35
S.O.S I NEED YOUR HELP. I AM INJURED, NEAR DEATH, AND TOO WEAK TO HIKE OUT OF
HERE. I AM ALL ALONE, THIS IS NO JOKE. IN THE NAME OF GOD, PLEASE REMAIN TO SAVE
ME. I AM OUT COLLECTING BERRIES CLOSE BY AND SHALL RETURN THIS EVENING,
THANK YOU.
He signed the note CHRIS MCCANDLESS. AUGUST? Recognizing the gravity of his predicament,
he had abandoned the cocky moniker hed been using for years, Alexander Supertramp, in favor of the name given
to him at birth by his parents. Krakauer, 1996:198
4.4 Plot
The storylineof the novelInto TheWildismixtureforward-backward. The storybeginswith the story ofChriswho metwithGallien, aunionelectricianinAlaska.
Then the storyback totime whenChrisgraduated from collegeatEmoryUniversity inAtlanta.
Thenthe story goesbacktoChrisin theadventuretoAlaskaandthenbackagainto thestory ofhis past,and
continuesuntileventuallythe story endswhenChrissaid to bediedinAlaskadue to starvation andpoisoned.
4.5 Factors that Influence the Leading Character’s Personality to Become an Idealist
The factorsthatcanaffectpsychologicalconflicts ofphysic including
physical,social and cultural environment, andself-factorthemselves. In general, there aretwo major factors thatinfluence the development ofpersonality; it isinternal
36 factorsand external factors.Internal factoraffectingChrisbecamean idealistisself-
factor. Whiletheexternal factorsinclude the environment, other people andsociety.
a Internal Factor
Internal conflicts are conflicts that occur in the heart, the soul of the characters. So, it is the conflict experienced by humans with themselves. For
example, it happens due to a conflict between two desires, beliefs, different options, expectations or other problems. Nurgiyantoro, 2007: 124
Internal factors that make Chris became an idealist is come from the books he read. Chris really loves to read. His thinking always influenced by quotations from
great figures such, Thoreau, Emerson, Jack London and Tolstoy homage to romantic with high moral standards. This was reflected in theInto The Wildnovel, where
Chris often use the phrase he quoted from these figures.
Dark spruce forest frowned on either side the frozen waterway. The trees had been stripped by a recent wind
of their white covering of frost, and they seemed to lean toward each other, black and ominous, in the fading light.
A vast silence reigned over the land. The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold
that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible
than any sadness-- a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and par-
taking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the
futility of life and the effort of life.It was the wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild- Jack London
Krakauer, 1996:9
The quotation aboveshowsthat Chris really enjoys reading books, and hold many quotations from some figures that have nearly the same point of view of this
37 world, another quotation that influence the mind of Chris to become an idealist also
reflected in “Into The Wild” page 15:
I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice
myself for my love. I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quite life- Leo
Tolstoy Krakauer, 1996:15
Chris does not want a flat life, he want to show his existence to the world, he wants something exciting always happened to his life, he feel that in his former life
he does not get any chance to fulfilled his redundant energy.
Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth, I sat a table where were rich food and wine in abundance,
an obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board.
The hospitality was as cold as the ices- Henry David Thoreau Krakauer, 1996:117
From thequotationsaboveappears thatChrisassumesthat happinessitselfcould be createdwithout havingmaterial.Andhappiness isnotdetermined bythe
relationshipbetween humans, as ifhewants todenythe factthat human beingsaresocial creatureswho their lives dependon others.
b External Factors
External conflict is a conflict between a character with something outside themselves, perhaps with the environment or with other people. Chris idealistic
personality is influenced by the lies were made by society which finally affects the inner and mindset of Chris. Where the first lies he saw coming from his family.
38 Harmonious family that looks outside turned out to save lies therein. He
found out that his father had not divorce his first wife when he and his sister, Carine was born. Chris and Carine also proved to have six half-brother who lives in
California from his fathers first marriage.
In truth McCandless had been raised in the comfortable upper-middle class environs of Annandale, Virginia. His
father, Walt, is an eminent aerospace engineer who designed advanced radar systems for the space shutle and
other high profile projects while in the employ of NASA and Hughes Aircraft in the 1960s and 70s. In 1978, Walt
went into business for humself, launching a small but eventually prosperous consulting firm, User Systems,
Incorporated. His partner in the venture was Chriss mother, Billlie. There was eight children in the extended
family: a younger sister, Carine, with whom Chris was extremely close, and six half brothers and sisters from
Walts first marriage. Krakauer, 1996:19-20
Families who have beenlied to himis what becomeone of the factorsthatChrishas theidealisticpersonality. He becomesnolonger trust inanything.As
inhis words, he quotesfromThoreau. Ratherthanlove, thanmoney, thanfaith, thanfame, thanfairness, .......give metruth. Krakauer, 1996:117
4.6 Findings
