Into The Wild

[Sharon (Premo)]

Originally Posted by beerlover

The author of the book about him believes that the stash of wild potato seeds he had gathered had gotten a certain type of mold that induced an alkaloid toxicity that prevented his digestive system from properly absorbing nutrients.

That's a little different than what I understood from the scene in the movie. He ate the wrong plant by confusing two similar ones but he didn't realize it until after he got sick. According to the plant book he had in the movie, the one he ate was highly toxic and causes starvation if you don't seek treatment.

[Sharon (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Lilypad

When you consider McCandless from my perspective, you quickly see that what he did wasn’t even particularly daring, just stupid, tragic, and inconsiderate.

So I'm not the only one.

[remaxrealtor]

Originally Posted by Sharon

So I'm not the only one.

Again...

[Sharon (Premo)]

Originally Posted by remaxrealtor

Again...

If one of my kids would've gotten a hair-brained idea like this, I'd have hunted them down and killed them myself.

[hvp05 (Premo)]

Originally Posted by beerlover

He did go off with virtually nothing, but that was his plan. He wanted to totally immerse himself in the experience and live off the land. I guess not taking a detailed map was his way of pioneering his trip and blazing his own trail instead of relying on the info of those who had been there before him.

Like I said, I can empathize with some of his feelings to journey off alone and explore (the land and myself). But I am also logical, and know that any good bushman will advise you to listen to the elders, learn from their experiences, absorb their knowledge.

I'm not saying he should have driven in an RV stocked with microwave meals and L.L. Bean clothing, but I am surprised and somewhat bewildered why he would not go off better prepared. Seems like common sense to me to cover certain basics.

Originally Posted by beerlover

I just admire the courage it took to strike out all on his own and attempt to live his life by the ideals he held dear rather than just becoming another cog in the machinery of society.

I feel all that - both admiring him and not wanting to be just another "cog", and I appreciate your saying it. He was obviously determined and I respect him doing what he wanted with his life, how he wanted to do it.

Originally Posted by beerlover

The author of the book about him believes that the stash of wild potato seeds he had gathered had gotten a certain type of mold that induced an alkaloid toxicity that prevented his digestive system from properly absorbing nutrients.

Originally Posted by Sharon

That's a little different than what I understood from the scene in the movie. He ate the wrong plant by confusing two similar ones but he didn't realize it until after he got sick.

His Wiki article says that Krakauer has speculated on a couple theories, but none of them quite match with the forensic evidence. I guess different people believe what they want, but the only definite is that he starved.

[Cowgirl]

Wow, I'm really glad I didn't read this thread until after I saw the movie. I didn't know anything about it...and I didn't know he died before I watched the movie.

I liked the movie. I thought his whole journey was interesting, especially the friends he made along the way. Yes, maybe it was stupid of him to be so ill-prepared, but that's the way he wanted it. I thought it was an interesting movie, and I'm disappointed that such a small decision (eating wild peas) killed him.

[beerlover]

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

...I liked the movie. I thought his whole journey was interesting, especially the friends he made along the way. Yes, maybe it was stupid of him to be so ill-prepared, but that's the way he wanted it. I thought it was an interesting movie, and I'm disappointed that such a small decision (eating wild peas) killed him.

According to the forensic evidence, the wild sweet pea was not toxic enough to cause any major bad effects. The theory now (in the 3rd edition of the book) is that the potato seed had become moldy from the damp weather and storage in plastic and the mold had a high alkyloid content that was enough to poison him to the point where digestion was stopped. But he could have survived that, also, if he had been in a better state when it hit him. The thing that killed him was just a long term caloric deficit. The sickness from the potato seeds just probably pushed him over the edge.

One thing that kind of shocked me that I didn't "get" from the movie was that he was only out there a total of 4 months over the summer. The movie sort of made it look longer.

I really enjoyed the part of the movie leading up to his Alaskan adventure and all his travels and the people he interacted with more than the Alaska part. I thought there was alot of great acting, especially the "good-bye" scene with Hal Holbrooke.

The book is a good read and gives a few more details than the movie as well as some stories of other people who have gone "into the wild" in Alaska never to return. It's only about 200 pages, so it's not a big investment time-wise, either. It also tells that there is a cable/basket traverse across the river gorge just 1/2 mile downstream from where he tried to cross, and that the river upstream braided out into several less-torrential streams just a few miles upstream. Also, there were several cabins in the area within a 6 mile radius of the bus where he could have broken in and gotten food. All of these are marked on maps of the area, but he only had the outdated gas station map with him. He could easily have survived if he had prepared a little more, but that is not the point of the story.

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by beerlover

I really enjoyed the part of the movie leading up to his Alaskan adventure and all his travels and the people he interacted with more than the Alaska part. I thought there was alot of great acting, especially the "good-bye" scene with Hal Holbrooke.

Aww...what a sweet old man. That part was really touching.

[AK-74me]

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

Wow, I'm really glad I didn't read this thread until after I saw the movie. I didn't know anything about it...and I didn't know he died before I watched the movie.

I liked the movie. I thought his whole journey was interesting, especially the friends he made along the way. Yes, maybe it was stupid of him to be so ill-prepared, but that's the way he wanted it. I thought it was an interesting movie, and [color="Red"]I'm disappointed that such a small decision (eating wild peas) killed him.

While that is the version the movie took, according to what I read, samples were taken by the University of Alaska Anchorage of the plants from the area he was staying and none were found to have the alkaloid toxin that supposedly caused his death.

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by AK-74me

While that is the version the movie took, according to what I read, samples were taken by the University of Alaska Anchorage of the plants from the area he was staying and none were found to have the alkaloid toxin that supposedly caused his death.

So he just starved.... I was wondering why he didn't shoot the bear and eat it. He was freaky looking at the end of the movie. Kinda freaked me out to look at his face.