by Anica Boulanger-Mashberg

Dir. Sean Penn’s Into the Wild

Robyn Davidson’s

Tracks

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Comparisons

www.insightpublications.com.au

Insight Comparison Guides are written by experienced English teachers and professional writers with expertise in literature and film criticism. Each title provides a comprehensive, in-depth guide to a pair of texts, including a detailed study of their key elements and a close analysis of their shared ideas, issues and themes.

Features• Character maps• About the authors• Synopsis of each text• Context and background• Genre, structure and language• Chapter-by-chapter analyses• Themes, issues and ideas • Essay topics• Sample topic analysis and sample answer• References and reading

About the authorAnica Boulanger-Mashberg, BPA, BA (Hons), MA, has lectured and tutored in English at the University of Tasmania and in communications at the Queensland University of Technology. She works as an editor and freelance writer, and also has extensive experience as a playwright, performer and actor. She has a particular interest in Australian theatre and contemporary Australian writing.

781925 3167119

ISBN 978-1-925316-71-1

insight

Comparisons

INTO

THE

WILD

/ TRA

CK

S

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contents

Character map: Tracks 4

Character map: Into the Wild 5

Section 1: Tracks 6

Overview 6

Background & context 8

Genre, structure & language 11

Chapter-by-chapter analysis 14

Characters & relationships 25

Section 2: Into the Wild 32

Overview 32

Background & context 34

Genre, structure & language 37

Scene-by-scene analysis 40

Characters & relationships 51

Section 3: Comparison 57

Ideas, issues & themes 57

Questions & answers 72

Sample answer 77

References & reading 80SAMPLE

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insight Comparisons 4

Richard (Rick) Smolan The National Geographic

photographer who accompanies Robyn

to capture parts of her journey. They have a

sexual relationship but Robyn is also frustrated

by his presence on her trip.

Eddie A Pitjantjara elder who

accompanies Robyn on part of her journey,

Eddie is one of few humans with whom

Robyn forms a lasting and positive relationship

in the book.

Dookie, Zeleika, Goliath, Bub

The camels who accompany Robyn across

the desert. She relies on them completely and knows their individual

personalities well.

Robyn’s friends These include Toly

Sawenko, Jenny Green and Nancy. While Robyn

tries to avoid human contact much of the

time, she also relies on them at other times for

support.

conflicted relationship

loves

positive relationship

conflicted relationship

difficult relationship

positive, mutually dependent relationship

Character map: tracks

Robyn Davidson The author and

protagonist, who learns about camel handling in Alice Springs and then travels alone across the desert with three camels

and a dog.

Diggity Robyn’s adored, loyal

dog; Diggity travels with her but dies after taking

poisoned bait.

Kurt Posel An expert camel-man

who takes Robyn on as an apprentice; can be

cruel and unpredictable.

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insight Comparisons 14

chapter-By-Chapter analysis

Part One: Alice Sprung

Chapter 1 (pp.3–16)

Summary: Robyn arrives in Alice Springs; she secures a job and board at the pub; she begins working for Kurt Posel; she has a run-in with Kurt and leaves.

Robyn arrives in Alice with meagre belongings and even less money, resolute

in her intention to learn to train and handle camels so she can trek across

the Australian desert to the west coast, but with little idea of how to go

about achieving her goal. However, with the matter-of-fact approach that

characterises her entire journey and, indeed, her personality, Robyn is not

the least put off by the seemingly insurmountable challenges ahead. She

quietly goes about finding a place to work and stay. The way she acquires

information about camels is presented as being part focus and determination,

part luck – a blend that recurs throughout her adventure. In an apprentice

position at Kurt and Gladdy Posel’s ranch, she first experiences what will

become a routine of almost incomprehensibly hard work (four a.m. starts,

long days of labour, and abuse from the frightening Kurt). This sets the

pattern for her physical and mental determination throughout her journey.

Robyn’s first impressions of Alice also establish a narrative pattern:

observation of her surrounds will continue to be of great interest to her. Her

description of the Todd River comprises characteristic attention to detail and

a rich, poetic language: ‘still, straight columns of blue smoke chimneying up

through the gum leaves marked Aboriginal camps’ (p.8). This is her first

mention of Indigenous Australians, in whom she takes a deep interest.

The book opens as though in mid-sentence: Robyn’s arrival in Alice is the

culmination of ideas, planning and travel to which we are not privy. This

indicates an immediacy – the book will not contain detailed background

information on events and decisions. Rather, Davidson focuses on the situation

in the present, and the things we learn about Robyn in the first paragraph

will remain consistent throughout: her relationship with Diggity, her

independence and determination to follow her own course, her lack of fear

and her willingness to face the future with few material possessions.

