Society, you're a crazy breed.

Society, you’re a crazy breed.

Most people have read and understood the meaning of Chris McCandless’s life in the book Into the Wild by John Krakauer. You could also relate it to the song “Society” by Eddie Vedder that came out in 2007. Eddie Vedder started off as one of the three main guitarists for Pearl Jam, soon later  Vedder made his first solo album  for the movie “Into the Wild”. You can tell that the main focus in the song was greed and how people in the world today are not satisfied with what they have. You could also infer that Eddie Vedder makes a strong connection with Chris mainly throughout this song and of the whole soundtrack for the movie based on this theory. Vedder does this by conveying what McCandless was thinking and feeling during his life in the movie by the small but powerful words he chose to use in the lyrics. Another way you can compare the song and McCandless is the melody of the song. “Society” by Vedder is a very deep and touching tone of melody that helps you look into the life of Chris McCandless.  

The song “Society” relates to the world today on the aspect of technology. When you read the lyrics Vedder states “And you think you have to want more than you need” it can be related to how people are greedy in today’s society. Whether it’s the new iPhone 6, a Playstation 4, or a brand new car, people want these things just because they are the latest thing out there. In the mind of a person today we have to be on top and have the newest piece of technology. This shows that we are being greedy instead of being satisfied with what we already have. Vedder says in the next line “Until you have it all, you won't be free”, this means to me that you won’t feel fully satisfied until you have earned everything you worked for.Although, as a person is today’s society, you should never be fully satisfied, because you should always want to be better. When Vedder says “free” in the song i think it means how people can’t escape the feeling of greed until its too late.

The song also relates to Chris McCandless because Chris is the exact opposite of being greedy. Chris is happy with what he has in life along with what he has accomplished on his own. All the money he earned he gave away because he said “money makes people cautious” which also shows you how humble he is. Another thing is when his parents try to buy him a new car after his graduation. His parents say that the car that he has is too old and they are scared that it might break down on him and leave him stranded. He says that the car he has is fine and that he doesn’t want a new car. A lot of young adults today would obviously take that deal because they want the newest thing they can get their hands on. This is a great example because this shows how satisfied Chris is with his life and his belongings.

There was an article written by a man named Chandler Broadbent that explained how the story of Chris McCandless touched his life and how it helped him see life in a different way. The story gets deeper and deeper as you read and a lot of people can’t transition and understanding the meaning the author is inferring, and that is a main problem when reading a story like this. When people hear about Chris’s story, they want to change their lives for the better instead of living in fear.

The Difference of Chris McCandless

The Difference of Chris McCandless

When you're reading Into the Wild you will notice that Chris McCandless was very different than most people in the way he lived his life and the little things he did. All his life he was told what to do by his strict and harsh parents and pressured by them to carry on through school. Even though Chris came off as being disobedient to his parents, like when he was saying the poem to his sister basically blaming them, he was really doing it for himself, like he was trying to find and give a meaning for what he was about to do. He told his parents that he was thinking about attending Harvard for law school but he just wanted to tell them that so that he could buy some time to get away on his own without giving it away. He knew what he wanted to do, which was live out on his beliefs and not compare his beliefs to anyone elses, especially his parents. In the book you can clearly tell that there is a sort of conflict between Chris and his parents, basically over freedom of beliefs. His parents want him to do something major with his life, like be a lawyer or something of higher standard, while Chris just wants to be, well, Chris.

                                                                                  

The main reason behind the question “Why are the majority of people not willing to live out their beliefs?” is because most people have a strong influence behind them, such as your parents beliefs and how strongly you feel about them, and that is normally where everyone starts. You have an influence on your own beliefs. Most people are scared to live out on their own beliefs because they feel as if they won’t get accepted by the society we live in today. The world needs more bold people like Chris who sacrifice so much just to live out on their own beliefs. In the book Chris abandons a lot of assets in his life such as money, family bonds, and technology just to live out his beliefs. He gives up his family because he doesn’t feel like they accept his beliefs and they want his so be similar to theirs. He gives up all his money because he says that is what makes people cautious in society, which means people live their life around money and they get too cautious because they don’t live the important times in their life. Finally, he gives up important types of technology. From phones and cars and directions, he goes to communicating with random people, walking almost everywhere he goes, and using a compass and reading out of books to show him the way. He does keep certain necessities, like his gun for killing game in the wild, along with his compass and a little hitchhiking for rides.

