Jim Slogar Eng 106 10/17/2011
Wild Men
What is death? Death is all around us. We see it everywhere on TV, in newspapers, on the internet; innocent people struck down in the prime of life. We hear about it so often that we have become desensitized to the true worth of life. Our society has become so caught up with the material aspects of life, the money, the cars, the big houses, that we forget about what it means to find inner happiness and what it means to live a fulfilled life. If the TVs and newspapers can teach us anything, it should be that life is short, and during our time on this earth it’s vital that we do everything in our power to really look within ourselves and find exactly what it is that gives us that inner happiness. The movies Into the Wild and Grizzly Man are stories of two men that did exactly that. The first is a tale of a young man’s epic journey to find himself, while the latter is about a middle aged gentleman who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, searching for an escape. Both men were about to find their outlet through the outdoors. These stories of Christopher McCandless and Timothy Treadwell can be defined as nothing short of inspirational. As they journeyed to the Alaskan wilderness, both men risked life and limb for a purpose deeper than life itself. Some people who read their stories may be in awe as to why these men felt it necessary to risk their lives, some may even call it crazy, but while we as a society sleep-walk through our simple, meaningless lives, often wondering what we were put on this earth to do, these men were out living it. Although both men were able to find themselves in the wild, it is clear that Chris and Timmy did so in
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very different ways, such as the goals they had, how they lived off the land, and the way they were able to find the true meaning of happiness.
The first way in which the men differed, was the goals they had for themselves. Treadwell’s life goal revolved strictly around the grizzly bears. Starting in 1990 Timothy traveled by airplane up to Katmai National Park, near the coastal region of Alaska, where he would be dropped off with a few supplies and a tent, and would remain in complete solitude for the duration of the summer. His sole purpose was to document the beauty of the Alaskan Grizzly Bear, and protect them from the dangers of hunters and poachers.
Timothy often found himself in contact with hunters who were looking to kill the bears Treadwell so dearly loved. To the hunters, Timmy was a threat to their sport, but this did not deter him for doing anything within his power to avoid the hunters from killing the bears. He would often times throw rocks at the hunters or try to sabotage them in any way he could, but as the hunters became more and more irritated with Treadwell’s actions, he began keeping his distance from them in order to avoid any confrontations. He also sought protection for the bears through the United States government. Timmy believed that the grizzly bears were not properly taken care of by the government, and that there should be laws and rules put in place against the harvesting of these animals. Despite his efforts, Treadwell’s requests fell short. That is why he took it upon himself to become the ultimate protector of the bears. In the documentary Grizzly Man, Treadwell can be seen on camera saying, “I'm supposed to be alone here! It's Tim Treadwell, the kind warrior! I'm the only one here! I'm the 2
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only one protecting these bears!” It’s with this kind of tenacity that role as the only one who would fight for the protection of the bears.
Timothy also had the goal of capturing the true essence of the bears. He wanted to show the world how truly magnificent of creatures they really were, and wanted people to see bears as kind, caring, compassionate animals. By interacting and actually living with the bears, Timmy was able to capture some of the most remarkable footage of Grizzly Bears the world has ever seen. Some of his clips show him within a foot and even touching some of the humongous bears. His footage is still revered as some of the closest interaction ever seen with grizzly bears. When he wasn’t coming within inches of the bears, he was in classrooms, talking to children about his experiences. Treadwell traveled throughout the country promoting his cause. Since adults often found him childish and immature he resorted to the next best thing. He even offered to do free lectures just to have the chance to get his word out. Treadwell figured the more people that heard his story, the greater the odds that people would finally do something to help the bears. He truly loved those animals, and devoted his life to saving them.
Christopher McCandless, on the other hand, had quite different reasons for leaving everyday society and venturing off into the wilderness. He was sick of all the pressures his parents put on him to be absolutely perfect all the time, and was sick of trying to be the person society told him he had to be. There was a free spirit inside of Chris that was dying to come
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out, and shortly after college graduation he finally snapped. He packed up his things, hopped in his car, and began driving cross-country, all without informing his parents of anything. While driving through Arizona his car broke down. Instead of giving up his journey right then and there Chris decided to leave the car, and began hitchhiking. After cutting up his credit cards, and burning what was left of his cash, Chris decides to take on a new identity…Alexander Supertrap. It’s at this moment that he truly feels as though he was able to abandon his old life a start anew. With his new found identity Christopher looks to challenge himself in any way possible. This becomes evident when he tries to raft down the rapids of the Colorado River. Without any training whatsoever or even a helmet he propels himself through the hazardous rocks and treacherous waters. Finally after reaching calm waters he lets out an exuberant roar that echoes through the entire canyon. This is just one of the many ways Chris challenges himself throughout his journey, and he later writes, “I read somewhere... how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong... but to feel strong.” This quote is most apparent when he decides to give up everything he has, and live in complete isolation in the Alaskan wilderness. He feels as though being at one with nature is the true test of a man’s character, and the only way to find one’s inner happiness.
