(A previous paper from English class...)
Ingrained in each soul lies the searing flame of
adventure. Depending on the individual, the flame may consist of mellow
coals or raging fire that chars the spirit and frees the mind.
Christopher Johnson McCandless is one of few blessed with a soul of wild
flame. His restless mind and bright personality was rare and appreciated
among all who encountered McCandless along his meandering journey to his final
destination: Alaska. Without warning, Chris quietly left his friends and
family to pursue his dream. He willingly abandoned society and admitted
himself into the embrace of merciless Mother Nature where he lived purely off
the land in an effort to cleanse his society-sickened-being within.
However, Chris’s overconfident ambition cost him his life. On August 18,
1992 Christopher McCandless passed into the arms of death after a difficult
fight for survival alone in the Alaskan Wilderness of Denali. Before his
body was found by passing moose hunters three weeks after his demise, Chris’s
story was silenced by his intended decisions. In an attempt to unveil the
puzzling mystery of McCandless’s sudden disappearance, Into the Wild,
written by Jon Krakauer, tells Chris’s story through careful analysis of his
wanderings.
The song “Guaranteed,” written by Eddie
Vedder, from the major motion picture Into the Wild, expresses Chris’s
wild ambition and self-confidence during the beginning of his journey through
the words, abrupt silences, and lyrics of Vedder’s guitar plucked melody.
When one is faced with the
assertiveness of the word “guaranteed” there is little question or doubt of the
surety in the declaration. But why would Eddie Vedder title a song
“Guaranteed” when the word is only used once throughout the entirety of the
song? Eddie procrastinates voicing the word until the last stanza, in the
last line, the last term sang as if a mute, disguising its subtlety as an
aspirant. With the simplistic use of “guaranteed”, Eddie Vedder amplifies
the connotation by one potent dose of confidence representing Chris as a young
man poisoned with hubris. Jim Gallien, an Alaskan who drove McCandless to the
mouth of the Stampede Trail, was concerned about the young fella stepping into
a place where book knowledge was no match to living in the brutal lands of
Alaska. “I said the hunting wasn’t easy… When that didn’t work, I tried
to scare him with bear stories… But he wouldn’t move an inch” (pg. 5), Gallien
admitted after attempting to dissuade McCandless from disaster. Chris
indeed was stubborn. Eddie Vedder acknowledged Chris’s unfortunate trait
and intensified the weight of the word “Guaranteed” to accomplish the
realization of its meaning in regards to Chris, unveiling his determination and
unspeakable confidence during his journey into the wild, an easy picture to
imagine with the accompaniment of Vedder and his soulful instrument.
One is instantly centered when
confronted with the rambling guitar that accompanies the strong, hearty voice
of Eddie Vedder. Repetitively, a jumble of chords and words fill the
song, signaling the adventurous feel of roaming the curving road, young and
alive. It’s as if one could vividly imagine Chris walking with purpose on
a barren motorway into the horizon of a vast landscape, with nothing but a
light pack atop his shoulder and an aura of happiness in the air as he attacks
his life’s final adventure. The swells and altering volume have a
majestic capability of bringing the listener to the heart of Chris’s journey,
overwhelming one with thought and content confidence. Just as one becomes
a part of the wandering melody the music abruptly stops.
Silence.
Eddie Vedder encloses the listener for
a taunting two minutes in quietness. Coming from a world of constant
sound, the sudden break is alarming, though seemingly necessary. It
symbolizes society’s view of Chris McCandless and his original life
story. When still immersed in civilization, Chris met and made a line of
friends of whom he had said goodbye to almost as soon as he had introduced
himself, leaving many aching hearts, sick with the loss of a dear friend.
The moment in which McCandless disappeared into the wild initiated the loss of
his voice to society. No longer could Chris cry for help and receive
aid. No longer could he talk in the company of an old friend. He
was alone in the wilderness, mute. He left the mystery to that of curious
minds. Suddenly the music begins and the ranting guitar harmonizes with
Eddie’s gentle humming, representing the slow discovery of Chris’s reason and
purpose, re-earthed through the words of Jon Krakauer telling the story of
Chris and his early, abrupt expiry.
