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then, despite his initial prickliness, the young man warmed to the old-timer, and the two enganged in a long
conversation. Krakauer, 1996:51
You are wrong if you think Joy emanates only or principally from human relationships. God has placed it
all around us. It is in everything we might experience. We just have to have the courager to turn against our
habitual lifestyle and engange in unconventional living. My point is that you do not need me or anyone else
around to bring this new kind of light in your life. It is simply waiting out there for you to grasp it, and all you
have to do is reach for it. The only person you are fighting is yourself and your stubborness to engage in
new circumstances. Krakauer, 1996:57-58
From the quotations above we can conclude that his idea and morality are so strong, he refuse all the thing that are opposite from what he believes, he lives his life
by his own rule, he answers all the question from people around confidently as his belief is all right and nothing to change, allthough many seems wrong and selfish
from the side of society.
4.3 Conflict
Meredith Ftizgerald in Nurgiyantoro, 2007:122, states that conflictissomething that isnot pleasantincurred orsuffered bythe charactersthatif
thecharacteritselfhas the freedomto choose, he wouldn’tchoosethe eventshappened to him.
Form ofconflictcan be dividedinto twocategories, that is: a
physicalconflictsandinner conflicts, b external conflictandinternalconflict. AccordingWalgito2004:
51-52, theconvergencetheorystatesthat the
environmenthas an important roleinpersonality development. In broad
outline,environmentdistinguished as follows.
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a Physical Conflict
Physical conflictinvolvingphysical activity, there is an
interactionbetweenthecharacterswith somethingoutsidehimselfanother character orenvironment. Thisnoveltells the story ofChristopherMcCandless, a smart young
manwhocomes from a capable family, buthechose to leavehis lifeandlivewith naturewithoutpossessionsanddime.it is shown in “Into The Wild” page 1:
Immediately after graduating, with honors, from Emory University in the summer of 1990, McCandless dropped
out of sight. He changed his name, gave the entire balance of a twenty-four-thousand-dollar savings account
to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet. And then he invented a
new life for himself, taking up residence at the ragged margin of oursociety, wandering across North America in
search of raw, transcendent experience. Krakauer, 1996:1
This is donebecause he thinksthe peopleliving a lie. His familyishonorable. His father is anantennaspecialistwhoworksforNASAandhis mother is
averysuccessfulconsultant. His parentsare known asa successful partneras well as theidealfigurefor thesocial environment.But forChris, his parentsjust afigure
ofmiddle-class peoplewhoare full ofhypocrisy.
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 shuttle
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 himself, launching a small but eventually prosperous consulting firm, User
Systems, Incorporated. His partner in the venture was Chriss mother. Bill-lie. Krakauer, 1996:19
33 In fact, his fatheroftencommitsviolence againsther mother. Chrisalso
knowshis fatherevidentlynot yetdivorcedfromhis first wife. WhenChrisandCarinehis sister,was born.
There were 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, 1996:20
Chrisconsidersboth parentshadlied to him, and this situationmotivatedChristo leavehis lifeandgoadventure.
b Inner Conflicts
Inner conflictis something that happensinwardof a character. This conflictis based on theevents experiencedby themain characterthat causesthe main
characterhasthoughts in his mindwhichraises conflictwithin him.
He had just finished reading Doctor Zhivago, a book that incited him to scribble excited notes in the margins and
underline several passages:
NATUREPURITY, he printed in bold characters at the top of the page.
McCandless starred and bracketed the paragraph and circled refuged and nature in black ink.
Next to And so it turned out that only a life similar to the life of those around us, merging with it without a
ripple, is genuine this was most vexing of all, he noted, HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED.
It is tempting to regard this latter notation as further evidence that McCandless long, lonely sabbatical had
changed him in significant way. It can be interpreted to mean that he was ready, perhaps, to shed a little of the
armor he wore around his heart, that upon returning to civilization, he intended to abandon the life of a solitary
vagabond, stop running so hard from intimacy, and
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become a member of the human community. But we will never know, because Doctor Zhivago was the last book
Chris McCandless would ever read.Krakauer, 1996:188- 189
The quotationabovetellsthe incident whenChrisfinished reading the book ofDoctorZhivago. From the bookthat he read, Chrisbegins to realizethat lifewill
behappierwhensharedrather than to livealone. Hebegins to realizethat he was wrong in choosing to run away fromhis former lifeandchooseto live by himself.
Heeventuallytorturedwithhis currentlife.
Two days after he finished the book, on July 30, there is anonimous entry in the journal: EXTREMELY WEAK,
FAULT OF POT SEED, MUCH TROUBLE JUST TO STAND UP. STARVING. GREAT JEOPARDY.
Before this note there is nothing in the journal to suggest that McCandless was in dire circumstances. He was
hungry, and his meager diet had pared his body down to a feral scrawn of gristle and bone, but he seemed to be in
reasonably good health. Then, after July 30, his physical condition suddenly went to hell. By August 19, he was
dead. Krakauer , 1996:189 There has been a lot of conjecture about what caused
such a precipitous decline. In the days following the identification of McCandless remains, Wayne
Westerberg vaguely recalled that Chris might have purchased some seeds in South Dakota before heading
north, including perhaps some potato seeds, with which he intended to plant a vegetable garden after getting
established in the bush. According to the one theory, McCandless never got around to planting the garden I
saw no evidence of a garden in the vicinity of the bus and by late July had grown hungry enough to eat the
seeds, which poisoned him. Krakauer ,1996:189-190
Finally, he realizesthathe is doingwrong, then he regrets it, but heis too late. Hedied ofstarvationandpoisoning.
His idealisticpersonalitybrought him intodestruction.
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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
