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Into The Wild Chris Mccandless Literary Devices

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There is absolutely no single living human being in the entirety of the Milky Way galaxy who understands Chris McCandless’ final thoughts. However serendipitously, a song by Indio chosen by Eddie Vedder for the movie on McCandless’ own tumultuous end adequately elucidates these enigmatic ponderings. The lyrics and composition, along with the literary devices, of this piece would stand to further our understanding of the development Chris McCandless’ beliefs towards the end of his life. The commencement of “Hard Sun” is representative of Chris McCandless towards the end of his journey. McCandless was an idealistic man who viewed nature in an idealistic way. This is referenced by the lyrics “… I built and ivory tower so I could worship …show more content…

“When I go to cross that river she is comfort by my side,” is easily connected to the latter portion of “Into the Wild.” Near Chris’ death, he comes across a swollen, impassable Teklanika River. McCandless is understandably upset by the discovery that his only known point of egress was now a very likely icy death. He is known to have written in his journal about this event, “Disaster . . . Rained in. River look impossible. Lonely, scared.” Yet despite this incredibly distressing development in his life, Chris McCandless continued on his odyssey, comforted by his knowledge of the natural world and, in turn, comforted by Mother Nature. Further into the song another eerie parallel is struck. “Once I stood to lose her when I saw what I had done” brings to mind thoughts of Chris McCandless emaciated and alone. In the song Chris McCandless is singing about his relationship to the earth below. At this point in the song he stands to lose her, or Mother Nature. It seems impossible to imagine the terror that ran through Chris’ mind when he realized that he was withering away from the land that he had come to cherish above all things. After this final refrain, the song repeats its chorus several times, and then the song is over. These understandings are furthered by the use of literary elements throughout the …show more content…

Throughout the song there is a great transition. “Hard Sun” is begun with an acoustic guitar and no electric accompaniment, and, near a quarter-way through song, electric guitar accompaniment appears. This accompaniment takes on a sound with more feedback as the piece progresses. Where at first the sound seems smooth and frictionless, it progresses takes on a more distorted shape. The overall sound changes from a firm, flowing structure to a rough resolute form. The orchestra that was handling the riffs and solos is now replaced by an electric guitar with a muddled sound. The song itself seems to follow Chris’ life. Starting out pure and resolute, it transitions to something less stark and contrastive. It embodies the mindset that McCandless adopted at the end of his life, an outlook on life that was no longer naïve or innocent but understanding and experienced. Not unlike Chris McCandless, the song fades with strength and

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