Freedom in Nature
In the 1990’s, a young man sets off to go on a Great Alaskan journey. This man's name was Chris McCandless, or what he liked to call himself on the road: Alexander Supertramp. McCandless was a bright individual who wanted to go against societal standards and live off hardly anything in an area that would bring him peace, in the Alaskan wilderness. Jon Krakauer tells McCandless’s story in the form of a book while Sean Penn tells this story in the form of a film, both entitled Into the Wild. They follow along with McCandless’s cross country journey of him meeting new people, experiencing the hitchhiking world, and going to new places. They follow him through some of his most troubling times, but also some of his best experiences that helped to build him into the person he was when he passed away in the Alaskan forest. The book and film both use artistic choices and various elements such as the use of McCandless’s journal entries and letters in Krakauer's book, and the use of music and camera movement in Penn's movie adaptation. They use these techniques in order to best emphasize that nature helps one to best connect to their true
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When McCandless is in the Alaskan forest, he writes journal entries to describe his experiences. Krakauer describes one entry as “unmistakably joyous: ‘CLIMB MOUNTAIN!’” (164). Krakauer depicts McCandless as excited and happy to climb the mountain, demonstrating how doing something involved and related to nature can make someone content and jovial. By McCandless capitalizing all of the letters for this journal entry, it does imply how truly happy he felt about being one with the wild. Krakauer then uses this to his advantage in order to portray just how joyous an individual can feel when immersed in the expansive