In this essay, I will be explaining the similarities and differences between the movie and the book to identify each of the interpretations given to Chris McCandless’ family members. In the movie, it presents certain relationships as distant whereas in the book it may be presented differently for a specific purpose. Also, characters of people are shown to the audience in a given way for the audience to judge and interpret them. An example of this  would be Billie (Chris’ mum) is shown as a fake person whereas in the book she isn’t. These examples will be looked into with more depth as I will be comparing and showing similarities between the ways characters have been presented in the book and movie.

The first point I would like to make is how the film presents Walt McCandless as a world apart from his son. Their relationship is presented as distant because of the limited eye contact they give for each other. Also, at the point where Chris declined the car, Walt glared at Chris with anger which suggests that they do not get along. The use of the close up shot which primarily showed each of the family members eyes is pivotal in understanding each of the characters personalities. I believe Penn done this on purpose to give the viewer an understanding of each character.

In the book however, Walt and Chris are described as sharing core characteristics. In the book, it says ‘Colleagues refer to him [Walt] as brilliant.’ This is similar to his son as it mentions how Chris ‘came into this world with unusual gifts’. This shows a link between Chris and Walt as the word gift suggests that Chris naturally got these characteristics off his father. Krackauer uses comparison between Chris and Walt to show the similarities and how they are close due to their personalities. Also, the fact that it mentions ‘came into this world’ suggests that Chris may have inherited some key aspects of his personality off his father.

The second difference between the book and the movie in how characters are presented is through Chris’ mother Billie. In the movie, Billie appears to be quite fake and boastful. An example of this would be when they are in the restaurant and she gets up to greet Chris at the door, she boasts to a stranger how Chris had just graduated in search for attention. This makes Billie seem boastful as she unnecessarily shares information which does not affect other people in order for attention. Also, she is made out to be fake. This is because she wanted to get Chris a new car in order for her family reputation to look good. She also refers to Chris’ car as ‘junk’ when the car works perfectly good as it does not look classy and up to the standards of their class. In the movie, Penn uses a point of view shot which shows Billie talking about the car and then looking over towards it. Also, the fact that Chris’ car is in the middle of two more upper class looking cars also gives the reader a hint of Billie’s opinion. The reader gets a negative view on Billie simply because of how her personality has been portrayed.

This differs to the book however because Billie is shown as a lovely and caring mother. An example of this in the story would be how she had hand knitted Chris a blanket for him to take with him on his journey. This shows Billie as a lovely and caring mother as she is putting time aside for her son when she could have easily bought a blanket for him. This symbolises the love put in and this technique by Krakauer where he mentions small details which have big meanings tells the reader about Billie.

Another example of a difference between the movie and the book would be how Chris is always behaving negatively towards his parents in the film. One of the main parts which stood out would be when Chris’ voice over was talking negatively while showing positive flashbacks of his parents when they were in school. He talks about how what they were doing was going to lead to a huge mistake and how their future is going to be depressing. He then goes on to say how he would like to stop them from going on just so he can avoid being born. This shows the negativity in Chris’ mind which explains his attitude towards his parents. The fact that Penn uses a voice over technique shows the reader the events leading up to the present time and Chris’ opinion on what has happened to try and inform the reader on Chris’ thoughts. Overall, Chris’ behaviour around his parents is mostly negative.

Krakauer  presents Chris’ relationship differently as it is more of a loving and tighter bond. This is because in the book, Chris buys his mother a gift for mothers day although he does not believe in presents and gifts. This shows how Chris has a tight bond with his parents especially his mother because he has gone against his beliefs to make his mother happy. I believe Krakauer has included this small detail to show the tight bond Chris shares with his parents in order to try and portray Chris as a positive Character to the reader.

Carine shares an extremely tight bond with Chris in the book as it appears that they are extremely close in what they do. In the film, when they are together, they are always smiling and have free flowing conversations which suggests how they share an extremely close bond. One particular example is when it showed Chris’ parents arguing and he hugs Carine telling her it is going to be al right. This shows how Chris really cares for his sister and he does not want her to be hurt. This shows Chris as a loving, caring character as he looks out for her even though he may not be particularly happy himself.

This is a similar scenario in the book but the main difference is the competition and rivalry between Chris and his character. An example of their rivalry is when it says ‘there was no way he was going to sit behind his damn sister’. This shows the intense rivalry between Chris and Carine as Chris was unable to cope with the fact that his younger sister was better than him at playing the French horn therefore he stopped playing it. On the other hand, It also shows the love that they have for each other as when Carine found out about Chris’ death, it mentioned how she could not get through a day without crying. The adjective used gives extra emphasis on Chris’ thoughts and feelings as it shows how he has got strong feelings against being beaten. The readers overall perspective would be how they have a typical sibling relationship.

In conclusion, the book and the movie have many main differences yet key similarities as well which gives the reader mixed opinions. Overall, i believe that the book is the more accurate version as it seems more realistic, therefore, the book is better.