I just began reading "Into the Wild" by Krakuer. So far, I must say, it seems as though "Alex" was just a naive kid with bipolar disorder who just didn't seem to understand his limits. Of course, I am only three chapters into the book.
Gotta go pick up the wife's pictures at Walmart.
HH =)
UPDATE:
I finished the book. I am still convinced that Chris/Alex was having emotional problems (given his past). However, it seems that he may have confused a wild "potato" for a "wild pea." The pea may have poisoned him. If so, he died in true agony.
I was amazed at how much the tale made me think of Shane. A wayfaring man, stubborn, vulnerable, and smart. Was he deluded with his own abilities to luckily make it through new environments? Was he just the victim of poor luck? He knew that he had killed a moose when the "experts" had, retroactively, decreed it an elk. What else was he "right" about that the others were in error? Was he weak to refrain from establishing any intimate relationships? Or, was he preparing his freinds for a well-thought-out end?
Either way, I can't see how he rationalized his families torments. His parents were unhinged with fear as he faded from their lives. Even the most detached child should understand a parents fear.
It seems an abilivance has swept over me regarding this book. My simple mind attempts to put it into black-and-white. It is not that simple. As Richard Dawkins wrote I am being "overly-reductionistic." Right and wrong are much more complex than I was raised to believe they are. My father and mothers voices scream loudly for a verdict. I find that there is none to give. What was... was. Who the hell am I to judge anyone without having a knowlege of the particulars of thier life?
My head doesn't hurt. Nice to be healing.
HH
3 comments:
I read that book when it came out, several years before I knew Shane. Now that you make it, I can see the comparison.
Happy holidays to you and yours, and happy new year! Thanks for outing me on my blog and bringing me back to the 'sphere. Sometimes I just get stuck, I guess. You unstuck me.
By the way, you had left a comment on my blog once about my pictures, and I can't seem to find it, but I really really really appreciated it. I wanted to read it again. It was right up there with the nicest things anyone has said about any of my creative work. I have started posting the pics on flickr:
www.flickr.com/photos/sometimeslisa
I miss Utah at xmas, although NYC is pretty cool this time of year, I'll admit... :)
That there is no verdict to give is something I conclude more often as I've aged. Still, I seem to crave a verdict at times.
I, like a lot of people, can relate to him. But there are differences, too. And I don't think he "rationalized his family's torments". I don't think he saw a reason to rationalize. At least that's what I got from the film. It may come across differently in the book.
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