Examples Of Heroism In Into The Wild

The Construal of Heroism in Into the Wild
The 2007 Film Into the Wild tells the story of Chris McCandless, an unsatisfied college graduate who leaves his family and promising future behind to live a life of isolation in the Alaskan wilderness. While John Krakauer’s essay “Death of an Innocent” portrays Chris is an extremely heroic light by likening him to “a monk gone to God,” Into the Wild leaves much more room for debate by presenting Chris as selfish and detached. Chris, however, is not the only character whose actions can be interpreted as heroic or not. The peripheral female characters also act in ways that put themselves at risk. While the female characters take personal risks to fulfill their need for relationships, Chris takes selfishly motivated physical chances, ultimately disregarding all human relationships; this binary begs the question then of which is more heroic—truly caring about people and empathizing? Or being independent and avoiding emotional engagement?
As Lindsay E. Rankin and Alice H.
He is writing a check to the Oxfam charity along with a note that says, “The are all my savings. Feed someone with it.” The criminal vibe fades. It could be said that donating his money was a risk benefitting others – a trait of a hero. But then, after briefly glancing at a picture of his parents, Chris tosses it into the trash, complicating his persona even more. This act is symbolic of Chris severing ties with his parents and leaving for his journey without notifying them. Casually discarding their photo is not a great way for Chris to show gratitude to the people who paid for his college tuition and offered to buy him a new car and pay for grad school. Sure, his parents had their domestic disputes that traumatized Chris as we find out later in the film, but it hardly warranted an ice cold shunning from their son. Chris now seems like an ungrateful