Into the Wild

Into the Wild

Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn

In 1860, nineteen European settlers led by Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills planned a 1,750 mile journey to explore the uncharted areas of Australia from coast to coast, starting from Melbourne and heading north until they reached the Gulf of Carpentaria. Australia was booming in the 1850s. Gold had been discovered near Melbourne and a flood of treasure seekers swarmed like flies around the area. With all the money and educated immigrants arriving, schools, libraries, social clubs and churches blossomed. The once sleepy town became known as “marvelous Melbourne” across the world. In one of the leather clad, wooden paneled environs of culture in that city, it was decided that the unexplored regions of the continent needed to be mapped. Who knew what wealth and undiscovered marvels were out there?

Twenty-seven camels were purchased from India and Robert Burke was named the leader even though the Irish ex-army officer and current police superintendent had no practical experience exploring or with the outback. Another man of culture, William Wills, a meteorologist and surveyor was named the third ranking member of the team. With great fanfare and 15,000 spectators watching, the 19 men, 23 horses, 6 wagons stuffed with provisions and equipment, and 27 camels set off to tame the wilderness. They had over 20 tons of supplies, including enough firewood and food to last two years, flags, rockets, chairs, a giant oak table, a Chinese gong, and camping equipment. Before midnight of the first day, one of the first wagons broke down before they had even left civilization and things got worst from there. Bad decision piled on top of bad decision. More wagons broke down. Heavy rains and bad roads marred the early months of the journey. Men and equipment were abandoned in small towns and outposts they came across. Instead of resting from the summer’s heat at Coppers Creek, the midway point, with a large amount of prize money at stake and rumors of another expedition starting out, Burke decided to divide his men in half and make a mad dash for the Gulf of Carpentaria. They would get within three miles of their goal before they had to turn around because swamp land prevented their passing. On the journey home, men and camels started dropping in the summer heat. Burke and Wills died waiting for a rescue ship to find them. They are Australian national heroes.

I tell this story because if you want to understand the difference between Australian and American mentality, along with the Aussie convict past, a person must understand Burke and Wills. Their great explorers died at the hands of nature. Ours, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, returned triumphantly. Theirs is a culture of matesmanship and good will. We are all in it together because if we are not, in the end, nature will get us. We believe in the cult of the individual. If the individual tries hard enough he can overcome nature and succeed. Those who don’t make it, well, it is simply their own fault.

We all live in stories not abstract principles. They define how we think of ourselves, how we understand the world, and our moral decisions. Stories define where we hang out, what we wear, what we value, the words we use, and even the cars we drive. For example, Christians acquire the stories of Jesus and try to fit them into their lives. The teenager shows their individuality and rebellion by taking on the uniform and consumption habits of the larger cultural story of the skater dude, the emo girl, or the jock. We all live under thousands of stories, some of which are competing and at odds with each other. The story of what it means to be a good patriotic American competes with the story of what it means to be a good Christian, good Jew, or good Muslim. The stories of the materialistic nature of success in America come face-to-face with the ascetic nature of the religious traditions found there in. When aspects of a person’s life don’t fit a dominant story that we tell ourselves crisis often results. Men who have defined themselves as workers their entire lives often struggle with retirement. Females sometimes struggle as they age and their bodies change, leaving behind the stories of what it means to be a woman. The American stories of democracy, and of “all men being created equal” struggle to maintain its cohesion when it confronts our country’s economic and military imperialism.

Stories are one of the main reasons Hollywood and movies are so important. The image of John Wayne in the 1960s and 70s caused thousands of young men to join the military and go to Vietnam where they discovered war has a much different reality. Real life mobsters began to take on aspects and dress of the fictional Godfather. It is why advertisers spend millions of dollars to get their products into stars hands.

One of the dominant American stories is the wilderness. While the ancient world believed the wilderness was a place of terror, danger, and demons, in America, the wilderness is where men come to redefine themselves. A person ventures into nature to strip themselves of the morally corrupting affects of urban life and get back to the cycles of mother earth. A person is more pure and spiritual when they are in touch with the elements and seasons. It is why Eastern dandy and spoiled rich kid George W. Bush puts on a work jacket and cuts brush on his ranch, that his followers conveniently bought for him just before running for President, for reporters. He is trying to fit into the long frontier/cowboy ethos that has included the likes of Andrew Jackson, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan.

Christopher J. McCandless also believed this wilderness mythos. As a child, this son of privilege from Annandale, Virginia, read the works of Leo Tolstoy, Jack London, and Henry David Thoreau and dreamed of a life of solitary contemplation in the wilderness. In many ways Chris was the all-American kid, a cross-country runner who graduated from Emory University in 1990. A growing contempt of the empty materialism of American life caused him to give up the $24,000 he had in savings and hit the road, wandering around America. Stopping in states like California, Arizona, and South Dakota, he met numerous friends and held several laborer jobs. There were also times when Chris withdrew from humanity, foraging off the land for survival. Two years into his journey, he decided to go to Alaska for his great “Odyssey” where he would live off the land and journal his physical and spiritual progress. Hitchhiking to the Stampede Trail, Chris was last seen by James Gallien who picked the young man up. All the Emory grad had with him is two tuna melts, a bag of potato chips, and a pair of rubber boots as he trudged off into the bush. After hiking the trail, McCandless found an abandoned school bus on an overgrown trail near the Denali National Park. It was there Chris would make his home. Stocking his new digs with a hunting rifle, a 10 pound bag of rice, several books, and some camping equipment, the young man began to live off the land. He recorded the next 113 days in his notebook. In August, he decided it was time to leave but found he could not because the Teklanika River had swelled, blocking the trail and his path home. In early September, a group of moose hunters and two hikers found a note on the bus stating, "S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here. I am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of God, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August?" His body was found inside the bus in his sleeping bag. He had been dead for over two weeks due to starvation. He was less than 20 miles from a major highway.

Into the Wild is a beautifully shot and acted film, and while lacking a Terrence Malick-like visual power, Sean Penn captures the ethos of the Jon Krakauer book the movie is based on. To some Christopher McCandless is a spiritual hero. To others he is a stupid fool. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of young men have been inspired by Chris’s story to test themselves against the wilderness. Alaskans shake their heads every time they see another young buck without much practical wilderness experience and almost no supplies trudge off into the bush. It is a powerful story, but almost any story that results in the death of someone, is not much of a story to live by, whether it is Burke and Wills, or Chris McCandless.

Verdict: A Pretty Good Retelling of Jon Krakauer’s Book