Music and Lyrics (Choice 1)

Long Nights :Have no fearFor when I'm aloneI'll be better off than I was beforeI've got this lightI'll be around to growWho I was beforeI cannot recallLong nights allow me to feel...I'm falling...I am fallingThe lights go outLet me feelI'm fallingI am falling safely to the groundAh...I'll take this soul that's inside me nowLike a brand new friendI'll forever knowI've got this lightAnd the will to showI will always be better than beforeLong nights allow me to feel...I'm falling...I am fallingThe lights go outLet me feelI'm fallingI am falling safely to the ground.

The main idea of the song 'Long Nights' that relates to Chris basically shows that even though Chris had to overcome a lot of struggles to be able to survive for the amount of time that he did, he enjoyed his time. The fist line of the song ; ' Have no fear For when I'm alone I'll be better off than I was before. This is a way to comfort those who were worried about Chris by telling them to have no fear is like telling them not to worry about any of the struggles that Chris went through. I think when the song talks about being around the light and the light going out it is either a metephore for when day turns to night or when Chris reaches death. When the song talks about falling I think it means that he is becoming weaker and weaker. I think the songs for the movie were chosen really well, because they were either written for the story or they just connect really well to it.

PILGRIMAGES TO STAMPEDE TRAIL: The Reports (choice # 3)

I think some of the people that make the choice to go into the wild are not only large fans of Chris McCandless but they also may be able to relate to him - sick of society, angry at parents, into adventure, ect. They probably deeply admire Chris's attempts and have a huge ammount of respect for him.

The purpose of this journey would be self fulfillment. People who admire Chris's actions would probably love the experience of going to the site of the magic bus. It would be like meeting your favourite celebrity that you were crazy about, and being able to get a very clear picture on how Chris really lived - something that can't be written in a book or shown in a movie.

I would definately support a classmate that felt like they wanted to take this kind of pilgrimage. I would warn them though to be very prepared as they probably already knew the outcome of Chris's trip. If they wanted to see the bus that bad that they wanted to go see it, I would encourage them to do so. And i would hope that they had the best experience posible. I think the movie had more of an impact on the people who travelled to the bus rather than the book. The movie gave us more of a picture and personality to Chris. I found the author could have written the book in a more effective way, some people may not have chosen to go to the bus if they only read the book, because not liking the author of the book could totally change their views on Chris.

PILGRIMAGES TO STAMPEDE TRAIL: The Reports (Choice #4)

It is hard to say what Chris's reaction would be to the actions of these individuals. I could see him feeling honoured that people were paying attention to him and interested in his story enough to see the type of enviroment that he lived in and the impact that he had in the life of some individuals. Although, I could also see Chris getting angry and not wanting anyone to find out about his miserable and unsuccessful journey into the wild. For some reason I think Chris may have wanted people to know about his story, I think he wrote things down and took pictures to show others, "because true hapiness is only shared".

With people visiting the bus and the site becoming more popular, the overall preservation of the bus would be poor. For example, in Kasey's trip to the bus he finds smashed windows and the suitcase torn apart and other peices of the bus that had been vandalized. With more people knowing where the bus is there is a higher chance of it getting vandalized by people who didn't agree with what chris did, or just random vandals.

From visiting the shrine people get the experience of seeing what Chris saw. They got a better understanding of his surroundings, and get to see more than what was shown in the movie. For example in one video it shows a scratching into the ceiling of the bus that said; " the best things in life are free". They also get to see things like the plaque that Walt and Billie left as well as other poems written in marker along the sides of the bus.

My overall reactions to these videos kind of changed my judgement towards Chris, after seeing the positive impact he gave to the lives of many individuals I was able to see others point of view towards Chris. A lot of people seen him as great inspiration and decided to travel into the wild as well - but they left well prepared. although I still don't agree that Chris was courageous, I think it's wonderful that he was able to have such an great impact on others.

Movie Quotations (choice # 8)

"Happiness only real when shared."

This quote was actually written in a book by Chris McCandless.

I like it because I find it to be very true - it is hard to be happy about something if there is no one to share your hapiness with. I think that when Chris wrote this he was starting to feel very lonely. He probably found his victories over killing animals for food not that great after he had no one to share the hapiness with.

"Society, man! You know, society! Cause, you know what I don't understand? I don't understand why people, why every fucking person is so bad to each other so fucking often. It doesn't make sense to me. Judgment. Control. All that, the whole spectrum. Well, it just... "

I think this quote is memorable from the movie because it's where Chris Shares his opinions on society. In the movie it seemed like society was the main reasons for Chris's journey. McCandless seemed very unhappy with the way things worked and doing what people wanted him to do. He had vary strong opinions on how he didn't want to follow the path that society would lead him to, this is mainly why he chose to live in the wild.

" Two weeks after Chris's death, moose hunters discovered his body in the bus"

This quote was found in the last tittle cards, is memorable because of the irony. Chris spent a long time in the wild and no one was ever around. He recorded nothing about ever seeing another human while at the site of the 'magic bus'. It's a little dissapointing that if the hunters would have came a bit earlier they may have been able to save Chris from his starvation and he would have been alive still today.

