Alexander Supertramp was born around 1990 and is the spawn of Chris McCandless and his desire for freedom. This freedom came at a price though and saw his life taken in exchange for this ultimate 'freedom.' In short, Chris McCandless left his family after graduating from college and set out on a cross-country journey in an effort to find peace through freedom in the Alaskan wild. Along the way, he met many people, each being imprinted on by McCandless; although it was not his goal, a lot of people found happiness through him. But this journey caught the eye of another wilderness lover, Jon Krakauer, who was the first to write on McCandless and wrote many subsequent versions of McCandless' tale; Krakauer did not simply write on McCandless, he critiqued him as well as rationalized his actions, and, in doing so, allowed for the rest of the world to see McCandless for more than just a crazed wanderer. This, in turn, caught the eye of Sean Penn who made a film adaptation that stuck close to the original story. Since both used different mediums to tell McCandless's story, they both are able to utilize certain techniques; Krakauer made precise use of letters and stories along with his own experiences in order to rationalize McCandless' reasoning, whereas Penn made brilliant use of the soundtrack as well as drastic changes in camera shots and angles. 

Jon Krakauer used quotes from past authors as well as snippets from Chris McCandless himself. If not rationalize with the reader, then they would at least understand the origins of his thinking more, compared to simply reading Krakauer's perspective. McCandless' main means of inspiration were Thoreau and Jack London, both of which have their own epigraphs in the book. But along with these are an assortment of other various authors that Krakauer used to share some of McCandless' transcendentalist thinking; if the reader sees what McCandless looked up to and sought after, and actually knew some of the things McCandless would have read, then the reader is that much closer to McCandless' level. It is like the saying goes, 'to see through someone else's eyes', and reading over these brief epigraphs does just that. But there is an epigraph in particular that is different from all the others, and it is the very first one; "Greetings from Fairbanks ...  If this adventure proves fatal and you do not hear from me again I want you to know you are a great man. I now walk into the wild. Alex" (Krakauer 1). This is the only epigraph from McCandless, but it is a special one, it is the passage in the actual story but establishes the tone of the book and gives the reader a sense of direction on their opinion of McCandless. It is sort of McCandless' declaration that he is going through a cleansing process that might kill him; it in a way tells his journey in just those few lines. Krakauer uses this to his benefit because it begins to close the gap a little bit more between the reader and the wildman-McCandless.

Krakauer is an explorer himself, having also braved the Alaskan wild alone, albeit for a shorter amount of time, but, nonetheless he ventured and lived. With such similar circumstances, a subtle foundation is established between the two, not the reader and author, nor the reader and character, but the author and character instead. With the inclusion of his own experiences and stories, we are able to see Krakauer himself in the wild, and how the journey he made is similar to McCandless'. We see this when he says: "The fact that I had survived my Alaskan adventure and McCandless did not survive his was largely a matter of chance ...  I now recognize that I suffered from hubris, perhaps and an appalling innocence, certainly; but I was not suicidal" (Krakauer 155). Krakauer at times questioned McCandless, he questioned his motives and reasons, but what the reader sees and questions is McCandless' sanity. But because of Krakauer's personal stories and opinions, McCandless slowly seems slightly less crazy, and more along the lines of having an extremely driven attitude toward life. In the end Krakauer seems come to a bit of an understanding, despite the loss McCandless witnessed, he ended up finding his goal of freedom, and through Krakauer's rationalization, the reader can see it as well.

Sean Penn's adaptation was able to present Chris McCandless' story from an alternative perspective, a more personal but omniscient view. One thing a book cannot utilize is a camera, and by using the camera as a medium, Sean Penn is able to draw the reader in a little more and develop a more personal and emotional connection between McCandless and the audience. One of the methods Penn utilizes is close up shots, Penn focuses a little bit more on McCandless' relationships then Krakauer's adaptation. Because of this, we see more in-depth development between McCandless and those that he befriends. For instance, the scene where McCandless and Roy Franz depart, we see each person's face as they are reacting. We do not just get an omniscient view of the two, instead we focus on McCandless as he contemplates Franz's request, the same with Franz as he tries to hold back his tears. Unlike a book where you simply the conversation, the scene allows us to visit the moment, this in turn helps the audience piece everything together more thoroughly. 

The very beginning and end of the movie are pan-out shots, so as McCandless steps foot into the Alaskan wilderness the camera starts out over his shoulder and proceeds to zoom out showing the untamed land that McCandless is forcing himself into. The same method was used on McCandless' death scene, the camera zooms out from his view, slowly encompassing the vast wilderness that consumed Chris McCandless. The way Penn uses this type of shot allows the viewer to grasp just what McCandless was getting himself into, and how miniscule he was in comparison. Not only this, but it can translate to humanity in general; both scenes show that although this stranger appeared tried to carve himself into his surroundings, the surroundings ended up not even noticing he was there, not even caring that he showed up and died. It proves just how small humans are in this world, and although we need the world, the world does not need us. And although the scenes are very brief, they are extremely vital in that they show just how unprepared McCandless was, allowing the audience to truly grasp the situation that he was in.

Another feature that the movie utilizes to the fullest is sound, and more specifically music. The composer for the soundtrack was Eddie Vedder, who is the front-man for the grunge rock group Pearl Jam. But it was Eddie Vedder alone that made a huge impact on the presentation of the movie. When by himself, he sang the embodiment of Chris McCandless, the sounds of a natural and acoustic young explorer. Its Eddie Vedder by himself, nothing synthetic- it is all natural, just like McCandless in the wilderness. This use of music is also made apparent during more intense scenes; to be correct the lack there-of music, like scenes such as McCandless picking berries and trying to figure out which is edible, and which would kill him. Most travel scenes (which is a large part of the movie) were presented along with happier music, happy music being that it was not building tension or setting the mood for something bad to happen. But then we get to a scene where we see this boy struggling on the ground, weak from hunger and trying to scavenge for some measly berries. This is when the music plays an even more distinct role, not because its uplifting, but because it just is not there. It is not there because McCandless is just barely 'there'; no music means we instead focus on his struggle, we hear his groans and we hear the bushes crunch beneath him. We hear his panting, and all these subtle but important sounds are crucial to showing the audience the amount of trouble that McCandless is in. A lot of times in AAA movies, the huge blockbusters, they will play intense music, music that gets you pumped but lets you know something huge is about to happen. Not in this movie though, Penn shied away from the intense score at certain scenes in order for it be as natural and as raw as it could be. He did not need intense music to tell the audience something bad is happening, he wanted the audience to be able to tell for themselves; it ends up brining the viewer that much closer to McCandless, it takes the idea that this is a movie, and makes seem a little bit more authentic. 

When Chris McCandless set out on his journey, he had to have had some idea of the possible outcomes, he knew there was a chance that it would all prove fatal. McCandless had problems- problems with his family, his society, and with his life. The only solution he saw was to escape, just as Jack London and Thoreau had prescribed. Jon Krakauer and Sean Penn chose to share McCandless' story because he was different from the norm of society, his story was special; he was barely an adult and had a full life ahead of him. But the life that was planned out for him was nothing of what he wanted, and so he did what very few are able to do; he packed his things and left what he considered a 'wrong' way of life in search for freedom.

