Late night viewing of “Into the wild”. I fell in love with the soundtrack first. Eddie Vedder mixes the spirit of the wanderer with the sense of foreboding in a cocktail so potent that songs play on loop endlessly, and in an instant you grab the tone of the movie. The movie wouldn’t hit the same chord unless you have — in that strange moment of zoning out while in the midst of an inconsequential conversation with someone — said to yourself “Why? Why me?”. Unless you have wanted to leave it all behind, in quiet desperation, and sew wanderlust on your sleeve like a boy-scout-badge, remember all the training, and chase utter loneliness and live in wilderness.
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Chris McCandless dropped out of school and then out of society. he wandered around a bit before heading to Alaska. In his final journey, he found an abandoned bus and was found dead in the same. They say he died because of starvation. If he had had the common sense to carry a map, he would have discovered that a human operated tramway was a quarter of a mile away, and he would have survived. If the movie is to be believed, his thoughts close to his dying moments were that of survival, and not of death. That the greatest happiness is the one which is shared. He mentioned God twice in his near-death note.
And yet, his is a hero’s story.
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The rebels always catch everyone’s eye early on. It’s not the attire, but the aura of devil-may-care, the restlessness that everyone notices. Everyone has an opinion about them. The conformists hate them, but secretly want to have the courage to be like them — they would rather be free, and yet, they are so afraid of their weaknesses, that they don’t want to be like them.
What makes us — the ones who would rather rebel but don’t — this way? I believe, it’s the will to survive – nothing more, nothing less. It’s not the money, or the pride, or the desire for material pleasures. It’s not anything superficial. We want food on our table, a roof on our head, the safety and to procreate – to keep civilization alive… It is a different kind spirit of survival. It is a different kind of roughing out. It’s not easy to live a conventional life. Rebelling is far easier. There are absolutely no expectations.
Being a rebel, not believing in society, and shunning all material comforts makes a good story. While the failure, and eventually the sorry fate of such people is narrated in hushed tones to neighbours, such people gain a romantic edge, and become fascinating protagonists of a book or a movie. One way or another, I don’t know of anyone who wouldn’t be weak for a rebel.
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Chris McCandless was conceived when his dad was still married to another woman. His parents fought incessantly.This boy’s parents eloped to get married. His mom is ten years younger, and at some level, the generation gap still shows. They fight incessantly.
Chris McCandless was very smart. He was well read. He could quote Thoreau , Louis L’Amour and Pasternak. This boy passed exams studying 1/10th as much as any of us needed to. He could (can?) speak physics and pink floyd like no other boy can.
Chris McCandless dropped out of law school. This boy never finished his masters.
Chris McCandless wanted to run away for a period of solitary contemplation, for he hated the empty materialism of the society. He wanted to explore nature, and rough it out like the pre-historic man. He believed that careers are a twentieth century invention and that he didn’t want one. At last count, this boy told me something similar.
Chris McCandless took pride in surviving with a minimum of gear and funds, and generally made little preparation. This boy does, mostly, the same.
Chris McCandless had a plan, an ambition. Unfortunately, this boy has none.