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Section 1: Tracks

Key point

The chapter concludes with Robyn finally snapping under the pressure

of Kurt’s unfair treatment. This shows another side to her solidly

determined personality: she also has a fierce emotional capacity that

is aroused at several significant moments in the text.

Key vocabulary

Shanghai: to trick or force someone into participating in something, as Robyn

feels Kurt does to her.

Q Which of the text’s themes are introduced or foreshadowed in this

chapter?

Chapter 2 (pp.17–37)Summary: Robyn works at the pub; she goes back to work for Kurt; she leaves the pub; she trains Akhnaton, a crow, before leaving Kurt again; she begins work with Sallay Mahomet.

The pub where Robyn works is a microcosm of Alice society, particularly in

the gender-related behaviour she witnesses and the unstated rules about

serving Indigenous locals. Without explicit statement, Davidson indicates

that she does not condone the discrimination against Indigenous people

– for example, she is grateful that at least this pub doesn’t stoop quite

so low as to have the ‘dog window’ out the back that other pubs have for

serving ‘booze … to the blacks’ (p.17). Her attitude towards Indigenous

rights remains unwavering throughout the text.

When Kurt convinces her to return to the ranch, despite her slavish duties

and poor treatment, she begins to feel a hint of the ‘limitless power’ and

freedom she seeks and will eventually encounter on her journey (p.23). This

chapter emphasises Robyn’s connection to her environment, to the outback

and to the camels. She works incredibly hard and withstands physical pain

as well as Kurt’s abuse, finding friendship and solace not only in Gladdy and

the neighbours at Basso’s Farm, but also in Dookie (a camel who will eventually

be hers) and, to an extent, in Akhnaton, a wild crow she trains. She admits

that she really does ‘enjoy the company of animals better than people’ (p.30),

with whom she has become uncomfortable, distrustful and defensive. This

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Section 2: Into the Wild

insight Tracks and Into the Wild 51

Key point

The last example of a character looking directly into the camera is very

brief: as Walt surrenders to grief, falling to the ground, he momentarily

looks at the camera. Here it serves to connect him to both the

audience and his son, revealing how this once-dominating character

has become so vulnerable: there is nothing that can be hidden when

you look directly into another’s eyes.

Q List the cinematic techniques used in the film’s final twenty

minutes. How do they contribute to your understanding of the

narrative?

characters & relationships

Christopher Johnson McCandless / Alexander Supertramp

Key quotes

‘Chris measured himself, and those around him, by a fiercely rigorous

moral code.’ (Carine, 18:26)

‘Think I got my head on my shoulders pretty good.’ (1:47:19)

‘I think careers are a twentieth-century invention and I don’t want

one.’ (1:48:02)

Chris is academically successful, a loving brother to Carine (though an

ambivalent son to Billie and Walt), friendly, confident and compassionate:

a man in his early twenties with the world laid out at his feet. He has saved

almost enough money and earned good-enough grades to enter the elite

world of Harvard to study law; his parents are financially comfortable and

willing to help support this endeavour. We meet Chris at a clear crisis point

in his life, when he could have followed this conventional path but makes a

completely different choice.

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Section 3: Comparison

IDeas, Issues & themes

Freedom and independence

Key quotes

‘… for someone like me, nothing was as important as freedom. The

freedom to make up your own mind, to make yourself.’ (Tracks, p.257)

‘Tramping is too easy with all this money … My days were more

exciting when I was penniless.’ (Into the Wild, 1:00:22)

Both texts explore a cultural fascination with the allure of life away from

society and its conventions: an existence unrestrained by others’ expectations,

lived in a kind of ‘authentic’ spiritual resonance with the wilderness. In Into

the Wild this idea is first described in Chris’ voice-over, which draws on the

words of Wallace Stegner:

It should not be denied that being footloose has always

exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape: from

history and oppression and law and irksome obligations; with

absolute freedom. (20:00)

By including the quotation from Stegner (although it is unreferenced), Penn

reinforces this concept by showing that it has support beyond the film.

Davidson, conversely, reinforces the theme by relying on a deeply honest

and very personal description of the idea of freedom when she argues that

what she wanted to do with her trip was:

to be alone, to test, to push, to unclog my brain of all its

extraneous debris, not to be protected, to be stripped of all the

social crutches, not to be hampered by any outside interference

whatsoever, well meant or not. (p.91)

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insight Comparisons 74

Analysing a sample topic‘Compare the portrayals of family in Tracks and Into the Wild.’

