Asking ‘Who are you?’ when going into the wild: moving beyond an individualized form of outdoor education

Abstract

The story of Chris McCandless, as told by Jon Krakauer, and more recently by Sean Penn, tells a familiar tale of going alone into the wilderness in search of the truth of oneself. Chris's story provides a parable to explore some of the motifs that inform contemporary outdoor education. In this paper I draw on the work of Michel Foucault and Judith Butler to examine the relationship between going ‘into the wild’ and the construction of knowledge about oneself and others. Of particular interest is Chris's realization that coming to know himself is less of an individual project than a process that involves other people. I suggest that a ‘reading’ of Chris's story may facilitate a more nuanced engagement with contemporary critiques that outdoor education has become a highly individualized experience.

Keywords:

• Chris McCandless
• Self
• Relationships
• Sociality
• Outdoor Education

Notes

1. When I first came across Krakauer's story of Chris McCandless I was struck by the way in which this story grappled with some of the same questions I was asking about how relationships with others work in outdoor education. It was immediately obvious to me that Chris's story could provide a way into exploring some of these questions. The further I got with writing this paper the greater my sense of discomfort became with using the McCandless family in such a public way to make a theoretical point. This discomfort continues and I can offer no adequate justification for using the story of the lives of the McCandless family in this way. I would like to thank them for making their story public.

2. I am borrowing from Stephenson and Papadopoulos (2006) where they use the term sociability to ‘consider relations with others and with oneself’ (p. 84). They are seeking to understand the ways in which people develop inclusive connections with others and how to counter increasing forms of exclusion. In this sense they see sociability as the origin of intersubjectivity while avoiding reinstating a self-affirming ‘I’.

3. I use both Chris and Alex through the paper. The use of Chris refers to his life before he embarked on his odyssey and also to the time at the very end of his life when he returns to calling himself Chris. Alex refers to the time of his two years of travelling and the majority of his time in the Alaskan wilderness.

4. Ron Franz is a pseudonym used by Krakauer at the request of Ron.

5. It is easy and compelling to write a coherent story in retrospect. While I speculate about Alex's motives at this point, at which we can only ever guess, I do not hold with the view that there is a ‘real’ story to be found that could fully explain Alex or Chris.