Steven Brence
11-14-2011, 03:59 AM
1. Chris renamed himself "Alexander Supertramp", and yet, at the end of the film and of his journey into the wild, he seems to have reclaimed "Christopher Johnson McCandless" as his "right" name. What is at stake in this naming and renaming? Is there such thing as a "right" name for something? Does one have a "true" identity, or is that always a creative endeavor?
2. Earlier in the film, Carine, Chris' sister, suggests that he measured himself and others by a "fiercely rigorous moral code" and risked loneliness as a consequence (finding company only in characters from books). Does the film treat that moralism in Chris as a failure, a strength, or both? How should we regard it? Does it remain with Chris throughout his adventure?
3. Chris seems to have extended his perception of his parents as "living their lies" to the whole of human society. Is that extension justified? Would he really be on track to become his parents if he stayed in "society"? Is "Into the Wild" in some respects like "Ghost World", portraying a young person graduating, confronting the necessity of self-defining choices for the first time, and finding no acceptable options? Chris had the grades to go to Harvard Law. Should he have gone? Would he have been "poisoned" by civilization if he had, or pursued some other form of the "twentieth-century invention", that is another career?
4. The "wild" represented for Chris (and others) freedom. What is the form and/or content of that freedom? Did he find it? Is that kind of freedom that which we should seek, or is it the kind one looks for only out of despair? What kind of freedom would it lack? To put that question differently, what kind of value might the "total freedom" Chris sought undermine?
5. The other main interest Chris has in the wild appears to be aesthetic, even calling himself at one point an "aesthetic voyager". What aesthetic differences are there, in his view at least, between society and "the wild"? Is life really that "easy" in civilization that one should seek to reject it and to return to some "prehistoric" condition?
6. Chris first gives the substantial remainder of his "college fund" to charity and then later simply burns the cash he has. Why does he do this? Was it really necessary in order to cut his ties to society, or did he see some advantage in it. If so, what? Did it help him to "feel strong"? Was he right to value that and reject caution?
7. Chris' sister Carine, starts to question what Chris is "saying" (presumably referring to his disappearance as a kind of message) as her parents change, noting the softness that the pain of loss has brought about in them and noting how it has brought them closer together. However, she then acknowledges that they are not now the parents Chris had known and with whom he had such severe grievances, thereby justifying his continuing lack of contact with them. Did Chris' adventure actually help his parents then? Did it help other people? That is, does what appeared to be a mission of, by, and for himself, ultimately prove to be one of self-sacrifice for the betterment of others?
8. The film is broken up into a prologue and five chapters: "Ch. 1: My Own Birth", "Ch. 2: Adolescence", "Ch. 3: Manhood", "Ch. 4: Family", "Ch. 5: Getting of Wisdom". In a more conventional biography, these would suggest various stages in the subject's development through a typical life. However, in this case, the second chapter starts when Chris is already a college graduate and he dies within two years. What then is meant by these "chapters"? Is the film claiming that Chris, despite his youthful death, still lived a complete life? Did that life begin with his naming himself? Is that a fair assessment?
9. Is Chris presented by the film to be any kind of messianic figure? He is asked at one point if he is Jesus. He denies that (unable to walk on water, and even afraid of it), but is shown several times in a "crucified" position--both arms extended out from his sides--generally a sure sign in a film of a character's likeness to Christ. Might he rather be a kind of Moses figure. He is a sort of child cast adrift (often on water), and a sign for Holy Moses Wash. is prominently highlighted by the film. Does Chris offer a kind of message of redemption or salvation?
10. As he articulates it himself, Chris regards himself as seeking a kind of "spiritual revolution" of self-reinvention, killing off "the false self within". What does he seem to mean by this? Why does he regard this as a project to be undertaken at remove from other people? Does he reject that approach at the end of the film? Could that rejection itself be the spiritual revolution he was seeking?
2. Earlier in the film, Carine, Chris' sister, suggests that he measured himself and others by a "fiercely rigorous moral code" and risked loneliness as a consequence (finding company only in characters from books). Does the film treat that moralism in Chris as a failure, a strength, or both? How should we regard it? Does it remain with Chris throughout his adventure?
3. Chris seems to have extended his perception of his parents as "living their lies" to the whole of human society. Is that extension justified? Would he really be on track to become his parents if he stayed in "society"? Is "Into the Wild" in some respects like "Ghost World", portraying a young person graduating, confronting the necessity of self-defining choices for the first time, and finding no acceptable options? Chris had the grades to go to Harvard Law. Should he have gone? Would he have been "poisoned" by civilization if he had, or pursued some other form of the "twentieth-century invention", that is another career?
4. The "wild" represented for Chris (and others) freedom. What is the form and/or content of that freedom? Did he find it? Is that kind of freedom that which we should seek, or is it the kind one looks for only out of despair? What kind of freedom would it lack? To put that question differently, what kind of value might the "total freedom" Chris sought undermine?
5. The other main interest Chris has in the wild appears to be aesthetic, even calling himself at one point an "aesthetic voyager". What aesthetic differences are there, in his view at least, between society and "the wild"? Is life really that "easy" in civilization that one should seek to reject it and to return to some "prehistoric" condition?
6. Chris first gives the substantial remainder of his "college fund" to charity and then later simply burns the cash he has. Why does he do this? Was it really necessary in order to cut his ties to society, or did he see some advantage in it. If so, what? Did it help him to "feel strong"? Was he right to value that and reject caution?
7. Chris' sister Carine, starts to question what Chris is "saying" (presumably referring to his disappearance as a kind of message) as her parents change, noting the softness that the pain of loss has brought about in them and noting how it has brought them closer together. However, she then acknowledges that they are not now the parents Chris had known and with whom he had such severe grievances, thereby justifying his continuing lack of contact with them. Did Chris' adventure actually help his parents then? Did it help other people? That is, does what appeared to be a mission of, by, and for himself, ultimately prove to be one of self-sacrifice for the betterment of others?
8. The film is broken up into a prologue and five chapters: "Ch. 1: My Own Birth", "Ch. 2: Adolescence", "Ch. 3: Manhood", "Ch. 4: Family", "Ch. 5: Getting of Wisdom". In a more conventional biography, these would suggest various stages in the subject's development through a typical life. However, in this case, the second chapter starts when Chris is already a college graduate and he dies within two years. What then is meant by these "chapters"? Is the film claiming that Chris, despite his youthful death, still lived a complete life? Did that life begin with his naming himself? Is that a fair assessment?
9. Is Chris presented by the film to be any kind of messianic figure? He is asked at one point if he is Jesus. He denies that (unable to walk on water, and even afraid of it), but is shown several times in a "crucified" position--both arms extended out from his sides--generally a sure sign in a film of a character's likeness to Christ. Might he rather be a kind of Moses figure. He is a sort of child cast adrift (often on water), and a sign for Holy Moses Wash. is prominently highlighted by the film. Does Chris offer a kind of message of redemption or salvation?
10. As he articulates it himself, Chris regards himself as seeking a kind of "spiritual revolution" of self-reinvention, killing off "the false self within". What does he seem to mean by this? Why does he regard this as a project to be undertaken at remove from other people? Does he reject that approach at the end of the film? Could that rejection itself be the spiritual revolution he was seeking?