Into the wild

Ultimately, the fact remains that McCandless survived totally alone for sixteen weeks in the bush with ten pounds of rice, a knife, a .22 caliber rifle, and a few other odds and ends. As often happens, he succumbed to an accumulation of errors, each of which would have been minor without the others. Better prepared people have met the same fate in less time.
 
I'm loving the Eddie Vedder soundtrack to this flick, though. Awesome, from the heart. His best music ever. :thumbup:
 
x39 said:
Ultimately, the fact remains that McCandless survived totally alone for sixteen weeks in the bush with ten pounds of rice, a knife, a .22 caliber rifle, and a few other odds and ends. As often happens, he succumbed to an accumulation of errors, each of which would have been minor without the others. Better prepared people have met the same fate in less time.
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No, he didn't survive. He died slowly of starvation. He wasn't stranded or lost.

Not much different than those unbalanced folks who meet their end after climbing into polar bear cages at the zoo.
 
I watched the movie this weekend, not great but I enjoyed it. I pretty much agree with cando and midnight penguin on the rest of it.:thumbup:
 
No, he didn't survive. He died slowly of starvation. He wasn't stranded or lost.
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That's what I got out of the book too (haven't seen the movie)
IMO he simply committed suicide - it's just too bad that the goodwill of others was involved.
 
I enjoyed the movie, Its not supposed to be Les Stroud or Ray Mears showing how to live in the wilderness, it was about a free spirit who found himself in the wild. Most of the movie was not about survival, he does not demonstrate many survival skills- he wouldn't be living in a bus if it were a survival movie.
 
dd61999 said:
Sorry to bring this topic back up.

But I just saw the movie last night. It was ok but not great.

What really bothered me is at the end, he died from eating the wrong plant where in a real life he died from starvation.

I think that the ending would have had a bigger impact by making the viewer realize mother nature can kill you with simplicity that you think would be unrealistic.

Maybe its just me.
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he died from starvation most likely as the result of eating a poisonous plant or a plant that was poisonous at the time he ate it (seasonally speaking).

the movie was pretty faithful to the book as far as that is concerned.
 
I've not seen the movie only read Krakauer's original Outside piece, but the real tragedy to me was by the time that he had decided to leave the wilderness, realising he couldn't make it with what he had, he was unable to cross the river because he'd left it too late.

Another little twist was that there was a cabin with plenty of supplies not far from where he was, that was marked on maps.... but he hadn't brought any maps with him.

The guy was a disaster waiting to happen. As everyone here knows, you can't just walk into the wilderness and hope for the best, unless you've had some serious training.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
he died from starvation most likely as the result of eating a poisonous plant or a plant that was poisonous at the time he ate it (seasonally speaking).

the movie was pretty faithful to the book as far as that is concerned.
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The poisonous plant story was fabricated by the movie and the book.
 
Brian Jones said:
I'm loving the Eddie Vedder soundtrack to this flick, though. Awesome, from the heart. His best music ever. :thumbup:
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I agree, the soundtrack is amazing. It is really some of Eddie Vedders best work. Every song is good, unlike some cds that only one or two songs are good.:thumbup:
 
" honestly think he planned to die, or at least didn't really care enough to spend a lot of time studying or buying proper supplies"

Yep- this was a prolonged suicide. Imagine his parents....
 
McCandless' final self-portrait, with his good-bye note in hand. It reads, "I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!"

Note how gaunt he is:

mccandlessfinal001.jpg
 
Rat Finkenstein said:
No, he didn't survive. He died slowly of starvation. He wasn't stranded or lost.
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Point taken. Perhaps his misadventure has to be examined in two phases. The first phase, basically a minimalist camping trip concluded when he decided to hike out of the bush in early July and was unable to cross a swollen river. At that point, he was still quite healthy, so it could be argued that phase one had the potential to be successful. Phase two began the moment he had to turn back to the bus/campsite. At that point it became a survival situation, and he was indeed stranded, first by lack of knowledge of the area, and then by declining health. The survival phase was obviously a disaster.
 
I just saw the movieon DVD. It reminded me of the 70's when it was the fad to take a year off college or after you graduated to go to Kalifornia and be a hippie. You assumed a new identity and swore off the establishment before you went back and had daddy pay for your graduate school MBA. It seemed that the "rich kids" did this while the rest of us had to work or wait to get drafted. It was a road trip movie, not a survival movie. He was quite devious, never telling the truth about himself and concealing his real identity. I am not a psych, but he had some deep seated issues. He would still be alive if he had some "mentor" up in Alaska to get him started. If you remember all the hippie colonies where it was warm. Easier to survive.
 
In Krakauer's Revised Version, he died due to mold that was growing on wild potato seeds and this mold blocks absorption of food thus causing starvation
 
mjdukefan23 said:
In Krakauer's Revised Version, he died due to mold that was growing on wild potato seeds and this mold blocks absorption of food thus causing starvation
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which is still speculation/fabrication

I think the author refused to believe that he died from simple starvation
 
dd61999 said:
which is still speculation/fabrication

I think the author refused to believe that he died from simple starvation
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isnt this also speculation? or do you have information not available to the rest of us?

fabrication is intentionally creating a false story.

speculation is hypothesizing an unknown based on known information.

they are not the same.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
isnt this also speculation? or do you have information not available to the rest of us?

fabrication is intentionally creating a false story.

speculation is hypothesizing an unknown based on known information.

they are not the same.
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do a search online on his death and judge for yourself
 
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