MovieChat Forums > Into the Wild (2007) Discussion > Postcard To Wayne

Postcard To Wayne

posted 8 years ago by MaeLeeMae
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At the beginning of the filmmaker (Penn) shows what appears to be a single postcard to Wayne when in reality it is bits of more than one postcard. We are lead to believe it is Chris' last postcard to Wayne as he says he has arrived in Fairbanks, picked up a book on the local flora and fauna...will be a long time before he heads south again...yards yada. The reality is his last postcard reveals to me Chris' state of mind which almost sounds suicidal or at least thoughts of suicide. The last postcard to Wayne reads: "April 27th, 1992. Greetings from Fairbanks! This is the last time you shall hear from me Wayne. Arrived here 2 days ago. It was very difficult to catch rides in the Yukon Territory, but I finally got here. Please return all mail I receive to the sender. It might be a very long time before I return south. If this adventure proves fatal and you don't hear from me again Inwant you to know your (sic) a great man. I now walk into the wild. Alex" it seems to me he is dealing with an internal struggle. First he writes, "This is the last time you shall hear from me Wayne" and then he writes, "It might be a very long time before I return south." And then of course the talk about if his adventure proves fatal. He carried only 10 pounds of rice with him. He was a thin guy to begin with, he continued to drop weight, he ran out of rice, so if he was not suicidal, why did he not leave while he still had the strength to do so? People can only speculate as only Chris McCandless knows the answer and sadly, he perished...a 67 pound skeleton, alone in a bus, in a sleeping bag his mother made for him.

[–] infracaninophile 8 years ago

The reality is his last postcard reveals to me Chris' state of mind which almost sounds suicidal or at least thoughts of suicide.

I don't think that his state of mind was one of suicide, I think he was excited, and feeling somewhat in awe of the prospect of finally setting out on his great adventure, and he was being overly dramatic. He certainly didn't want to die, as evidenced by the note he left on the bus ("in the name of God, please remain and save me," or some such words.) Like many young men, and some women, his age he had a penchant for risky adventures; he had undertaken several previously, most notably the Mexican desert junket, and had managed to extricate himself successfully.

Chris undoubtedly overestimated his abilities to cope with the unknown. However, the "if this proves fatal" remark is no different than what guys setting off to summit Denali or K2 tell their friends and family. They know they are undertaking something risky but they fully expect to survive and indeed triumph. Chris's photos show that he was very happy, even exultant, over much of his journey. In the end, although he didn't want to die, he seemed at peace with it, as his last note indicated ("I have had a happy life and thank the Lord.")

[–] MaeLeeMae 8 years ago

Your thoughts are interesting yet I can't help but wonder about what he said in the postcard to Wayne and the fact he only had ten pounds of rice. Seems to me when he wrote that postcard he was ambivalent about death/suicide. Then when he was faced with the fact that he was in grave danger, he desperately wanted to live because survival is such a deeply ingrained animal instinct. Sad, no matter how you look at it.