How into the Wild Intersects

           I have not finished reading Into The Wild, but from the few chapters that I have read, I can get a general direction from which it can intersect with our issue of privilege. In the previous works that we have done, we have elaborated about how privilege can be seen directly and indirectly. It can be seen out in the open by people of power, by power I mean money and social standing. In this case Chris McCandless was  a very privileged young man, he was white to top it off. He was also able to live in a fairly close family along with the fact that he was able to graduate from high school and graduate from college. He had a great outlook on the future, but he chose not to go down the privileged path of having that future go into success. Rather, he took the privilege to go into the wild. For a person born into a less privileged family, the first one to college is a great accomplishment. Nobody would just simply throw all of that out of the window. They wasted away for several years and just simply giving it up is something a person of lesser privilege would do. To show how privileged Chis was, his father was "an eminent aerospace engineer who designed advanced radar systems for the space shuttle [ . . . ]" (18). His father held a steady job and also was involved in major projects in NASA which made him a pretty big deal at the time. Any kid would love to brag about their parents and show off what they do for a living. With that comes the inspiration to try to become more like them, even trying to surpass them to later have their kids do the same. Chris, being as privileged as he was, decided not to take that privilege and instead threw it away like a piece of garbage, that being another privilege available to him. Another privilege he had was that his boss offered him to pay for his college. As we all know, college is expensive, if you were given money on a silver platter to be able to pay for you tuition, would you not take it? Chris didn't, he threw that away to travel the world and live in the wild. As a privileged individual, it seems that he did not care what would happen in his later life, he had enough of it and wanted to explore the world. What privilege does is that it allows you to do things that you thought impossible. When given that power, or after finding out about it, it enables to do things that you thought was once unjustified. 
        
       It also intersects in the fact that he is not only privileged in the fact that he was living in the upper class, but by the fact that he was white. By being white, people would judge you less for what you have done. With so much social standing, one can do almost anything. If a poor man were to buy an expensive car that was well over five hundred thousand dollars and live in a house that was only worth half as much, people would look down on this. They would think to themselves that he only cares for accessories rather than what really matters in life. On the other hand, if a richer man were to buy the same car, they would not question it because he has the privilege to buy the car and still provide for his family. People of the upper class have the ability to pick and choose what they want in life. If they wanted to give away tens of billions of dollars for charity, it would not matter since they are so rich. Such as in the event of Bill Gates buying a million dollar horse for his daughter. Sure you can criticize him saying that he can do so much more with that money, but think about this, he donates BILLions of dollars each year to charity. What's the big deal if he blows off that money just his precious little daughter? He earned that money and so he has that privilege to do whatever he pleases with it. In McCandless' case, he has lived a privileged life. He has felt how privilege feels and can do whatever he pleases with that privilege. Gates' privilege was that he can do whatever he wants with his money, Chris is allowed to do whatever he wants with his own life. If he so chooses to make his life better in a way that people see, having a job and living in a nice home with a family, he can so choose so. But if he wants to make his life good in the sense where he has freedom and explore the world on his own accord, he can so choose to do so.

       Being a male also has its privileges. Males can do things that women cannot, such as taking off their shirts in public, making obscene noises in public (burping for instance), and even not having to be in the kitchen (sorry for the stereotype, I was out of ideas). Chris, being a male, had the ability that no other woman could have. That being that he could hitch hike, women cannot do this because, well because they're women. What does a dominant male do to a woman that cannot defend herself? The obvious answer is rape since men do not think with their upper head, you if you get where I'm going. With that said, males have the ability to justify their powers over women, we see this in our everyday lives. The head of the country has been male since the beginning of the United States. Forty-four presidents, not one of them being a female. Sure we have one African American, but he's male. And guess what, it's never the alpha"female" no it's always the alpha male. Yes even in the animal kingdom, males dominate, from gorillas to lions. We have some deviants such as hyenas, but that is one of the few. Even in Bread Givers by Anzia Yerzierska, Reb, the father, abuses his powers as the father. Even when they're in poverty he chooses to give away the majority of their money to charity. It would be much more sensical to save that money and support his own family in need. But because he is male, he can justify his actions as the "man of the Torah." He can use that privilege to use his families life support for some other reason that would make no sense to us nowadays. For Chris, he is able to make these decisions because he is a male, and because he male, he does not have to fear the options of getting raped, sure it's possible but not likely. 

          Another way how it ties into the topics that we have discussed is how it relates to a person's passion. Passion can be defined in a number of ways, a dream, a goal, or even an accomplishment. As we strive to catch our passions, others are faster than others, we continue to strive on and do our best. My passion in swimming has always pushed me forward to strive for a better time, these times allow me to feel better about myself as a person, it tells me that I have not yet reached my peak, I still have room for growth. In Into The Wild Chris' passion was to get away from society and live his life in the wild. Though this passion would seem unruly and very much "stupid" in many aspects, but it still is a passion that drives Chris forward. As he says "It is true that I miss intelligent companionship, but there are so few with whom I can share the things that mean so much to me that I have learned to contain myself. It is enough that I am surrounded with beauty...” (109). People take everything around them for granted, the beautiful scenes around you and the way nature is all there for you, no one ever bothers to take notice and marvel at how amazing the world is. Instead, they take it all for granted and live their lives in an endless loop never making it more interesting by adding more new experiences. Chris left his way of live because of the lack of difference that everyone had, they were all the same in the aspect that they all had expectations. Expectations are always met through the same daily routine of going to school, getting a job, getting paid, and living in society like everyone else. Because of this lack of difference he came up with the idea that "The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure." (70) If no one is willing to make a difference, what point is there in life? With change comes a new age, a revolutionary cause. For example, we can use the founding fathers as an example. England held the United States for quite a time period, the colonies were treated poorly and had barely any say in the government. If not for these select individuals, we would still be living the same way we did a couple centuries ago. The reason we are not is because they dared face a new journey, they we passionate in the fact that they could indeed change the course of the world and hopefully make lives if even a little bit better for those around them. They succeeded, but now look where we are, trapped in the society that the found fathers attempted to make better. The lack of new experiences has led man down the wrong path, the path that makes our lives an everlasting loop. We lack the aspiration that the past generations had to make lives better because our lives are already too easy. As passionate Chris was, he was the most radical out of all the people in the world. A man that stoop against society and dared to live out the opposite of everyone's expectations. His passion has led many others to follow their own passion because it brought him joy and it too can bring them joy.