A
“In great frustration, he screams and beats canoe with oar. The oar breaks. Alex has one spare oar. He calms himself. If loses second oar is dead. Finally through extreme effort and much cursing he manages to beach canoe on jetty and collapses exhausted on sand at sundown.†–Chris McCandless (36)
Perfect Storm, by noddingdogbob (February 18, 2006)
This picture portrays a violent sea much like the one I imagine McCandless traversed in Mexico. I wonder if the scene was as violent as this picture and both McCandless and Krakauer sensationalize that brief but overwhelming struggle with the sea for spectacle. Upon close inspection, I doubt the picture has not been touched up with photoshop.
I imagine the panic, the chaos, the struggle to bring himself out of an all-consuming storm. In the picture, there is not a moment of mercy; the dark clouds and violent swells disguise any kind of relent. He struggles to get himself to shore and we feel relieved when he does. McCandless mentions in his journal that “he weeps†(35) when he is unable to find access to the sea and yet when he finds it, he is faced with this harsh brunt of nature.
B
“Then [McCandless] said,’You know, Eric, you can read about this stuff, but you can’t understand it until you live it.’†–Eric Hathaway (114)
Underlined Passage, by osiris (February 28, 2006)
The picture is of a highlighted passage in the book “On The Road†reading “for life is holy.†The picture makes a profound statement about youth; that too soon are we cast into a strange land to struggle unprepared, causing us to miss the simple truth: “life is holy.†I imagine this passage is something McCandless himself felt. His attitude called for him to throw himself into life, to witness it first hand.
What’s really ironic about this passage is that here we are trying to understand why McCandless disappeared into Alaska… from a book. The only thing the book really offers, other than McCandless’ own history, is speculation. And it will never be anything more. This passage certainly reflects our inability to read into McCandless. A book cannot tell us that life is holy, a book cannot tell us why McCandless left, and I’m sure this is a belief that Kerouac and Krakauer reveal with their writings, whether purposely or not.
C
“It is hardly unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless; engaging in risky behavior is a rite of passage in our culture no less than in most others.†(182)
Bruno’s jump, by luizaso (August 22, 2005)
The picture is of a man bungee jumping high over a city in Brazil. What we often define as extreme sports are life-risking stunts half motivated by the thrill and half motivated by our obsession with watching people put themselves in danger. I really like the cityscape in the background, a juxtaposition that easily differentiates this stunt with McCandless’. Although I feel there is something more philosophical about McCandless’ endeavor than this thrill-seeker’s jump.
This statement, in the context of this book, really caught my attention. We know he had problems with his family and that authors of such grandiose idealism influenced him heavily, but what about the thrill of proving himself? Walking into the woods with little to survive on is a grand feat if you are able to walk out, but we denounce him for his death. Do we do the same for the common thrill-seeker?
D
“The fact that I survived my Alaska adventure and McCandless did not survive his was largely a matter of chance; had I not returned from the Stikine Ice Cap in 1977, people would have been quick to say of me—as they now say of him—that I had a death wish.†(155)
IMG_0470, by John Kazanas (April 21, 2006)
While reading Krakauer’s own story of the Devil’s Thumb, I couldn’t help remembering “Into Thin Air,†the true story of his ascent to the top of Mt. Everest and the tragedy that followed. Several members of his party had died, two of whom had been professionals and in charge of getting everyone up.
Although, these were certainly not the same circumstances, ironically Krakauer once again puts himself in harm’s way in the name of sport. This took place the same year that “Into The Wild†was released.
The act of reading is so infinitely interpretive, everyone has their take on the subject and they are, even to the slightest degree, different. I’m aware how obvious this statement sounds, but I feel I must affirm this idea in order to assure the reader this: unless your interpretation is completely different, you can never see clearly someone else’s whole interpretation. We compromise. I feel that we fill in the blanks with our own ideas and upon finding that your interpretation is similar to another, this gives us a ‘right’ to do so. In the end, we see a conglomeration in our vision; whole, solid ideas supported and fulfilled with minute details that the reader acquires from another source. A good example; how many of us found a precise picture of what we were imagining or how many of us had to find a SIMILAR image, an image that belonged to someone else that we incorporated with our own ideas?
In a society where electronic media is so deeply ingrained, I feel that images are one of the best means of conveying an idea. We literally get to ‘show’ someone what we mean or what we interpret. In this exercise, we’ve taken our mental images and made them real. Even if insignificant to the story as a whole, we’ve offered our vision of these miniscule details to which our peers may not have given a second thought. McCandless’ struggle in Mexico was something I felt strongly directed towards. It was when I first knew that finding the wild was a mission that he could not be strayed. I also understood why he died. Yes, starvation, hubris, inadequate supplies; every speculating mind with their own opinions. (And we all know what they say about opinions…) I wonder how many other people witnessed his struggle with the sea as I did. I enjoyed how this exercise allowed me to express what stayed with me and allowed me to see others’ importance with the book.