a good enough movie that I still want to read the book.

I have a difficult time supporting the unprepared "character" in the movie, growing up with books like My Side of the Mountain (12 year old survives in the wilderness with a few rented books from the library; book itself is a survival handbook)

As the true story goes, it's obviously more about the *journey* itself. He needed to break free from the plastic civilization, but couldn't balance his love for philosophy with his love for survivalism.

Tragically he ate the wrong berries, but at the risk of sounding harsh, Alaskan wilderness is no place for an untrained amateur survivalist.

The journey: now that was moving... And I will grab the book sooner than later.

reply to post by ThinkingCap


When I saw that he went into the bush with only a 5lb bag of rice I knew it was going to be a bad deal. You are right, Alaskan bush is no place for a novice, I spent 3 weeks there during my cold weather survival training course in the service and it is rough. I've also been to Kodiak Island and King Salmon hunting and fishing and I'll say that you better know what you're doing up there even in normal situations much less survival.

There have been differing theories regarding his death. Some have proposed that he ate the wrong berries however there were no traces of alkaloids in his system to support that. Others have thought that because he was storing them in a ziplock bag the bag retained moisture and grew a fungus on the berries that was poisonous, and another proposed that he died from ingesting a seed of the alpinum plant.

Regardless of the cause of his death, had he been more experienced and prepared he would have survived and could have finished his story. I read My Side of The mountain as a child and still love it to this day. I've never heard of The Journey, did a quick search and got several results. Who is the author and whats the plot?

reply to post by Nucleardiver
Into The Wild (@IMDB)

Originally posted by Nucleardiver

I have seen some pretty nasty comments about him by some on the internet saying he was delusional and mentally unstable.

Many fail to realize that it doesn't matter. The choices that he made, were his choices to make. They were his, and his alone. 'Delusional' is no more than opinion anyways, but even if he was, "So What!?!"

His decisions may have led to his life being shortened, but that doesn't necessarily mean he made the wrong choices. It was those same decisions which also allowed him to actually 'live' his life. I know for a fact that I don't live life to the fullest. I may have in the past, but it has now been a few years since the last time I truly Lived.

Originally posted by Nucleardiver

....many of us are unhappy with many of our circumstances yet very few will take action to change what they are unhappy about.

Just recently, I was pondering the irony of the fact that I love this song, but obviously don't heed the message within it.

[align=center][color=63AB96]I don't feel the sun's comin' out today
It's staying in, it's gonna find another way
As I sit here in this misery
Ya know, I don't think I'll ever feel colder
than I'm feelin' here


[color=73FFCC]And oh, as I fade away
They'll all look at me and say....
Yeah they'll look at me, and they'll say
"Hey, look at him, I'll never live that way"
That's okay. You couldn't anyway

[color=63AB96](Album Version:
"Hey, look at him, I'll never live that way"
And that's okay, they're just afraid to change)


[color=73FFCC]When you feel life ain't worth living
You've got to stand up and take a look around you
then you look way up to the sky
and when your deepest thoughts are broken
Keep on dreaming boy,
'cause when you stop dreamin' it's time to die
and right now, I don't wanna die


[color=63AB96]And as we all play parts of tomorrow
Some ways we'll work, in other ways we'll play
[color=73FFCC]But I know we can't all stay here forever
So I want to write my words on the face of today
[color=63AB96]And then they'll paint it up


And, oh, as I fade away, yeah
They'll all look at me and say, they'll say
"Hey, look at him and where he is these days"
When life is hard, you have to change

[color=73FFCC]When life is hard, you have to change[/align]

I get his philosophy and why he did what he did. What I don't get is why he didn't try a little harder. I mean, on the survival aspect, the guy was a moron. I don't want to sound like a prick, but I just can't have sympathy for the guy.

However, I do agree that society sucks and it would be nice to "get away from it all".

I leave you with a song about the awfulness of civilization.