Into the Wild by Sean Penn - Essay Example

07 December Response to the Film “Into the Wild” by Sean Penn Into the Wild directed by Sean Penn is a very different and unusual film in terms of story, ideas, themes, and concept. Many people sometimes feel a strong urge to do what they have been cultivating a longing desire in their heart for no matter what it takes. The film depicts what possibly can happen if an individual sets off to make his wildest dreams come true leaving everything behind. For Chris, the wildest and indeed, the dearest dream is exploring the nature, and searching for truth and spirituality as well as the hidden truths and the underlying and biggest realities of life. The film suggests that Chris has a very strong relationship with nature. This paper examines Chris’s relationship with nature. Nature as depicted in the film is a force that is although perceived by Chris otherwise, yet cannot be tamed. Nature as projected in the film is a force. Nothing but a force can be so influential so as to cause a young and sensible man to abandon all his possessions after graduating from the college, impart each and every penny that he has been saving for years into a charity account, destroy all his credit cards IDs, and leave everything and everyone behind without having a word with even the people closest to him like his family and friends. By all means, this cannot be expected of an ambitious young man who knows the importance of relations, resources, and money to live a happy and prosperous life in this world. Paradoxically, from the unique approach he adopts toward exploring nature, and the kind of activities he involves himself in after heading off to live in the Alaskan wilderness suggests that Chris is an intelligent man and his sensibility cannot be questioned. Chris prepares very hard to be able to stand the force of nature. He does learn hunting and eating wild edible plants before setting off into the Alaskan wilderness. He plans to live completely alone with minimal supplies to find out whether it is possible for an individual to live in the extreme conditions. Having said this, it becomes obvious that there is some kind of force that makes him do all he does and that force is nothing but nature. Chris had the misunderstanding that nature could be tamed. Only after making his journey and reaching his sad ending could he find that nature is too powerful to be tamed. Nature carries a very important and particular allure to Chris. Chris perceives the wilderness or nature as a state that is purer and free of all bad influences of the modern society. Chris hopes to explore the meaning of his existence and wants to live in such a way that no rules but those made by himself govern his life; he wants to be free. For Chris, being free does not necessarily mean not being chained. Being free to him means to live on one’s own terms and according to the rules made by oneself rather than others. Living this way, Chris actually finds out at least some keys to living like he desires and at least some answers to the questions he originally had. As Chris explains the reason why he does not pursue a professional career after graduating from the college to Franz in these words, “Mr. Franz I think careers are a 20th century invention and I dont want one” (Penn). Likewise, for example, at one point in the film, Chris says, “I read somewhere... how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong... but to feel strong” (Penn). He reaches these conclusions only after making this journey. However, the fact that the daily life in the wilderness of the nature is far less romantic than what Chris had originally imagined. So much of Chris’s times is consumed just in looking for food to be alive basically that there is hardly any time left for him to adore the nature as is evident from the scene in the film when Chris develops a list of food in the journal that he daily locates and consumes. Nature can be adored, but it cannot be lived alone with. Chris in the film is shown as one character that possesses unusual curiosity for the nature as well as its adventures. He wants to know what he does not know thus far and wants to experience what he has never experienced in the past. For this reason, he does what he has never done in the past. His curiosity reflects in numerous quotes of Chris in the film. For instance, “The core of mans spirit comes from new experiences” (Penn). From the activities Chris involves in after leaving his home, it can be assessed that he is by nature a very loving and caring man. Chris’s high moral values reflect in his consideration of truth as the most superior to all other blessings in the world, as he says, “Im going to paraphrase Thoreau here... rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth” (Penn). Indeed, it is the very love for nature that compels him to take this big a step to leave every thing he owns behind and instead explore the nature and the adventures hidden into it. However, none of what he does is right because he breaks connection with his fundamental responsibilities. From the type of personality Chris has as shown in the film, it is obvious that he has brains, but thinks on the wrong lines. The only factor that becomes the reason of his failure is that Chris applies those lessons in wrong ways. Perhaps, had Chris somehow taken anybody’s advice, he would have used his knowledge and strength in the right places. Even the people he meets on his journey in one way or another reassure him that his love for nature and spirituality are worthy of appreciation. In the film, Ron Franz says to Chris, “I want to tell you something. From bits and pieces of what you have told me about your family, your mother and your dad... And I know you have problems with the church too... But there is some kind of bigger thing that we can all appreciate and it sounds to me you dont mind calling it God. But when you forgive, you love. And when you love, Gods light shines through you” (Penn). However, whether or not he would take anyone’s suggestion cannot be said with utmost certainty. Especially, considering the fact that he lives his family behind that has raised him right from the point of his birth till this point in time when he has graduated from the college, it is hardly believable that Chris would consider anyone important enough to follow his/her advice. He also says to Franz, “I will miss you too, but you are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. Gods place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things” (Penn). This fact cannot be denied that nature plays an integral role in shaping our life no matter how far apart the technological forces try to drift us from it. Every human being is born in the world. There are systems both man-made and natural that shape his/her life, and then he/she leaves the world one day. Sean Penn’s movie indicates the very fact that in order to survive and grow in the world, one cannot terminate one’s relationship with either of the two systems. In order to live a happy life particularly in the technologically advanced world of the contemporary age, one needs to strike a balance between the natural and the technological aspects of life. What Chris does in the movie is essentially a retreat from the life as a human being. Being a human being, when he leaves living like one, he is destined to fail, and that is what exactly happens in the movie. Being a human being means more than just looking like a human. It means adapting to all kinds of systems that form part of the culture. The reason that nature is a force that needs to be “tamed” in order to live with it alone but nature cannot actually be tamed is that Chris leaves everything he has in his love for nature, and yet ends up facing difficulties and ultimately death. Hence, it can be concluded that although his love for nature is unusually strong and worthy of appreciation, yet nature cannot be tamed no matter how intensely an individual tries to tame it. Unfortunately, Chris does not get the guidance he needs and accordingly, his craze leads him to a sad ending. This film has many morals and messages for the audience including the importance of striking a balance between one’s connection with nature and the world. Works Cited: In the Wild. Sean Penn. 2007. Film. Read More