Examples Of Belonging In Into The Wild

Into The Wild – directed by Sean Penn (2007)

In the film, Into the Wild, college graduate, Chris McCandless, abandoned his material possessions and his entire savings to seek nature, a sense of connection and true meaning. The director, Sean Penn, establishes the perception that a sense of belonging can emerge from connections with people and place after one experiences alienation. During his journey, Chris encounters a series of characters who shape his life but due to his fear of relationships, he pushed them away and continued to Alaska.

The film incorporates a variety of auditory, visual and language techniques to reveal challenges and his discovery of his need for other people. A sense of non-belonging with his parents at the beginning of the film where Chris is
Penn creates tension and uses close-up shots to enhance the emotions showed by Chris when he repeatedly says, “I don’t’ want anything. These things, things, things, things, things!” The contrast of his attitude towards his parents with his attitude to the hippie couple and Ron Franz represent his immediate connection with them as they travel the road and belong to nature. However, his inability to allow others to be close to him and his confidence that he can survive alone made him insecure and unwilling to establish deep relationships. The decision to show a close-up of money being burned with Chris walking away, out of focus in the background symbolizes that he didn’t belong to society and didn’t believe in conformity. By