Into The Wild

"Poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue; it is hard for an empty bag to stand upright" - Benjamin Franklin



Benjamin Franklin is clearly stating that money is the root to happiness in this quote. He believes living in poverty robs a man of a will to live. He goes on to use the imagery of an empty bag standing upright which does not work at all, unless the bag is full in order to enhance his first statement.
In terms of my novel, this statement by Ben Franklin would not hold up at all. Chris McCandless' valued the words of Tolstoy and Thoreau, who both believe money and material things clutter ones mind, and when you free yourself of these possessions you are free and happy. Neither of these three men, Tolstoy Thoreau or Chris, would agree with Franklin. When Chris McCandless first ventures into the wild he burns all his case "in a gesture that would have done Thoreau and Tolstoy proud" (Krakauer 29). He needs to free himself of everything before he can totally start fresh and make a new life for himself using himself as his only resource. In doing this he is experiencing a life very raw which is what he wants. In values the aesthetic beauty of nature, but not the over pleasure of possessions. Further on the narrator refers to a period of time Chris "entered Las Vegas with no money and no ID" (37), and excerpt of Chris' diary reads "it is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found. God it's great to be alive. Thank you!" (37). This passage shows that ones does not need money to be happy or "spirited" like Ben Franklin states. Chris is perfectly content with out having anything, and this seems to be a time he is the happiest. He feels money is unnecessary and without it he can be a better person who does not take anything for granted. Another point is Chris did have money and knew how to work hard. Page 115 reads "...the teenage Tolstoyan, believed that wealth was shameful, corrupting, inherently evil--which is ironic because Chris was a natural-born capitalist with an uncanny knack for making a buck" (115). This shows that one can resist money and this does not mean they are not hard working, but to Chris he felt it should not be a priority. Chris McCandless aka Alex Supertramp, if alive, would have been one to debate this Ben Franklin quote.

Significance of Oskar's connection to Hamlet?

Oskar's connection to Hamlet can be applied in a few different ways.
The first being that Oskar plays the part of Yorick in his school play. Yorick is a court jester, and as many know court jesters often acted as clowns or fools in order to provide entertainment. I think this reflects how Oskar often feels when he is around his classmates. He has a couple of friends he says, but it seems that he is usual picked on or the but of their jokes. Oskar may feel as though when he is around his peers that he is their entertainment, and he does not fully fit in with them due to his unusual nature.
The second connection i made was between Oskar and the actual character of Hamlet. Hamlet and Oskar alike both had their fathers brutally killed, Hamlet by his own uncle and Oskar by the hijackers. In both cases neither were justifiable and both characters' worlds are then from that moment on centered on the fact they lost their fathers. Both are completely obsessed with their fathers' deaths, and feel unsettled at that. Hamlet is completely consumed with the question "to be or not to be", meaning he is uncertain wether he should avenge his father and die in the process or let the fact that he was murdered go. You could argue the same for Oskar that he too is also consumed with a similar question. Oskar is so caught within the situation that he is almost not living his life therefore not being. He is stuck with his greif and he can go either way with it. Let it go and move on or hold on to the grief which is restricting him. Oskar feels like once he lets go of his greif he is forgetting his father and losing him, like his mother has done. That is what is making this tough for Oskar. He is unsure of how to cope with his lose without losing his memories of his father, but by holding on he is not living his life the way he should be as a nine-year-old child.
The significance of the Hamlet references in the novel is for the reader to further grasp the way Oskar feels and is thinking through tying in Hamlet illusions. Hamlet being a very popular play that most will recognize and be able to relate the two stories. The author wants to use Hamlet as a vehicle for the reader to more so understand his character, without having to actually state the similarties.