Can people who were a part of society be healed by the power of nature? Ella Park investigates the challenges that humans, who are social an animal may face while they are in nature through the book ‘Into the Wild’ and the film “Wild”.
In the book ‘Into the Wild’ and the movie ‘Wild’, there is a contrast between nature and humanity. Nature is wild, harsh, and isolated, while humanity is more intimately connected to society’s expectations and communications. I think that it is impossible for humans, who are a part of society, to live in nature by being deliberately isolated from society. Due to the chance that they do not know survival skills or the materials from nature, and also are used to using technological materials, they are not likely to maintain their life in nature.
Christopher McCandless, a main character of the book ‘Into the Wild’, dreams of living in nature. He went to Alaska, but he is a tragic figure found four months later as dead.
Due to her mother’s death, Cheryl Strade, the main character of the film ‘Wild’, has destroyed herself since childhood. However, she later decided to walk through an extreme space PCT to resolve her past sorrows and to heal her wounds.
Both texts show the way that people fed up with society go into the wild and resolve their troubles. However, are the challenges of the journey worth it?
With these texts, I am going to explore how humanity and society such as social expectations affect people, how the wildness of nature provides challenges to them, and how isolation from society heal people.
Nature is described as the place for people who are on “the edge” of society by social assumption. Although Chris graduated from a prestigious university and grew up with a wealthy family and high “expectations”, Chris decided to go into nature for a life on the road. Even while Chris tried to get into nature due to his burden and skepticism about the state of society, the social parts affected Chris’s life. “Social Security Number” for keeping his trip represents Chris’s displeasure with the government that he considers too intrusive. Chris’s overconfidence also leads him to ignore the suggestions of others in the community, which leads to “getting hungry” sometimes. As the situation mentioned above, Chris was sick of society’s “stupid rules” and didn’t need any care of them. In the end, however, Chris belatedly realizes that “Happiness is only real when shared” and scratches that on the book and leaves it on the bus.
Hardships from society were not only given to Chris. Cheryl lived a life of despair like a past-bloom flower, ensnared by the shocks, pains, and negative emotions from society, especially past her family and her “mother’s death”. Her mother was her heaven and she lost her family as slick as nothing at all. That made her turn back to society and go of her humanity. Since social expectations and assumptions frequently threatened her while hiking, she always had to pay attention to protecting herself as a “woman”. In spite of that, she gradually realized that the people she met during her adventure were a positive reminder of her life.
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The protagonists of the texts, Chris and Cheryl, turned against society and got into nature to be far away from society’s expectations, pressures, and hardships. However, through the situation in which people met and experienced social factors that positively helped their recovery, we can learn that wounds from society can be healed through society and humanity.
Isolation in nature was not easy for Chris. Alaska is the place where Chris tries to “patch holes in [his] life”. Besides, his adventure, the “climbing the Devil’s thumb”, revealed his hope for fixing all that was wrong with his life. Nevertheless, nature intermittently gave him challenges which made his journey hard. The cold weather of Alaska and occasional fickle weather threatened Chris’ survival. In addition, he was naive that he was unprepared and rejected money and possessions to set on living an authentic natural life. His naïve behavior is presented by the “Rice” which symbolizes the lack of preparation for surviving the wilderness. However, as he is faced with the harsh wild that cares “nothing for hope” for his trip and unfortunately makes the wrong choice of eating poisoned seeds, his “ideal” ends with the result of his timely death.
Compared to Chris, she was perfectly prepared that she carried everything she needed to survive in nature in “her backpack”. “Backpack” is a representation of the burden, which is heavy and uncomfortable and always following her way to nature. On the other hand, it symbolizes not only a physical load and an emotional one, which helps Cheryl to be stronger and not to give up by the challenges of nature, but also her improved ability to do more than she thought she was capable of. Although the PCT is over 1,000 miles and there were some significant obstacles such as poor conditions of the Trail and no water left, her hike is a symbol of the hell that she must pass through to heal herself from the pain.
The challenges of nature faced by Chris and Cheryl were difficult to overcome, however, the results were different depending on readiness. We can find that healing in nature might be worth it if we challenge with a strong will and preparation.
L. Wolfe Gilbert once said, “Those who find beauty in all of nature will find themselves at one with the secrets of life itself.” Looking back on ourselves in nature away from the expectations and pressures of society can help us to realize what is sincerely important in our lives. Chris’s “real life” had begun with no longer being poisoned by civilization. As we investigate Chris’s journey, it is clearly shown that the power of nature gave him true happiness by providing “unlimited freedom”. When he started his “odyssey”, he felt in himself a superabundance of energy as a “Supertramp”. He had a clear purpose to know his standards of existence and happiness and wanted to face the true self, true life, and true direction outside the world. By his trip, Chris felt he was near to the wild heart of life as understood the true meaning of nature. In addition, the bus left in the wild embodies his dream of living a natural harmonious life far away from society.
Looking into “Wild”, while trekking the PCT, the problems of Cheryl “with the hole in her heart” had been recovered by the power of nature. At the beginning of her trip, she had wanted a “yearning for a way out” and hoped to back to the person “she used to be”. As Cheryl kept walking, she felt that she was becoming braver as a “free spirit”. Like Christopher McCandless, she thought that she was doing right for herself and became full of confidence in her goals. Cheryl realized things she couldn’t have known before getting into nature and one of those things was that the wildness had a “clarity” including her.
Investigating through both texts, they had found a motive to look back on themselves from nature and the wounds of their hearts had been healed by practicing it while they were isolated in nature. Thus, it gives us the message: “It isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.”
The adventures of ‘Into the Wild’ and ‘Wild’ teach us that a journey to nature is worth it. Can people fed up with society be healed by the power of nature? It is possible. People suffering from society are more eager to go into nature. Despite the trials and loneliness of nature, if you find own yourself with a strong will, you will find nothing more valuable. The power of nature is great and there is a chance to try it for anyone!
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