Chris met his end at the young
age of 24, a tragedy in our present society. With judgment, onlookers
pity McCandless for his early death. With his body and mind in good
health and a pleasurable head on his shoulders, it is seen as a great loss for
one to not fulfill their years. Eddie Vedder realized this connection and
purposely continued the song, both in silence and melody. He symbolized
Chris’s potential life but does not portray his early death as a loss.
Rather, he seeks to remember Chris as a man who lived and died the way he
wanted. If Christopher Johnson McCandless had lived, would he have been
able to spread the same wisdom? He may have pursued his years, but his
story and revolutions would have had little impact on the lives of those who
are poisoned by society. Eddie Vedder used lyrics and plucking guitar in
the beginning of the piece to symbolize McCandless and his limited but
fulfilled life and the beginning of his journey, then the brutal silence
representing the loss of Chris to the world both in disappearance and
death. Finally, gentle hums and mellow guitar bring Chris’s story to life
again, implying Krakauer, the spokesperson for Christopher McCandless.
The words and messages of the lyrics
flow just as the guitar swells in accompaniment to Vedder’s humble voice,
undertaking McCandless’s dead expression. He sings, “Everyone I come
across, in cages they bought…,” an indication that describes what Chris found
society to be: a prison. The cage of society was one that Chris had
worked all his life to pick the lock of and set himself free, while encouraging
others to do the same. “… I think you really should make a radical change
in your lifestyle …,” Chris once wrote in a letter to Ronald A. Franz, “…
Nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure
future…” (pg. 56). He encouraged Ron to abandon society and live a life
thriving only on the rich, stable relationship with nature, though some saw him
ignorant to travel with no experience to wild Alaska. “They think of me and my
wandering, but I’m never what they thought…,” a line that portrays one’s first
impression of him: a Wildman, hobo, or crazy wanderer. Suffocating from
the grips of society and its’ criticism, McCandless ignored fatherly advice and
confidently headed heart first into the lands of Alaska. Confidence
bubbled over along the roads to the north. “Lifting up an empty cup… a
mind full of questions, and a teacher in my soul…,” sung Eddie Vedder,
signifying Chris’s search of purpose and answers. Though always thinking,
McCandless had edited his mind to act numb to the presence of harmful memories
of his past.
Not only was Chris running from
society, but from the very place he came from: his home. “I’ve got my
indignation, but I’m pure in all my thoughts,” sings Vedder. McCandless
had unspeakable anger against his parents; for he had only found out years
before that his happy life was built behind a wall of secrets. In
rebellion, he disappeared from his family; a deed that he knew would tear at
the souls of his parents through guilt and regret. The unintentional
victim of his act was his sister, Carine. The brother and sister pair had
an unbreakable friendship that was developed over years of withheld feelings
due to their parent’s negative relationship. “If ever there was someone
to keep me home it would be you,” murmured Vedder referring to Carine, Chris’s
best friend. Chris did not dwell on how he was impacting his family or his
beloved sister, and neither did Eddie as the words, “And so it goes…,” linger
in the air. Life goes on, and Chris had no intention of halting a moment
to decipher the pain that he had bottled over the years, nor did he halt to
contemplate the pain he, in return, was causing his parents or Carine.
But none were prepared for the final burn of Chris’s actions, nor had they come
to the realization that Chris would never return.
Chris had a rare heart of fire.
He yearned to find truth and adventure, to run away from the ideas and
constrictions of society and live the way he had always dreamed. Though
the feeling and rewards were not entirely what McCandless had expected, he had
dedicated his life to fighting the bonds of civilization and succeeded in
finding revolutions that were grander in relevance to his life. Through
the poetry and song of Eddie Vedder, one is able to analyze the deeper feeling
of Chris and his journey. With his remains lay Chris’s last strip of
voice on the back of a poem by Robinson Jeffers. He wrote, “I have had a
happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!” (pg.
199) Christopher Johnson McCandless had clearly not lost his fire when
the final wave of breath came over him that last day.
His spirit remains with the lands and
his wisdom remains with the people who will forevermore remember the story and
lessons of Chris. Forevermore remember his wild, burning embers.
Forevermore, guaranteed.
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