Chapters 17,18& epilouge

I found the beginning of chapter seventeen to be quite interesting because the author takes a trip to the stampede trail area to see the magic bus. Also, by visiting the magic bus the author, Jon Krakauer, gets a better understanding what it was really like for Chris to live in the wild. Even though I thought this would be very interesting at first, I found that the author spent too much time talking about certain subjects for an unnecessary amount of time. For example; he spends way too much time talking about the cable that was built by hunters to be able to cross the river. He went on about this for a couple of pages which seemed to be very boring. Although he did come across another good point; if Chris McCandless knew that this was here it would have been very beneficial to him when he needed to cross the river. If Chris would have been smarter to use a map he could have avoided many situations and he also could have still been alive today if he took simple precautions and wasn't so confident that he would be able to survive in the wild with the little items that he had. Krakauer also spends a fair amount of time on the subject that Chris's death may have been caused by potato seeds, which lead to starvation. At first I thought the authors points were very interesting, but then I found myself yawning through the next couple of pages that he continued to talk about wild poisonous plants. Krakauer then questions if it was Chris's recklessness that may have led to the poor judgement of deciding which plants were edible or not. At the end of the book Chris's parents visit the site of the 'magic bus'. I felt a lot of sympathy towards his parents because this would have been a very tough experience for them. As i have mentioned in my other blogs; Chris put his parents through a lot of pain by having no communication with them and having them worry about his whereabouts for a large amount of time. It is hard enough for a family to lose a loved one but having to suffer through wondering if he is okay for a countless number of nights is even worse. I find Chris McCandless very selfish for doing this and I also find myself agreeing with the statement: ' Chris McCandless - reckless idiot and wacko narcissist undeserving of all the media attention'.

Chapters 12,13&16

At the begining of chapter twelve the author tels us about how Chris had bought his father "a very expensive Questar telescope". Chris gave this to his father for his birthday. It was to show how greatful he was for all the things that his father had done for him. Right after Chris gave the telescope to his father he left on a road trip that lasted all summer. Again, Chris showed no empathy towards his family members as he did not take their emotions into consideration. His family did not want him to go but realized there was nothing they could do to stop him. He was supposed to call home to his parents everyday, but failed to do so. This left his parents even more worried about him. When he arrived home he was alot thinner and it made his mother very upset. You'd think that Chris would think a bit more about his second trip to alaska after seeing how hurt his family was from the first trip that he took. Billie says; " Chris said we were idiots for worrying about him". I think his family had a good reasons to worry about him and weren't being idiots seeing as his second trip he was found dead. In conclusion after reading these chapters, I think that Chris's actions were not courageous at all.

chapters 6-7 & 10-11

The more I read the more I agree with the statement "Chris McCandless was a reckless idiot and wacko narcissist undeserving of all the media attention". So far there is a sort of feelings that I have well reading the book that indicate that Chris isn't completely sane. We learned in these chapters that Chris had recently discovered that his father, Walt McCandless, had a somewhat secret life that he was keeping from the rest of the family. Chris took time to travel and see relatives that had more information on his father's double life. It seems as though Chris is trying to run away from family problems by not communicating whatsoever with them. The letters that he wrote to his sister indicated that he did not like his parents. I do understand why he would be upset, although he should have considered his parents feelings before he went on his journey. Another thing that I have found odd about Chris is that he seems to contradict his own opinions often. For example, Chris gets annoyed with society, he burns all his money, but then he is found working - and getting paid for it. The fact that Chris doesn’t want money and he burns it, but then he is working so he can get money is a little odd. His contribution to OXFAM doesn’t seem as generous as it did before because the money that he burned and wasted could have been put to much better use. So far, Chris had an impact on a lot of peoples lives that he had met so far on his journey to the north. For example, Ronald Franz, an elderly man that Chris had encouraged him to travel and get out more, and live on the road like Chris. One thing Chris should have realized is what emotions these people were having when they receive letters such as the letter which he sent to Jan Burres and Bob; Hi guys! This is the last communication you shall receive form me. I now walk out amongst the wild. Take care it was great knowing you. So far in the book we have noticed the strong relationship between Chris, Jan and Bob. Jan and Bob cared deeply about Chris, and Chris had really grown on him. Receiving a letter like this would make Jan and Bob scared and upset. After figuring out that Chris was found dead months later, they probably felt very guilty for not trying to stop him or telling anyone about where he was.

Chapters 1 - 5

The first five chapters of Into the Wild I found interesting. So far, Chris McCandless's dead body was found in a sleeping bag in a bus he was living in. He died of starvation while taking a journey by choice into the wild. I find it odd how he wasn't kicked out of his house or some type of homeless man. Even though he a nice place to stay he decided to live out on his own on the road and in the freezing cold climate of Alaska. I think it was very generous for him to donate all his money to OXFAM. Although at the time he decided to donate the money he probably wasn't thinking about what he was going to do with the rest of his life. He had his whole life ahead of him, was he planning to spend the rest of his life living on the road and in the wild? Hitchhiking is probably alot more dangerous now then it was over fifteen years ago. Now it would be very hard to try to hitchhike around the country because not that many people trust hitchhikers anymore. I understand that Chris wouldn't want to tell his parents what he was doing and where he was going exactly, in fear that they would stop him and try to find him. Although, it was a little uneccesary for him to leave his family with the horrible feeling of wondering where he was and if he was alright. So far, I do not believe that Chris's actions were courageous. Except for donating the money, by doing that Chris put his future at risk by not being able to finish his education. Although his wealthy parents probably would have paid for him to finish school if he wasn't able to afford it.