Books and literature based films often tell the same story, but use a variety of different elements to do so. In the novel, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer tells the story of Chris McCandless through the stories of the many people McCandless encountered throughout his journey. Krakauer begins each chapter with an epigraph that sets the tone for the upcoming events that take place. The events are ordered strategically so the reader is drawn in as well as creating more character depth. Krakauer uses not only his personal testimony, but also the experiences of other individuals of whom journeyed into the wild to help support his argument of McCandless's sanity in his decision making. In the film Into the Wild, the director Sean Penn tells the same story but with a variety of different techniques. Penn utilizes a large diversity of music to set the tone for certain scenes throughout the film. The director often uses Carine McCandless's narration to help the storyline's progression. Penn also gives McCandless a voice in the film that aids in character development. Both Krakauer and Penn utilize different techniques that set the tone for scenes, help the story progress, and build the main character's persona.

Krakauer implements epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter in order to set the tone for each scene throughout the novel. The first epigraph is a postcard received by Wayne Westerberg from McCandless. The postcard from McCandless lets Westerberg know he had arrived in Alaska, stating that this might be the last correspondence and he does not plan on returning to the south anytime soon. This first epigraph gives some insight into the upcoming events. McCandless states in the post card "If this adventure proves fatal and you don't ever hear from me again I want you to know you're a great man." (Krakauer 3). This reveals to the reader that the following events may not pan out in McCandless's favor. Another prime example of the epigraph setting the tone is in chapter two of the novel, beginning with an excerpt from Jack London's White Fang, where the syntax creates a feeling of dread, preluding McCandless's body being found. With phrases such as "the land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness." (Krakauer 9). Just that one sentence is overflowing with bleak and depressing diction, which sets the mood for the scene in which the hunters discover McCandless's cold, decomposing corpse. As the story develops the tone shifts multiple times, which can be witnessed just from the epigraphs. 

Krakauer also recounts the events out of chronological order so that he could keep the reader intrigued and create more depth in the story. Instead of beginning the story with McCandless's graduation, he began the story with McCandless being dropped off in Alaska and then immediately following it up with the discovery of McCandless's body. The stark contrast between the ending of chapter one with McCandless heading off into the wild to his body being found leaves so much in question. The unknown is intriguing, leaving the reader hooked. By ignoring the actual timeline of events, Krakauer is also able to create more character depth. He is able to pair chapters of stark contrast together to show different sides of McCandless's personality side by side. Chapter Five takes place in Bullhead City, where McCandless is employed at McDonalds and even goes as far as to open a bank account. Although he still refuses to wear socks and abide by some of the societal norms, McCandless is employed at a corporate fast food industry, something that embodies a lot of the negative aspects of American society. The following chapter is set in Anza-Borrego, where McCandless is camped out in the desert and forms a friendship with the elderly Ronald Franz. In this chapter McCandless urges Franz to let go of many of his possessions and travel. There is a stark contrast between chapter five with McCandless working and being on a schedule, to chapter six, where he has a few belongings and is not tied to a schedule. He appears more light hearted, with a sense of inner peace in chapter six, not caring about much of his surrounding, the young man we come to know throughout the story. In chapter five the reader is able to see some of McCandless's past self, similar to his final years of school. He got the job done and conformed enough to the norms of those around him in order to get by, but that was it. 

Throughout the story Krakauer adds personal reflections and experiences as well as those of other individuals who ventured into the wild in order to create connections to McCandless. Chapter thirteen is completely dedicated to why Krakauer has "suspicion that McCandless's death was unplanned, that is was a terrible accident" (Krakauer 134), through his own personal perspective. Krakauer tells the story of his own expedition, drawing many connections between himself and the protagonist, to show that McCandless was not as crazy as many made him out to be. The author also uses the stories of a handful of other individuals of whom come across in a much worse state of mind, showing the disparities between McCandless and these other individuals who met their maker in the wild. Krakauer emphasizes the delusional state that many of these other individuals were in in order to defend McCandless's sanity. He recounts the story of John Waterman, who slowly became delusional and "ran for the local school board on a platform promoting unrestricted sex for students and the legalization of hallucinogenic drugs." (Krakauer 78). Krakauer creates an obvious distinction between McCandless and Waterman, convincing the reader that McCandless wasn't as crazy or ignorant as many Alaskans believed him to be.

Similar to the affect of the epigraphs that Krakauer used, the director, Sean Penn, used music to set the tone for many of the scenes. Many of the scenes incorporated music with upbeat instrumentals to give a happier more reminiscent feeling. Many of the songs would fall under the genre of singer-songwriter, which are soloist pieces, similar to that of McCandless's solo adventure. The acoustic guitar was used to give a more natural sound, very similar to that of the songs you would hear on the road, travelers singing around a campfire, guitar in hand. As scenes became more intense, drums were utilized to create a stronger, faster beat. The absence of music is also utilized to set the tone. When McCandless is in the bus the music is cut off to create a more intimate scene, placing you in the bus with him. Then at the end of the movie as McCandless takes his final breathes, the music is that of the heart beat, getting faster and faster as the flashbacks are happening and then they are abruptly cut off with his last breath, signifying his death. 

Since the movie also strayed from chronological order, Penn utilized Carine McCandless's narration to transition between scenes as well as give more insight into her brother's life at home. Carine McCandless's narration comes up multiple times throughout the movie, often talking about McCandless's relationship with their parents. In comparison to the book, Carine McCandless appears to be much more understanding of her brother's actions. She also has a much more derogative tone towards her parents, something that was much more subtle in the book. By doing this, Penn is able to weave in McCandless's home life in throughout the storyline without having to jump back and forth to actual scenes with the family, since those scenes took place after the main character's demise. This creates more fluidity to the movie without having to leave out a main part of the story, the reasoning behind everything that is happening throughout the film. 

McCandless is also given a voice in the film, since the film takes place in the present versus the story being recounted through everyone after his death. Not only is McCandless given a voice, but he is given a very vocal one at that. There are many scenes throughout the film where McCandless is talking to himself, such as the scene when he is attempting to cure the moose meat. Although Penn does this in order to give more details from the original book that otherwise would not be included in the film, it also gives McCandless a much more delusional persona, something Krakauer avoided throughout the text. Giving the character a voice creates a very different character than what was depicted from the text. The text created a much more reserved and intuitive although head strong and careless character, whereas the movie focused more so on creating a vocal, headstrong and careless character.

Although the same story is being conveyed in both the text and the film, the author and the director utilize different devices in order to convey different emotions and themes to the story. While Krakauer uses epigraphs, the order of events, and personal insights in order to reveal the tone and character development, Penn uses music and different narratives to reveal tone and character development. The usage of these different techniques to convey the same message is important because of the two different mediums. Penn would not be able to portray the character and the tones of the text without utilizing these filmic techniques in order to keep the story in line with Krakauer's text.