The second way in which these two men differ is the way they survived while in the wild. Timothy had quite a different approach than Chris in the fact that he had a deep love for the animals that surrounded him. He cared for each and every one as if they were his children, and even had names for them. In some of his footage Treadwell can be seen running 4
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around playing games with “Timmy” the fox. With that kind of devotion to the animals, it was impossible for Timothy to ever be able to kill any of them for food. In fact, during Treadwell’s expeditions he never once brought any sort of weapon, not even for defense. “I would never, ever kill a bear in defense of my own life would not go into a bear's home and kill a bear.” In order to survive, he would have to rely on a diet of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, candy bars, and soda. It is in this way that Treadwell didn’t exactly live off the land because he would bring enough food to last him all summer.
On the other hand, as Chris spent his time in Alaska he lived strictly off the land. When he first began his trek through the Alaskan country-side, he had nothing but a tent, his journal, and his .22 caliber rifle. Eventually he was able to find a deserted bus in the middle of the wilderness for shelter. Other than that, Chris had to rely strictly on his survival skills in order to make it as long as he did in the wild. He hunted squirrels, rabbits and even moose for food. The two men’s time in the wild also differ in the time of the season in which they stayed. Treadwell only lived in the wild during the moderate summer months, were he rarely had to worry about struggling to keep himself warm. McCandless survived during the harsh Alaskan winter where temperatures can drop to negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit, and it can be dark about to 23 hours of the day. Survival in the winter is without a doubt more extreme than that of the summer.
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The final way in which the two men differed was the way in which they found true happiness. Although both men took different paths to in order to find this happiness, their lives both began with similar, troubled backgrounds. Timmy Treadwell was born on April 29, 1957 as Timothy Dexter, and was raised by an average Long Island family. Being one of five children, Timmy had a normal childhood, excelling in diving and always having a love of animals. It wasn’t until after he went off to college that Timmy’s parents started noticing a change in their son. It is said that while at college Timothy developed a made up identity to the point that when asked, he said he was a British orphan who came to the US from Australia. After college he moved to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting. Shortly thereafter, he decided to change his last name to Treadwell instead of Dexter. During his time in California, movie roles were hard to come by for Treadwell, and he became increasingly depressed about failing to capture his dream. The last straw came when he failed to get a role on the sitcom Cheers that was later given to Woody Harrelson. Timmy wrote that it was at this point in his life when he turned to drugs and alcohol. What started as simply having a couple drinks at the bar, soon turned to alcoholism for Timmy, and from the alcoholism spurred drug addiction. Timothy Treadwell was on a downward spiral. His parents recall him at one point even smoking marijuana inside of their house. The darkest point of Timmy’s drug addiction came when he was rushed to the hospital after a near-fatal heroin over-dose. It was at this point that he decided it was time for a change. After the urging of a close friend,
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Timothy traveled to Alaska to watch bears, and it was at that very moment that he “found his calling in life.”
Christopher McCandless early life was equally as troubled. Chris was born on February 12, 1968 to Walt McCandless and Wilhelmina “Billie” Johnson. He also had a younger sister Carine. When Chris was eight years old, his family was forced to relocate to Virginia due to his father’s job as an antenna specialist. Walt later started a successful homebased business in which his wife Billie was the secretary. Despite the family’s financial success, domestic disputes often broke out, often resulting in physical violence between the two. It wasn’t until later that Chris would figure out that his father was still married to his first wife when Billie gave birth to him and his sister, and that they were bastard children. Although this took quite a toll on Chris, he was about to graduate high school with tremendous grades, and was accepted to Emory University. Throughout college he became obsessed with the writings of Thoreau and Jack London and the idea of living a life unburdened by material aspects. Shortly after graduation, in the late hours of the night, Chris left his home, and abandoned his family to embark on a journey of self-discovery (Read).
When the two men finally made their way to their Alaskan destination, neither of them anticipated the amount of truth and happiness their trips would bring. For Timothy, simply by being one with the bears, he was able to escape his struggles with drug addiction and give his life meaning. Fighting for the rights of the bears was the ultimate outlet for Treadwell. Ellen Brinks, the author of Uncovering the Child in Timothy Treadwell’s Feral Tale, says it best 7
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when she writes, “A self-avowed substance abuser, lost in a series of menial, unfulfilling jobs, Treadwell’s ‘retrogression’ to living a child’s fantasy existence with Alaskan brown bears amounts to a refusal to accommodate himself to the dead-end life that the adult world offers him, and not simply because that social contract makes him a partner in his own destruction. The dangers and violence in the wilderness may in the end be more a substitute than an alternative to those of Los Angeles; yet they have a longer history of being romanticized and Treadwell invest the Alaskan wild with a quality of kindness and nurture able to undo the toxic effects of urban misery” (308). As for Chris, living a life free of the strain of society was the supreme goal, and by surviving secluded in the wilderness he was able to find the meaning of true happiness. Throughout his life he was hell bent on running away from those who truly loved him, but in his final days he realizes that being away from society isn’t the key to finding happiness, its finding someone to share that happiness with. Despite the fact that both of these men’s adventures would lead to their death, they can honestly say they lived a fulfilled life, and died doing something they both loved.
Although Timothy Treadwell and Christopher McCandless both found a tremendous amount of truth by living in the wilderness their stories differ greatly in the fact that they had different goals, survived in different ways, and found happiness through different things. Nevertheless both stories are truly inspirational and can teach us a lot about ourselves and what it means to truly be happy.
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