Hello, any feedback on my essay would be much appreciated
Society’s expectations ultimately lead people to seek a deeper meaning in life. Discuss.
Robyn Davidson’s memoir, Tracks, and Sean Penn’s film adaptation of the biographical novel, Into The Wild, offer interpretations into how leaving society can enable interpersonal development. They create idealised visions of what it means to abandon societal conventions and how it may enable one to obtain a truer realisation of self. Thus, they frame the confines of society to act as impetus for individuals to act upon their primal urges. Whilst both central protagonists offer ostensible critiques of the social environment which they have abandoned, they also warn against the complete shunning of society due to the harsh and unpredictable nature of the natural environment. The concept of identity and its fragmentation within a world driven by neoliberalist ideals is also explored and condemned, thus highlighting the necessity of straying away from this very world that is devoted to the values of material success.
Penn and Davidson employ the breaking of societal constraints as a vehicle for individuals to obtain independence. Both Davidson and McCandless are characterised as intense characters driven by their desire to prove their self worth. For Davidson, this experience of journeying is as ‘a pure gesture of independence’, one that has been lacking in her relatively complacent and comfortable city-life. Yet contrarily, her actions are not purely driven by this very desire for independence, but also to demonstrate that ‘anyone could do anything… especially women’. In an Alice Springs culture rife with a ‘misogynistic culture’, her actions as a subjugated minority further demonstrate the necessity of Davidson’s actions in acting as a woman seeking to break free of the ‘archetypal female creature’ stereotype. Through this challenging of societal expectations of her as a woman, she is able to break free of her crippling self doubt, ergo, she is able to obtain the very independence that she longs for. To a much greater extent, McCandless is also shown to completely abandon the constraints of the consumerist and avaricious lifestyle which has plagued his childhood. His sheer independence is delineated to the audience where his refusal of a car, accentuated by his statement ‘I don’t want anything’, foreshadows his status as an individual who is willing to abandon societal conformity in order to maintain his true ‘rigorous moral code’. Thus, Penn conveys the conflict between the neoliberalist ideals present in the post-Reagan presidency era, and the Thoreauvian ideals that McCandless holds true to his heart. By portraying this conflict, Penn promulgates how the removal of societal constraints can lead to an individual being able to embark on a journey of independence driven by their own ideals. Although both texts elucidate the necessity of obtaining freedom from society in order to obtain individuality, Into The Wild hones in on the expectations surrounding materialism, whilst Tracks is more concerned with the gendered expectations placed upon the central protagonist.
Both texts argue that the pressures placed by society can lead to a fragmentation of identity, leading individuals to escape as a means of self-actualisation. This destruction of identity is exemplified in Into The Wild through McCandless who is unable to truly live out his idealistic lifestyle due to his parents. The ‘murder of everyday truth’ as a result of his father’s ‘fraudulent marriage’, is representative of the very truth which he holds as a core facet of his identity. Thus, he believes he has no alternative but to escape the mundane society which he believes is robbing him of the honesty that he so strongly desires. By self-proclaiming, ‘no longer to be poisoned by civilisation he flees’, Penn highlights how the society in which McCandless has lived to the point of his graduation has in fact been destroying his inner identity. In particular, the use of the term ‘poison’ reiterates this notion of killing the ‘false being within’ that McCandless hopes to achieve through the abandonment of society, therefore enabling him to form his own identity in ‘Alexander Supertramp’. In a similar fashion, this enabling of identity transformation is also prevalent in Robyn Davidson. For her too, it is the abandoning of society that allows her to become a truer version of herself. Particularly, her actualisation in the ‘shedding of burdens’ occurs when she is alone and she has allowed herself to become free from the input of society. Describing this very identity shift as ‘sloughing off like snakeskin’ as part of the ‘desocialising process’, Davidson frames herself to have rejected the limitations and conventions of Australian culture. Furthermore, the fact that she is alone when she incurs these revelations is not a coincidence, indicating how breaking free from society on a physical level is also necessary to facilitate a transformative journey. This sentiment is echoed in Into The Wild and thus both texts aim to elucidate how the removal of the constraints of modern society can enable personal development.
Ultimately, both Tracks and Into The Wild ,explicate that no amount of societal expectations should cause for a complete abandonment of society. Although both texts explore the concept of escape as enabling self-growth, it is argued that complete solitude Is inevitably impossible. McCandless, although seemingly disillusioned by societal values, is forced to be exposed to remnants of his previous life. His vision of planes flying in the air and the ‘magic bus’ in which he lives are constant reminders of how he will never be able to truly detach from the world in which he has sought escape from. He incurs the realisation that his ‘characteristic immoderation’ and ‘rigorous moral code’ has led to him having a one-dimensional view of escape where his quixotic vision conflicts with the practicality of the natural world. Thus, Penn is able to convey that the defying of expectations is in fact restrictive in its ability to provide individuals with a deeper meaning in life, due to the difficulty of obtaining complete isolation. This concept of practicality as opposed to romanticised visions of the natural world is also made clear in Tracks, with Robyn Davidson’s persona as a rational woman serving as antithesis to the attitudes held by McCandless. In a similar manner the McCandless, Davidson also seeks to ‘be free of all mental and social crutches’ and the ‘self indulgent negativity which she believes has corrupted her generation. However, whilst Chris is rash and obstinate in his demeanour, Robyn is more aware of the realistic impracticality of complete abandoning society. Thus, Davidson, in showing how ‘practicality had won the day’, indicates that the deeper meaning of life must not be found at the expense of rationality. It is this very realisation that McCandless incurs tragically late, thus making clear to the audience that as constrictive as societal expectations may be, their complete abandonment is impractical and unnecessary in facilitating personal growth.
Penn and Davidson both convey how the stripping of social burdens may act as a catalyst for personal growth. However, in doing so, they also warn against the dangers and impracticality of completely abandoning society. Hence, what Davidson advocates for is a temporary removal from society in order to obtain a sense of realisation. Whilst this is also echoed by Penn, the fate of McCandless serves as a tragic reminder of when idealism overcomes practicality in disobeying societal expectations.
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