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Society and Solitude – a take on ‘Into the Wild’

Posted on by pareen

There was a discussion on a Facebook travel group where someone asked whether Christopher McCandles from Into the Wild was a hero or a naive fool. It got me thinking.

Having watched the movie over five times in last eight years or so, here is what I think.

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To me his story represents the constant dichotomy we all live in, to be a part of society or to be on our own. Each one of us has been frustrated with people around us, rules, systems at some point that we just want them to leave us alone. But we don’t do it. Because living on our own is damn difficult. It requires a ton of knowledge, acute awareness and may not be the most efficient way to live. Society also takes care of many things for us.

That being said, I am one for discovering myself and I would like to undo society’s programming and discover who I am. That requires me to be self-sufficient, which I would like to be. It will be freedom like none other. I may not leave for the woods but I will always be free to do so, which is empowering. I do not need to take shit from anyone because I’m not dependent on anyone.

But I realize, unlike Christopher McCandles, I don’t want to run away. This shift will happen gradually. And one day, I will be able to live in blissful solitude without being killed.

Till then, we are all pendulum-ing between society and solitude.

Old man and the sea by Hemingway – thoughts

Posted on by pareen

I read this short story very late in life. I’m 33 and as I started going through my list of unread classics, this one was glaring at me. Here is what I think of it.

The story is about this old fisherman who hasn’t caught a prize in weeks but he keeps going. He ends up chasing a huge fish farther than anyone had ever ventured. The book details what could be called ‘a good fight’. A fight that has honor and respect.

It is one salty story. I could taste the water and feel the emotions while I tried to figure out where the plot was going. It lured me in, positioned me in the shoes of the old man. Long into the story, suddenly a feeling set in my gut. This story is just like my daily life. About everyone’s daily life. What’s unique is that it does not provide me with an escape or false hope.

Life is nothing but a long fish hunt. We aim at the nearest prize and find ourselves in a web of hurdles. We fight only to find more hurdles. The only thing that keeps us going is our choices. We choose how far we want to go in this fish hunt of life.

This story is about one old man who goes farther than most would go. Stories are never about those who remain inside the boundaries of logic, sanity or society.

It is also about the pains of pushing harder. Once down that path, there arises a need to find meaning in it. But we soon discover the meaninglessness of all. At this point, there is a parallel battle between the struggle at hand and the meaninglessness of it in the mind. Finding meaning may even become the sole goal carrying us forward, as it did for the old man.

At some juncture, we also become dispassionate about it all and see ourselves from the heavens, as a character that was meant to play this role in a larger pattern, and be comfortable in the naivete of it all.

This is what I made of the old man, the sea and their extraordinary dance. What do you think?