Final Exam

My group chose to address the question, "how do man and nature interact?" I took this as looking at how man affects nature, and how nature shapes man. The passages we chose took various examples of humans in a natural setting, and we then analyzed the relationship. The Feral Child video depicts the natural world and civilization as being completely contradictory. In the story, a boy simply cannot fit into society because of his upbringing in the wild. It becomes clear from the movie that civilization has moved so far away from nature, that a person would not be able to effectively move between the two. Chris McCandless tried to make the opposite switch in Into the Wild, but his attempt proved fatal. In order to survive, he would have needed some aspect of human creation, like a topographical map. Through his journey, and the passage we annotated in the book, I didn't just see how far man has moved from nature. I also saw the change we have made in our relationship to nature. Every part of "nature" that humans enjoy has been disturbed by human creation, so much so that we cannot actually function without human influence.
I annotated a poem which seemed to bring all of these ideas together, in a discreet fashion. The title "Old Familiar Landscapes," suggests a struggle between the natural world and human creation. For me, the word 'landscapes' brings up the image of scenic expanses in nature. However, 'landscaping' reminds me of human manipulation of nature. In my childhood, my parents often had landscaping done to rid our yard of unwanted plants and weeds, essentially taking away the power of nature. More contradictions lie in the body of the poem. The speaker at first seems to miss the natural aspects of their old home, like the trees and singing of the birds. However, as the poem goes on, in the authors memory the natural world makes way for material and man made possessions, such as a large house. Through the texts we looked at, and through my personal annotations, I have decided that humans cannot successfully exist in pure nature because we depend on human creation even in the wilderness. Technology has become such an integral facet of our lifestyles, that we can never actually escape civilization.
I contributed to this project through my ideas. My group thought man's relationship to nature not only epitomized this course, but would be a good final idea to explore. I came with a more cynical take on the relationship, and brought this to light through sharing passages in Into the Wild and from sources like my poem. My idea on our inability to truly experience nature weaved together ideas from all of our sources. However, there are many things I would have changed about our/my process. First, I would have spent more time collaborating on the annotations, as we all picked certain sources to annotate and came up with a uniting idea after reading. Thinking of the answer to our question before doing research would have helped, as we could have used this idea in finding sources. We also had some struggles creating a final work to show, after underestimating the time constraint. In hindsight, however, I think we worked pretty well together, and all shared both our ideas and our research.

Vines

https://vine.co/v/M1OOUeXMPqh
https://vine.co/v/MJExr5AmDHz
https://vine.co/v/MJ0W3HKM6t3

A Different Side of the Story

While browsing through youtube videos documenting the life of Christopher McCandless, I immediately notice what appears to be his constant state of contentment. Whether a picture is from his early childhood or days before his death, Chris is never without a smile. Confidence radiates from his facial expression, and even through his most desperate state, he seems to be carefree. After reading the book, I know this is something that has been noted by all who knew Chris. For example, even when his food and tool supply was clearly not enough, he seemed to regard it as a non issue until his last few days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDRy6fmcSzA
But beyond this calm facade was a deep resentment of societal norms. Chris cared for little material goods, instead on a quest to "live off the land." However, how far was he actually planning to go? I wondered this as I watched more videos, and especially after learning more about a backpack Chris left behind. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNyav9g6BJY) The video may not be entirely credible, but after doing some research I found that Chris actually did possess a wallet in a hidden packet in his backpack. In the wallet was multiple forms of identification and $300. First of all, this shows that he did not actually burn all of his money. It seems odd to me that he would lie in his journal, almost as if he thought someone may read it. Second of all, he obviously thought he may need these things and kept them in a place where they would be safe. If he hated material goods so much, why would he ever keep money (which enables all possession)?
I don't think Chris believed he was risking anything until he was on the brink of death. He had a relatively privileged upbringing, and although he rejected this he never actually had to face that much hardship. Even without money, he had a good education and people generally took care of him. He experienced little trouble hitchhiking and even survived living on a bag of rice. Somewhere along the road, I think he acquired the sense, typical in young men, that he was indestructible. He had so much confidence that he wouldn't fail, it blinded his sense of reason. He probably saved his money for his return to society, and the identification for his reintegration. Although some questions about Christopher McCandless will never find an answer, it is pretty safe to say he had different intentions than Krakauer though.