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Betrayal In Into The Wild

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The film Into the Wild is a true story about a young man named Chris Mccandless, who is an Emory graduate eventually found dead in the Alaskan wilderness in September 1992, at the age of 24. Chris grew up in a wealthy Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. and was an expectational student, who from an early age expressed his love and passion for nature. After graduating high school he took the summer traveling the country alone, which he discovers his father secretly had another family during his childhood that no one knew about. Chris later arrives home and starts his first year at Emory, still disturbed and angry at his parents keeping this huge burden from him. By the time Chris is a senior at Emory, he still feels the same betrayal he felt…show more content…
This, thusly, adds to his aversion against society for the most part, which is obviously a driving component in his choosing to go into the wild. He claims that his parents are to materialistic and are focused on the acceptance of others, which drives him to leave and find himself. One is left to think about whether, had McCandless figured out how to forgive his parents for their imperfections, he would not have wanted to go to such extraordinary lengths in his mission for answers. Throughout the film Chris meets people who have had a great influence on his journey. Every person he met had done something kind for him but because he is unable to form close relationships with anyone, he would end up leaving them. He encounters a hippie couple, Rainey and Jan Burres, they find him hitchhiking and let him ride with them. When Jan sees him she says, “You look like a loved kid.” He is loved but is too blind to realize that at the moment. Rainey talks to Chris about how his relationship is failing and explains how the love has changed. While he spent time with them he helped them rekindle their love. The couple admired his willingness and supported him following his dreams and continuing his goal of going to…show more content…
Franz let him know that "When you forgive, you love and when you love, you forgive." (Into the Wild) Since he spent his life being upset with his parents, he never forgave them, so he couldn 't love them. Going to Alaska was his way of running away from his problems and trying to put them in the back of his mind. Doing so would only hinder any other close relationship he encounters because of his lack of trust. The majority of his perspectives on life and society originated from the hatred that he felt towards his parents; he opposed all that they wanted for him. In the event that Chris would have forgiven them, he likely would 've came back home. At the end of the film, when he is dying slowly, Chris realizes that “Happiness is only real when shared.” (Into the Wild). This is the most important quote of the movie because his entire journey was to find his happiness and discover himself. Looking back from the beginning of the trip when he meets many interesting strangers who helped him to friends he made along the way. They all showed him what happiness and love should look like. He spent much of his younger life seeking for joy and truth within himself when instead he discovered that his knowledge should be shared in order to find genuine
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