Wednesday, February 10, 2016
"Into The Wild" Reading
I feel that the need McCandless had for adventure in the wilderness was a way to escape from society. Not everyone wants to raise a family and go to work everyday to your death. Through the U.S., McCandless is praised for being "brave" and "noble" for living in the wilderness. However, to me it looks like he is being praised for doing this because he is a white male. In the U.S. , if a person of color would of abandoned everything he had and live in the wilderness, society would have viewed this person as mentally ill. We are so used to white males dominating every aspect of society that when a person of color strives it is very "weird" and "unnatural".
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Wendy, I'm glad that you brought up the issues of race & gender. These issues are always important to consider. Yet, to be honest, I've never analyzed Into the Wild with this lens, so I'm especially interested in reading more of your ideas about the book.
ReplyDeleteIn college, I read Robyn Davidson's memoir Tracks, which Wikipedia calls the story of her "1,700-mile trek across the deserts of west Australia using camels." Cheryl Strayed's experiences, which were depicted in the film Wild, also come to mind, but I haven't read her book. Those are the only stories I can think of that feature a woman venturing to the wilderness as McCandless did. Significantly, perhaps, both Strayed & Davidson are white women; I know of no similar story involving a person of color.
It's been years since I read Davidson's book, but I do recall that a lot of people saw her as foolish and "crazy." I am going to consider how McCandless's race & gender affects our reading of his story more carefully as I re-read Into the Wild.
Mr. Weller, I am tired of reading stories of white males and the lack of diversity there is in these books that we are forced to read. I believe that discussing these issues will give us a better understanding.
DeleteI should add that, at least as far as I know, Australia's experience of race & colonialism is similar to ours in the U.S. Both countries were colonized by the British; in both countries, English-speaking settlers displaced and oppressed indigenous peoples.
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