Any feedback or comments on this essay would be greatly appreciated!
(I forgot the conclusion)
“Help me.” (Into the Wild)
“… felt nothing. I was numb, empty.” (Tracks)
Compare the ways in which both texts present desperation and despair.
At the heart of both texts, Tracks and Into the Wild is an exploration of confronting realities and re-evaluating truths, both of which are moulded by desperation and despair. Accordingly, the harshness shown unto both Davidson and McCandless is fundamental to their transformative experience, particularly in understanding their own place within two starkly differing societies. So too do both texts attribute this hardship pertinently to be found in isolation, yet by the same notion, both depict society itself to be as fraught with challenge, although for Davidson, this challenge is not so easily escaped.
Davidson’s desire to “test, to prove” is similar to that of McCandless’ desire to “kill the false being”, however the hardship required to achieve these goals often incurs a hefty toll. For Davidson, she honestly relays a young woman who is plagued with apprehension, displaying a “sinking feeling” as she disembarks the train to Alice Springs. Her idea of wanting to “prove” relates to this sense of “infernal cowardice” she sees within herself, suggesting that the trek across the Outback is not one meant to be blissful, but instead a journey of immense challenge. In this manner, Davidson clearly establishes her desire and thus contextualises even the most desperate points of the text as a learning experience. Her encounter with “wild bulls” – and the image a lone woman fending off the lumbering beats – epitomises such a challenge. Certainly, Davidson often withers under the intensity of such situations – teetering at time on the brink of a “mental collapse” – yet by the end of the text, she does not exhibit the “weakness” she attributes to herself at the onset of the journey. Therefore, Davidson suggests that such despair and arduous moments are exactly what she sought, hence she questions anyone who would ask “why” at the closing of the postscript. Similarly, but ultimately more tragically, McCandless also finds a sense of discovery about his sense of place, realising that “happiness only real when shared”, albeit all but too late. Thus, the pale and gaunt figure within the Magic Bus illustrates the differing sense of discovery compared to Davidson. Where her hardship and despair bolsters her resultant self, McCandless crumbles under such moulding pressure, hence his tragic demise alone in the “pathless woods.” The nature of transformation arises through hardship, but it is clear that for Davidson it results in a strengthening of character, whereas for McCandless it is too overpowering, highlighting the harsh but changing aspect of negative experiences.
Moreover, both texts attribute much of this desperation to occur when devoid of others, segregated within their respective landscapes. This in itself alludes to the value of relationships and the strength this can afford. Davidson, like McCandless, commentates that the truly lowly moments are only to be found when alone. Once again, the idea of Davidson’s “mental collapse” after departing the Docker Township arises at various stages through the text, particularly when she has no support. Diggity’s death for example epitomises the idea of despair – Davidson’s honest memoir style presenting a confronting but all too real image of true desperation. Thus, McCandless’ desperation draws upon a similar notion. Although Penn’s film initially provides an idyllic and freeing depiction of the Alaskan wilderness in Chapter 1, the final chapter displays no such positivity. Rather, Penn’s initially sparse panning shots of the landscape - coupled with the dulcet tones of Eddie Vedder’s “Long Nights” - gives way to musical silence and a clambering for survival. This in itself alludes a loss of the initial “magic” both protagonists’ initially find, emboldening McCandless’ attempts to salvage maggot-ridden deer meat as a grim reality. Thus, Penn suggests that although McCandless knows the lessons from characters such as Wayne, the isolation itself is too overpowering to enable such clarity. The allegory spanning both texts can be likened to the image of McCandless’ beanie being overrun by the rising river. Although isolation is intoxicating, it is uncompromising in its presentation of desperation and despair, all too often consuming those radical enough to pursue it, as was the case for both McCandless and his beanie.
Conversely however, both texts are profound in advocating society as a true source of negativity and origin of desperation. Davidson’s trek across the Outback - contextualised through her narration upon society at the onset of the text - can be perceived as a desperate action. Her damnatory labelling of 1970’s Australia a “cult of misogyny” constructs a volatile and constricting environment. Indeed, the idea of an “Australian cult” – one that treats women as “animals that have always been prey” – implies a profound need to flee. Thus, the very foundation of text can be perceived as a single desperate attempt for Davidson to rid herself from a society that would label her the next town “rape-case”. Whereas Davidson’s journey is fuelled by despair from prejudice, Penn focuses upon the damnable materialistic nature of American Society, and the role of family dysfunction. Carine’s narration comments that he is “writing his story”, suggesting that he is seeking his own avenue away from the “claustrophobia” of society. His poetic inscription that he will “no longer be poisoned by civilisation” also suggests a volatile urban landscape, regardless of his place in its upper echelons. Thus, the film’s multiple narrators contextualises that his journey is a necessity – that it was “inevitable” that he would feel the “obligation to resist” the lack of authenticity he perceives society to hold. However unlike Davidson, such woes do not accompany his travels within the “rubber-tramp” niches of his journey. Thus, Davidson’s time in Alice Springs, serving as a microcosm of the “cult” of sexism she describes, only spurs her desire for isolation onwards; from one extreme harshness to the other. Ergo, while desperation and despair exists within isolation, it too is present within society, and sparks both protagonists to undertake their journeys.
Home
Help
Search
Login
