In the book Into the Wild, Krakaeur tells the story of Chris McCandless who grew up in a household constantly full of arguments and yelling and decided after college to run away from it all and go on backpacking adventures. His final trip would be an epic adventure in the woods of Alaska. Sean Penn directed the film adaptation of the book years later. It tells the same story, but the two differ in many ways because of the change in mediums. In the book, Krakauer is investigating and sharing why he thinks McCandless was trying to escape from the world. To show the reader his findings, Krakauer uses epigraphs, non-linear story telling, and personal experience. Penn attempts to tell the story and let the viewer determine why McCandless did the things he did. He also tells the story in a non-linear fashion, but he uses music and narration to show different points of view. Because Penn doesn't have personal experience or epigraphs as a way to show how McCandless is feeling he leaves it up to the viewer to decide why he ran away from it all. 

Krakauer uses epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter in order to establish what each chapter will be about. These epigraphs are a paragraph long and were taken from books that McCandless read throughout his journey's. In each of these passages, there is a story or a quote that somehow relates to what Krakauer talks about in each chapter. For example, at the beginning of chapter three there are two epigraphs referring to the idea of always being on the move and not being stagnant (Krakauer 15). In this chapter McCandless starts working for Wayne Westerberg in South Dakota. He is trying to earn money to go to Alaska, and Westerberg is able to give him a job working on a farm. Throughout this chapter it seems as if McCandless enjoys being around Westerberg and enjoys working on the farm. Even though he enjoys it McCandless is driven crazy by staying in one place for too long. So as soon as Westerberg was arrested McCandless decided to move on. Krakauer uses these two epigraphs to show how McCandless felt and to foreshadow what was going to happen. Another example of effective use of epigraphs is before chapter fourteen when Krakauer uses two epigraphs that describe climbing a mountain. These two epigraphs explain how Krakauer personally felt when he was climbing the Devil's Thumb. In this chapter Krakauer discusses his personal experience climbing the Devil's Thumb and also relates himself to McCandless. Krakauer describes throughout this chapter that he feels the same way. Krakauer's use of epigraphs allow the reader to know what to expect.

Sean Penn uses similar methods to set up each coming scene in the movie Into the Wild. Penn uses several ways to set up certain scenes, sometimes using more than one way per scene. At the beginning of some scenes Penn introduces new chapters with different titles. For example, chapter four was titled, Family. In this particular scene, a lot of the attention focused on McCandless's family. Penn also shows some of McCandless's own writing across the screen or Emile Hirsch, who played McCandless in the movie,  writing in his journal. This allows the viewer to see what McCandless thinks of certain situations he's currently in. For example, Penn shows McCandless writing about his concern when he ate the poisonous plant that eventually led to his death. His writing showed his sense of urgency to try and get out of the woods and get some help. Unfortunately that wasn't possible and we start to see McCandless realize that through his writing as well. 

The most effective way Penn sets up situations is through narration. To set up certain scenes Penn either has McCandless himself narrate or he has McCandless's sister narrate. When the scene is going to focus mostly on McCandless himself and his personal adventures McCandless will usually narrate. This allows the viewer to see into McCandless's head and see how he feels about certain situations he's in instead of making the viewer guess by reading his facial expressions. Whenever the scenes would switch to focusing on McCandless's family the narrator would switch to his sister. Of all of his family members McCandless was closest to his sister and that's why Penn chooses her to be the other narrator. McCandless's sister helps the viewer to get a perspective on what type of background McCandless grew up in. For example, she explains how they grew up in a house of violence and it showed a clip of McCandless comforting her as their father abuses their mother. McCandless's sister narrating this scene can help explain why McCandless wants to get away from his family so bad. Through narration and showing McCandless's writing Penn sets up the scenes similar to how Krakauer sets up each chapter. 

Krakauer not writing in the traditional linear way changes how the reader interprets the story. Krakauer starts the story when McCandless is in a car on the way to the entrance to the trial in Alaska. This allows the reader to know what McCandless's main goal is throughout the story. Then it can be determined why he is working certain jobs in certain places. It also goes back and shows important parts about his childhood. Because it is non-linear the reader finds out that McCandless dies very early in the book. This creates a curiosity to find out what happened and why he died. It pulls the reader into the story more by knowing the end. It also allows Krakauer to relate certain past experiences to current situations McCandless was in. In many chapters McCandless meets people and Krakaeur will go back to talk about McCandless's family to relate them back to the new people introduced. By writing in a non-linear way Krakaeur can tell the story in a different and more efficient way than if he just told it linearly. 

Penn uses similar styles as Krakauer to show the story on the big screen. Instead of showing the story in a linear way he also chooses to show it non-linearly. It works very well through film to use a non-linear method. Similar to the book he starts when McCandless is starting his Alaskan adventure. Again this start allows the viewer to know what McCandless plans on doing in the story. The movie is different than the book in a way because it doesn't let the viewer know that McCandless dies. Instead Penn waits until the end to show him dying in the bus. By making the movie non-linear Penn is avoiding having to show all of McCandless's past just like Krakauer is doing. This allows Penn to only have to show what he feels is important to how McCandless ended up. When someone is reading the book they are reading to find out how he died and what led to his death. In the movie the viewer is watching to see what happens to McCandless in the end of it all. A small change in the order of the story can affect a persons experience while reading or watching. That is why telling the story non-linearly can change a person's entire interpretation of the story. 

Krakauer has an advantage over Penn by being able to talk about his own personal experience with climbing. Throughout the book Krakauer tries to explain why McCandless may have done the things he did, like run away from his family. He uses past experiences and epigraphs that relate to what McCandless is writing in his journal. Another way Krakauer shows the reader how McCandless feels is by talking about his own personal experiences when climbing the Devil's Thumb. By giving personal experience and talking about how he felt climbing the mountain Krakauer is making his argument more credible. He is able to show how McCandless feels a lot better than Penn is because he has been in McCandless's shoes. By using personal experiences Krakauer is able to make better arguments for how McCandless feels when he is free. 

One advantage Penn has over Krakauer is the ability to add a soundtrack. This allows the viewer to get a feel for how McCandless feels based on the song. Throughout the movie the viewer hears many songs performed by Eddie Vedder. Most of the songs he performs are solo songs played by him on the acoustic guitar. This music relates to McCandless because they are both simplistic. McCandless doesn't need any material items he just wants what he needs to survive. The music is only vocals by Vedder and he's only playing a guitar throughout. All the titles to the songs fit in to the story as well. For example one song is titled Far Behind, which relates to McCandless because he seems to be leaving his family and past behind. Through music Penn is able to tie scenes together. Each song fits into certain scenes and makes the scenes feel whole. 

Each medium allows Krakauer and Penn to tell the story in different ways. Krakauer seeks to determine why McCandless acted the way he did while Penn leaves the viewer to determine why McCandless made the decisions he did. Krakauer and Penn are able to use both similar and different methods to tell McCandless's story. Both use very effective methods to tell McCandless's story, and both allow the viewer to get a good glimpse at Chris McCandless's life. 

