into the wild: a critical analysis

INTO THE WILD:A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Presented By Keith Chrisman

INTO THE WILD

1968-1992 1996 2007

Chris McCandless’ Story

Movie Trailer

CRITICAL APPROACH

Marxist

Psychoanalytic

1: My Own Birth2: Adolescence3: Manhood4: Family5: Getting of Wisdom

PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

Displacement

Attribution Theory

Fear of Intimacy

MARXIST

Rejecting Classism

Rejecting Consumerism

Sign Exchange Value

Commodification

MARXIST

Classism

Oedipal Conflict

PSYCHOANALYTIC

Displacement

Avoidance

Fear of Water

CHRIS MCCANDLESSPSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

Denial

Avoidance

Displacement

Projection

“Our adult personality is the result of the emotional experiences we had

growing up.”(Tyson, 25)

Defense Mechanisms:

CHRIS MCCANDLESSPSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

“Our adult personality is the result of the emotional experiences we had

growing up.”(Tyson, 25)

Core Issues:

Low Self-Esteem

Insecure or Unstable Sense of Self

Fear of Intimacy

CHRIS MCCANDLESSPSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

Running From vs. Running Towards

Suicidal Retreat?

Actions are Products of Personal Problems?

What about Inspiration?

EXISTENTIAL ANALYSISROLLO MAY’S 6 EXISTENTIAL BASES

1. Every existing person is centered in themselves, and an attack on this center is an attack on his/her existence itself

2. Every existing person has the character of self-affirmation, the need to preserve its centeredness

3. All existing persons have the need and possibility of going out from their centeredness to participate in other beings

4. The subjective side of centeredness is awareness

5. The uniquely human form of awareness is self-consciousness

6. Anxiety

CHRIS MCCANDLESS & AMERICAN LITERATURE

“A cultivated man becomes ashamed of his property out of new respect for his nature.” -Self Reliance

The self cannot “get” because the material and historical world of property and circumstance cannot “touch” the self; they only leave him as they find him. -Experience

Ralph Waldo Emerson on Materialism:

Slide Onehttp://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1183768/photo_10_hires.jpg

Slide Twohttp://www.thequietman.org/imagenes/Chris%20mccandless%20final.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2e/Into_the_Wild.pnghttp://blog.afi.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/into_the_wild_movie_poster.jpg

Slides Three, Four, and Fivehttp://www.variety.com/rbidata/photogallery/variety/3997.jpg

Slide Ninehttp://www.science.uva.nl/~seop/archives/spr2004/entries/emerson/Emerson-lg.jpg

Slide Ten(Template Photo) (Keynote ’08)

IMAGES

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Nature." 1849. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter et al. Vol. B. Houghton Mifflin Company, Heath, 2006. 1582-1609.

Grossman, Lev. “Nature Boys.” Time 24 Sep. 2007: 85-87. Academic Search Complete. EBSCOhost. Elmhurst College Library, IL. 21 January 2009 <http://search.epnet.com/26608297>.

May, Rollo. Existential Psychology. New York: Random House, 1961.

Tyson, Lois. Learning for a Diverse World: Using Critical Theory to Read and Write about Literature. New York: Routledge, 2001.

Stack, George. Neitzsche and Emerson: An Elective Affinity. Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1992.

Wolfe, Cary. “Alone with America: Cavell, Emerson, and the Politics of Individualism.” New Literary History, 1st Edition. 1994. Literature Resource Center. Elmhurst College Library, IL. 21 January 2009.

WORKS CITED