All of this would be difficult for people in the world today because, with all of the advancing technology and all of the family bonds, they are not willing to sacrifice the things they have. On a bigger aspect, a lot of people don’t choose to live their lives off of God’s word. He gives it to us for guidance and as a plan for what you need to do with you life, such as spreading his word and bringing people closer to him. A lot of people don’t think of life like that; they think more of themselves and what they want in their lives. Money, technology, and society’s influence on us all has corrupted us in more ways than you can imagine. Think like Chris for a minute. Could you go a month without watching TV or playing on your cellphone? Could you live off of the land without money to just find your own food? A lot of people in this world have to sacrifice what they have to reach out to others that aren't as fortunate as we are. Not many people today would just drop everything they’ve worked for like Chris did and go off of what they believe. Even if you don’t look at life like Chris did or without the word of God, everyone should know there is a way you are supposed to be living out your life. A lot of people in this world don’t believe in God and some don’t put him in the rotation of their everyday lives, even though He is the reason you are here, and you should still involve him instead of “forgetting” about it or being too scared to show your own beliefs. On another note, a lot of people don’t live out their beliefs because they live the same ordinary lives, calling it the “American Dream.” How do you picture your lives after you graduate from college? Do you see yourself living based on your own beliefs and where you’ve made mistakes and learned from them? Or not? A lot of people want the decision made for them or they just follow a role model, mainly because they don’t know if society will accept them or not.

 

 

When you're reading Into the Wild you will notice that Chris was very different than most people in the way he lived his life and the little things he did. All his life he was told what to do by his strict and harsh parents and pressured by them to carry on through school. Even though Chris came off as being disobedient to his parents he was really doing it for himself because he saw what the meaning of life meant to him instead of his parents. He felt as if he didn’t need to go to law school at Harvard for himself, but he knew that it would buy him some time to keep his parents distracted. He knew what he wanted to do which was living out on his beliefs and not comparing his to anyone elses, especially his parents. In the book you can clearly tell that there is a sort of conflict between Chris and his parents basically of freedom of beliefs. His parents want him to do something major with his life like being a lawyer or something of higher standard while Chris just wants to be well Chris.

                                                                                    

The main reason behind the question: “Why are the majority of people not willing to live out their beliefs” is because most people have a strong influence behind them. Such as your parents beliefs and how strongly you feel about them, and that is normally where everyone starts. You have an influence on your own beliefs. Most people are scared to live out on their own beliefs because they might feel as if they won’t get accepted by the society we live in today. The world needs more bold people like Chris that sacrifices so much just to live out on their own beliefs. In the book Chris abandons a lot of assets in his life such as money, family bonds, and technology just to live out his beliefs. He gives up his family because he doesn’t feel like they accept his beliefs and they want his so be similar to theirs. He gave up all his money because he said that was what made people cautious in society, which means people live their life around money and they get too cautious because they don’t live the important times in their life. Finally he gives up important types of technology. Going from phones and cars and directions he goes to communicating with random people, walking almost everywhere he goes, and using a compass and reading out of books to show him the way. He does keep certain necessities like his gun for killing game in the wild along with his compass and a little hitch hiking for rides.

    All of this would be difficult for people in the world today because with all of

the advancing technology and all of the family bonds they are not willing to sacrifice. Not many people today would just drop everything they’ve worked for like Chris did and start fresh because they would feel as if they were in too deep. People in this day and age are not as brave as Chris, and are too afraid to go against the majority and follow their beliefs. You have to do what you feel like you need to do in life to make you happy just like Chris did. I believe that this book is a great inspiration, and it would be an exceptional read for anyone.