1. helenl 1
Helen Heidel
Mr. Dickinson
Junior English
12/15/09
Experiences and Dreams: An adventure into reality
I don’t know a lot about the world, but in reality, who does? We can read about
the experiences of others, and try to envision ourselves as them. But we can’t see what
they see, taste what they taste, touch what they touch, smell what they smell, or feel what
they feel. The mind holds bewildering dreams. We are the earth, and our dream is the
sun; it warms our skin, it shines through our dusty windows, it lets us see beauty that
gleams in its golden rays. But unfortunately, many of us don’t have the courage to step
outside the dark house with the dusty windows, and live the dream we only see in our
surreal minds. Some of us let the dream fade into a small flickering light in the back of
our minds. Humans are so conformed in a fast-paced society that they forget to dream, to
experience, and to feel free. Into the Wild reminds us to grasp hold of our dreams,
remember the experiences that transformed us into the person we have become, and know
that we can change.
Chris McCandless had the courage to live what he saw so vividly in his fantasies.
He had a chance to see the world through his own eyes, to be able to experience it
firsthand. With the courage only one can muster by themselves, Chris McCandless freed
himself from the demands of society. I have not liberated myself the way Chris has; I am
too sheltered in my own vision of reality to unravel the mystery behind who we really
are. Yet my experiences are mine only, and that thought frees me from the rest of this

2. terrifying world. Nobody else will be able to feel horseback riding through the mountains
in Mongolia the way I felt it: with the cool wind whipping through my hair, the sound of
the rhythmic trot of the horses’ hooves, and the lush green never ending plains,
everywhere I looked. I have kept that experience with me forever, because at that
moment I felt free. At that moment, I saw before my eyes a life so different from the
demands of our society.
Though there may be moments in life when we’re far away from civilization
where we feel free and life back at home seems so artificial, it is our experiences
altogether that sculpture who we are. If Chris McCandless was unaware of his parents’
scandalous past, and if he didn’t experience the effects of their shattered marriage, would
he have risked his life to go into the wild? We begin a blank canvas, and our background
paints the picture. Without past experiences, a person cannot get to where they are. Yet,
they can choose to change themselves, and make a new person from who they once were.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the
sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new
power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.” Chris
McCandless was looking to make new experiences for himself that would make the dark
memories of his past fade. He didn’t want to be trapped in a history filled with betrayal
and anger; he wanted to see how the world could essentially free him, and change him.
We are so hesitant about the thought of becoming a new person, because that would mean
that who we are now isn’t as great as who we could be: we could be different, and
humans are afraid of what is different. But Emerson believes we can change and be
different, and when we do, we can make peace with ourselves. The greatest gift humans

3. have is the ability to change; the ability to use our powerful minds to craft a new
hierarchy of personal beliefs. When Chris has experienced the wild, he transformed from
a man tiresome with the artificialness of society to a man who began to appreciate the
company of other humans. Before death, Chris wrote was “Happiness only real when
shared,”(189). This proves that at any point in our lives, no matter the circumstance or
location, we can change our moral beliefs.
Dreams exist in every person. Some, like McCandless, follow their dreams
without fear and risk it all. As Chris wrote, “No longer to be poisoned by civilization he
flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild,” (163). Leaving a
conformed civilization behind, it was just Chris and his dream. The amount of courage it
took Chris to leave all he knew and step upon the unknown territory is astounding. The
belief he had in himself is a power as great as the power of money. He made sense of his
life because he didn’t let the flickering dream die out. Emerson said “Trust thyself: every
heart vibrated to that iron string. Accept the place divine providence has found for you,
the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.” Chris did exactly this. He
trusted in that dream; the dream that lead him to the astounding white Alaskan outdoors
and a dream that left him to die, “at peace, serene as a monk gone to God,” (199). Chris
never let the artificial society around him stop his greatest fantasies. He freed himself, he
lived. Perhaps we too have to free ourselves from the world that ties us down. Perhaps we
should step upon unknown territory, and let down our guards to accept something
different. Perhaps then, we can let our minds go wild and live in our dream.
Into the Wild tells us to let ourselves be free. It tells us a story of a man who found
out the meaning to his life by challenging himself and society, and following his dreams.

4. It urges us to be unafraid of differences. Differences are just a mere adjustment we have
to tackle; we must accept the unusualness of the world. Reality doesn’t seem as real when
we don’t follow our true beliefs. If we are too afraid to be an individual, truly believe in
our own thoughts, then we person have yet to discover the wonders life brings along. We
have yet to discover the fruitfulness behind this life, and how great it actually is. Reality
will be, in fact, unreal. It will be another thought shaped by other people, it will not be
our liberating desires, like Chris’ great Alaskan Odyssey. It will be somebody else’s
adventure, and somewhere along the way, we must free ourselves to experience our own
adventure, and paint our own picture.