Comparative Essay on “Into The Wild”
In Jon Krakauer’s National Bestseller “Into The Wild” he follows the trail of Christopher McCandless, a young man straight out of college, who gives up his savings and belonging to hitchhike across America until his death in the Alaskan wilderness two and a half years after he started his journey. The book was turned into a movie in 2007, as with most books turned into movies and vice versa they were very similar and very different in many ways. I think that in the movie adaptation of “Into The Wild” the differences change the story greatly.
Christopher McCandless or “Alex” as he calls himself on his journey is a very hard man to figure out. Jon Krakauer describes him as a walking paradox, a highly …show more content…
In the movie he is shown as a rebellious hippy boy running away from family problems. This is best shown in two scenes, one where he is alone and Alaska pretending to be a bus driver, as he talks to himself on a broken down bus; a scene which is created for comedic effect in the movie, you realize that this isn't the same Christopher McCandless described in the book. This is the movie version of Christopher McCandless For me these differences to Christophers persona, stray to far from the book and heavily alter your perception of the entire story. The movie plays too heavily on the fact that Christopher had issues with his parents and didn't always see eye to eye with them. While the book does mention this several times, it doesn't seem to be the key reason for why Christopher undertook this journey as it is made out to be in the movie. I think the reason for the movie choosing to rely more heavily on the family issue side of the story is simply because it's easier for the audience to understand. Even Jon Krakauer who has spent years of his life researching and following Christophers journey does not fully understand what made him act the way he …show more content…
In the book Tracy is a girl that is mentioned very briefly for one chapter, she develops a crush on Christopher but he rebukes her advances. From the recounts of Jan Burres, who he stayed with for the two weeks when he met Tracy, “Alex was nice to her, but… he couldn't take her seriously.” The movie however uses Tracy's character as a love interest, showing Christopher repeatedly spending time with her, and even performing a concert with her for the residents of the trailer park where they were staying. For me the movie throws this random love interest into the story to humanize Christopher's life. Everyone can relate to having feelings for someone so if you add that into the story Christopher's life seems more relatable and less alien. They simply don't have time to show all of his
In Jon Krakauer’s National Bestseller “Into The Wild” he follows the trail of Christopher McCandless, a young man straight out of college, who gives up his savings and belonging to hitchhike across America until his death in the Alaskan wilderness two and a half years after he started his journey. The book was turned into a movie in 2007, as with most books turned into movies and vice versa they were very similar and very different in many ways. I think that in the movie adaptation of “Into The Wild” the differences change the story greatly.
Christopher McCandless or “Alex” as he calls himself on his journey is a very hard man to figure out. Jon Krakauer describes him as a walking paradox, a highly …show more content…
In the movie he is shown as a rebellious hippy boy running away from family problems. This is best shown in two scenes, one where he is alone and Alaska pretending to be a bus driver, as he talks to himself on a broken down bus; a scene which is created for comedic effect in the movie, you realize that this isn't the same Christopher McCandless described in the book. This is the movie version of Christopher McCandless For me these differences to Christophers persona, stray to far from the book and heavily alter your perception of the entire story. The movie plays too heavily on the fact that Christopher had issues with his parents and didn't always see eye to eye with them. While the book does mention this several times, it doesn't seem to be the key reason for why Christopher undertook this journey as it is made out to be in the movie. I think the reason for the movie choosing to rely more heavily on the family issue side of the story is simply because it's easier for the audience to understand. Even Jon Krakauer who has spent years of his life researching and following Christophers journey does not fully understand what made him act the way he …show more content…
In the book Tracy is a girl that is mentioned very briefly for one chapter, she develops a crush on Christopher but he rebukes her advances. From the recounts of Jan Burres, who he stayed with for the two weeks when he met Tracy, “Alex was nice to her, but… he couldn't take her seriously.” The movie however uses Tracy's character as a love interest, showing Christopher repeatedly spending time with her, and even performing a concert with her for the residents of the trailer park where they were staying. For me the movie throws this random love interest into the story to humanize Christopher's life. Everyone can relate to having feelings for someone so if you add that into the story Christopher's life seems more relatable and less alien. They simply don't have time to show all of his