Into The Wild Rhetorical Analysis

Words: 513
Pages: 3

Into the Wild is like a punch in the stomach; it knocks the wind out of you and really doesn’t feel great. Despite this, Emile Hirsch’s portrayal of Chris McCandless, the wild young man who was beaten by his dreams and ideology, serves as a poignant and startling wake up call for all of the other young radicals (because let’s be honest, there are thousands) dreaming of the same actions. Hirsch charms and courts the audience into joining a raw and passionate Chris McCandless in trading his life for the ruggedness of Alaska. He gives Chris the volatility we all identify with, and invests himself so deeply into the lives of his audience that we choose to suffer right alongside him rather than retreat. Double Oscar-winning director Sean Penn knew that such a performance could only be magnified by a hearty script, a task he chose to take on himself. The result is a realistic, fervent retelling of the end of McCandless’s existence, divided into five chapters, each depicting a step in his emotional “growing up” process. The chapters, ranging from titles “My Own Birth” to “the Getting of Wisdom” logically arrange not only McCandless’s physical journey to the Alaskan frontier, but also his journey from naive arrogance to true wisdom. …show more content…
And the list is superb, indeed. Alongside Hirsch, Jenna Malone shines as Carine McCandless, the wise and heartbroken sister to Chris. Cathrine Keener shows us the fierce love of a mother’s heart and Brian Dierker accompanies her with his steadfastness as they embody the free-living couple, Jan and Rainey. Along with a host of others, these people breathe life into the words they are told to say, creating an overall sense of unrehearsed and raw emotion that I have experienced in very few other