Into the Wild

Summary

The Book INTO THE WILD is the story of a young man named Chris McCandless's that hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. Mckinley. Before heading north to Alaska he gave $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. He survived for four months and his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. He came from a well-to-do family and he was trying to run away from societal and parental expectations. He wanted freedom from the material world and societal norms and in the wild he felt free. In his journey when he came back from Mexico, and he was in the city, he saw superficial things. He saw buildings and high rises, where mountains and open skies should have been. He felt claustrophobic with the noises of the city, honking of cars and machines, people sitting outside of cafes,etc. Instead, he enjoy the freedom of living in the wilderness.  

  How do you think this book can intersect with the direction we are going in our class: education, passion, equity/privilege, race / class? You should explore this in writing (3 ways the book can intersect)

I love this book and the movie is even better, I've heard of the book into the wild before but this is the first time i read and watch the movie. The way this book intersects with the direction of the class is that we have been trying to encourage the class to follow our passions no matter what race and class we find ourselves in. In order to execute passion we will often have to face the reality that we might have to live in poverty and it is a privilege to follow our passion because not everyone is able to. 

Also, it is easier to follow your passion when you come from a middle class family and have plenty of resources but to follow your Passions while you lack resources it just takes true passion and desire which it is so much more credible due to all the obstacles that you have to encounter on the way. Chris was willing to leave everything he owned which took great courage, however, it was a smart move to have a backup plan to get his education first in case he got tire of living without in the wilderness.