Chris/Alexander Supertramp from the movie Into the wild.
A representation of the myth of the noble/good savage.
- A detailed explanation/definition of the myth of the noble/good savage :
The term "noble savage" is an idea people had: Without civilization, humans are essentially good; it is civilization that makes them act in bad ways. The idea started in the 17th century and developed in the 18th century. One of the first to express it was Shaftesbury.
He told the would-be author “to search for that simplicity of manners, and innocence of behaviour, which has been often known among mere savages; ere they were corrupted by our commerce”. His counter to the doctrine of original sin, born amid the optimistic atmosphere of Renaissance humanism, was taken up by another author who lived at the same time, the essayist Richard Steele, who attributed the corruption of contemporary manners to false education.
In the eighteenth-century cult of "Primitivism" the noble savage, uncorrupted by the influences of civilization, was considered more worthy, more authentically noble than the contemporary product of civilized training. Although the phrase noble savage first appeared in Dryden's The conquest of Granada (1672), the idealized picture of "nature's gentleman" was an aspect of eighteenth-century sentimentalism, among other forces at work.
a) Alexander Supertramp is a nature lover. At the beginning of the film we can already see that he leads a different and quiet life. He is a model child, studious, crazy about books, literature and very kind with his sister. However, when he goes to the restaurant with his family, they have a delicate conversation because he refuses the car which they want to offer him for his graduation by asserting several times that he not wind nothing and needs anything... Besides, before leaving anything and leaving his life he gives all his money to an association. Later in the movie, he goes to a bar with Steve, he talks to him about Alaska and about peaceful life he can have there. We undertand that he prefers the nature because it is better and so different from our society, our obligations and all the problems we have... He wants to make party of another category and not to follow the fondament of the company as a robot or a submitted one.
We can then say that he represents the myth of the noble/good savage because he inks and he is sure to be better and happier alone in the wild. He thus wants to return to the first nature of the man.
b) By going in Alaska Chris hopes to live a peaceful life with animals and the beauty of nature. He is longing for being far from quit his problems, the consumer society, his family and especially his father who enormously hearts him. In addition to this, he is a great adventurer who moves back in front of nothing.
c) The problem is one arrived in Alaska, he realizes that the life there is not also easy as that. It's very cold and he finds itself completely alone. Even if he founds a bus to shelter, the living conditions are not the same that those whom he had before. For instance, it is very difficult for him to hunt animals than to cook them and eat them, he loses then a lot of weight and he does the constat thanks to a belt. He is often not clean and has to wash itself in a very distant rivers. Moreover, it is very difficult to light of the fire and he meets the boredom. Then, he tries to take care by doing many things and by speaking to himself. At the end of the movie, before dying, we understand that Chris regrets infinitely because he writes : " life is better when it's shared". The solitude made him thus sad.
d) Perosonally I think that we can say that Alexander Supertramp/Chris is a good savage and romantic at the same time. On the one hand, he is a good savage because he is craving about nature and being alone, he recalls the people of former days who believed that was enough few for being happy. On the other hand, he is romantic and adores literature which follows him everywhere in the movie. Besides, he often writes and was very delicate with the girl who met him and who try to have something with him.
e) I think that the fact of going back to a state of nature when one has lived in society is imposible. We can even see it in the movie because Chris regrets at the end. The main was always intended to live in community and in society. His desires and his needs do not allow him to live wherever and especially after living in the comfort and development. There are people who try to live the same life as Chris but they fail and give up. Others, go on holidays and isolate themselves some time. In my opinion it is the best decision to set and it is the only thing which really makes us good. We have no animal instinct and we can never live really as them.
