Into the Wild

Into the Wild Responses

1. Gallien mimics the reaction a concerned father might have as he repeatedly tries to dissuade McCandless from undertaking his "foolhardy" journey. In conjunction, the father in Father and Son by Cat Stevens also reasons that "it's not time to make a change." Both men attempt to reason with the young men, but to no avail. McCandless, in turn, takes on the role of a son. In both Into the Wild and Father and Son, the "son" feels an obligation to follow through with his plan to "go away." Gallien recounts that "there was just no talking the guy out of it," "he just had to go away." McCandless' youth as well as the sons' gives them the false sense of invincibility. Although "not their fault," the sons feed into the false notion that they "won't run into anything they can't deal with." The fathers having been "once like [they] are now," warn the sons of potential failure. They sons, however, "have an answer for everything," ignoring logic and feeding into the reckless spontaneity of the young. They "have to go" learn for themselves regardless of the outcome.

5. The revelation of McCandless' real name indicates his realization of reality. His alias, whose original purpose was to reject the parents who named him as well as their values, is useless as he understands that he can run but cannot hide from his past. This does suggest that he regrets his entire escapade because switching back to his given name may be his way of yearning for the past, before his journey began. Simultaneously it may act as his way of accepting his parents' faults, hoping to create some sort of rekindling as he chooses reality over what he has created. Much like Gatsby from The Great Gatsby, he had reinvented himself to create distance between him and his unwanted past.