Don’t be misled by a question that appears to be very straightforward: just

because it is concise and phrased as a clear directive, it is not necessarily

going to be ‘easier’ to answer. Even if the question is very short, such as

this one, your answer still needs to have depth and complexity, and you will

need to make decisions about how to achieve this. While this offers you more

freedom in your essay planning – since you can choose your own areas of

focus – it can also be very challenging.

Make sure that you understand what the topic is asking you to do before

beginning your essay plan. As always, underline key terms or ideas:

• ‘compare’ (your answer must evaluate two texts, considering

differences as well as similarities)

• ‘portrayals’ (suggesting that you need to discuss narrative techniques

as well as thematic concerns)

• ‘family’ (this connects the two texts by identifying a shared theme).

Next you should consider the underlying expectations in the task. The

prompt gives you a clear directive: compare two texts. The expectation in

a comparison essay is that you analyse relevant elements of each text, and

also examine the intersections between them. Are they making the same

thematic arguments or different arguments? How do they make these

arguments? Although this prompt does not use the word ‘how’, it is implied

in the term ‘portrayals’. You will need to discuss the ways in which the

texts portray families (how are particular narrative techniques used to

communicate ideas?) as well as the perspectives from which the theme

of family is portrayed (what are the views on and arguments about family

presented by the texts?).

Once you have established what the question demands of you, frame a

contention, or main argument, in response – this will shape your discussion

and determine the evidence you select. A simply worded question offers you

a broad scope because it does not dictate the nature of your contention (it

does not ask you to ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ with a statement, for example). Your

contention for this style of prompt might focus on narrative techniques, settings

and contexts, character development, or specific ideas and issues explored by

the texts.

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insight Comparisons 76

Body paragraph outline

Paragraph 1 – identify evidence in Tracks of family structures and how they

function in Robyn’s journey.

• Robyn rarely mentions her biological family (or her conflict with

them), though they do travel to Alice to farewell her (pp.96–100).

• Robyn’s friends constantly thwart her desire for independence, yet

they are always there for practical and emotional support, such as

when she flies home to see Nancy (p.35).

• Diggity and the camels become a kind of family: ‘without them I

would be nowhere’ (p.117).

Paragraph 2 – identify evidence in Into the Wild of family structures and

their function in Chris’ journey.

• In flashbacks, Chris’ relationship with his biological family is

dysfunctional and damaging; however, this at least partially prompts

his journey, which brings freedom and pleasure.

• Chris, Jan and Rainey, as a surrogate family, fulfil emotional needs

in one another.

• Chris and Ron also share mutual affection – Ron even proposes to

formalise the relationship: ‘Whaddya say … you let me adopt you?’

(2:07:47).

Paragraph 3 – discuss similarities in how the texts portray family.

• Both show individuals who try to resist or escape ties to their

biological family, but find they can never escape their chosen, or

‘social’, families.

• Both use textual features (e.g. dialogue, flashbacks, voice-over) to

juxtapose solitude with beneficial family-like relationships.

• Both use minor characters (Robyn’s father; Ron) to emphasise the

importance of family and/or the sorrow of losing family.

Paragraph 4 – discuss different strategies the texts use to present similar

ideas.

• Tracks uses a positive outcome to demonstrate that family is vital –

Robyn learns to accept the help and companionship ‘family’ (such

as Rick and Eddie) offers, and to rely on her animal ‘family’, and the

result is her ultimate success.

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Section 3: Comparison

insight Tracks and Into the Wild 77

• Into the Wild uses tragedy to demonstrate that in rejecting biological

family and resisting connections to chosen family (Chris could have

stayed with Jan and Rainey, or accepted Ron’s adoption), survival

becomes impossible.

• Through textual omission, Tracks suggests it is possible to abandon

biological family; conversely, through Carine’s persistent voice-over,

Into the Wild argues that biological family relationships will always

accompany us.

Sample conclusion

While there are subtle differences in the way the two texts

construct and communicate ideas about family, both Tracks

and Into the Wild show that individuals can only thrive when

they accept and nurture strong relationships with some form

of family. The protagonists in each text believe in solitude and

independence, but the events of each narrative demonstrate

that these values are only beneficial when balanced with

healthy familial support: without it, the only conclusion is a

tragic death.

Sample answer

How do Tracks and Into the Wild portray those who abandon social conventions?

Both Tracks and Into the Wild feature protagonists whose deepest desire

is to abandon conventional society and survive alone in the wild. Although

outcomes differ for Robyn and Chris – one survives while the other does

not – they share similar motivations. The contrasting forms of the texts

also allow Robyn Davidson and Sean Penn to convey ideas in diverse ways,

though they address many of the same themes. In each case the text

uses relationships between characters, plot events and various narrative

techniques to communicate the idea that while avoiding convention can be

desirable, it can also bring challenges and damage relationships.

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