Happiness In Into The Wild

“Happiness is only real when shared” is said by Chris McCandless; the main character in Into the Wild (2007). Directed by Sean Penn it is the story of Chris running away from his traumatic past from his abusive parents on an adventure to find his true happiness although he soon comes to the realization that his true happiness is with his family. Throughout the film it is evident that the true happiness of the world comes from the people around us. Chris was unhappy with his family and they ruined the idea of society for him and during the progression of the film he keeps his beliefs in tact even when surrounded by people he loved but in the final moments of the film it is revealed that Chris would only truly be happy with his family and by

the friends he made during the course of his journey.
In the film we are shown the gut-wrenching reality of domestic abuse and its effect on everyone surrounding the couple; as the abuse between Chris’ family made him unhappy and initially ruined his idea of a happy marriage and family. During Chris’ angry rant about society we are told “I don’t understand why people, why every fucking person is so bad to each other so fucking often”. It was revealed that he is against society and finds happiness in being alone. In this point in the film he is certain about going to Alaska to be alone and this was the result of his parents and the way they carelessly acted around their children. He solely likes being alone and finds peace in being alone. He believes that everyone can be horrible but he still has those few people who he knows are good people that are just trapped in society’s ways. While learning about Chris’ family through the flashbacks we are only shown the negative impacts in his life displaying that his only way of thinking about them is that they were horrible cruel people in his life. In this point Chris is still stubborn about his thoughts and the driving attitude from Wayne during this discussion just fuels him to try harder to be in Alaska and be alone.
During the course of the film, Chris starts to find people that have a positive impact on him, though he still aspires to move to Alaska, thinking it will create true happiness.

He begins to become grateful for human experiences when he meets Rainey, Jan and Wayne. This is apparent when he returns to Jan and Rainey before he sets off to Alaska and how he always keeps in contact with Wayne by writing him letters keeping him updated on his travels. While with these people he is always smiling and laughing and he learns that not all relationships are toxic. He builds upon this idea after successfully climbing the mountain with Ron to justify his motives he exclaims, “you don’t need human relationships to be happy, God has placed it all around us”. Chris is displaying that while relationships can make people happy they are not the only source of happiness in the world. Even though you may have healthy connections to family and friends if you’re lacking in personal experiences you won’t be happy. He does not realise though that his happiness is with people that he loves and cares about because he still sets off to Alaska even after being offered to be adopted by Ron who he develops a strong connection

with.
Finally the journey Chris has experienced and the lessons that he has learnt prove fruitless upon his death.

He learns in Alaska while he is alone that he needs his family and friends and that he should have never left them in the first place. He knows that he wants to be with his family no matter how dysfunctional and slowly after he discovers this about himself he becomes weak mentally and physically. He starts crying, talking to himself and having outbursts of rage. In his final moments of life he whispers “what if I were smiling and running into your arms? Would you see what I see now?” He wants to know if his family has realised that they need each other and that they should stay together when in fact they had by growing closer together after his disappearance. They all needed a drastic change in their lives to realise what they needed to know. His parents discovering their children weren’t happy and Chris discovering he needs his family to be happy. He writes on a piece of cardboard to be found with his deceased body that he has lived a happy life which is based around his relationships he has built with the people he met during his trip of self-discovery.

Ultimately the film Into the Wild displays that for happiness you need to have a mix of both personal experiences and human relationships. Chris discovers this after being against human relationships and society in the beginning but soon learns that not everyone in the world is a bad person and some people are out there

just to be happy like him. On his deathbed after everything he comes through the last thing he thinks of is not his personal experiences but all the happiness that he received from the people around him supporting the idea of “happiness is only real when shared”.