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Degerhan Deger

English 106, Section

29 March 2011

Understanding the Power To Justify Death of Grizzly Man and Alexander Supertramp

Humans live, and continue their lives, in search of power. We are inherently inclined to

respect, and subsequently desire for themselves, power, and for many this is a proof of God’s

existence and an innate belief and worship of a force greater than us. As a child, we very soon

learn to obey our parents, for we depend on them on our ability to survive. Throughout the rest of

our lives, we learn to obey rules, created by authorities charged with control over us through the

realm of governments and organizations, so that we don’t get, for example, thrown out of school,

fired from work, or even jailed! While we sometimes resent those with power over us, we live

our lives following the traditions and rules of the culture into which we were born into in an

effort to fit in without being reprimanded and thus, live a comfortable life. We do, however,

simultaneously desire to be in a position of power ourselves, and therefore also continue our

lives with the desire to one day play the role of a parent, boss, or even political leader.

Power, which has such control over our lives and which we are therefore inherently

inclined to worship, can be obtained either physically-by force or through profit, or

intellectually- by mental and behavioral influence. Throughout history, the concept of power has

led individuals to be in a constant state of struggle, encouraging them to always live another day

and try and try again despite possible failures. Our observations of physical power in particular,

through wars and conquests, pushed them toward forming their own, protective societies and

social orders. How did this physically-obtained society get changed, and by who? How did

intellectuality come to the foreground, and what has been the effect of the discovery of, and

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subsequently the worship of, money? “I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today

it means getting along with people,” famous Indian spiritual leader Gandhi once said (Wisdom

Quotes). We can observe direct evidence of this today if we look at the ‘power’ of celebrities

appear to have around the world- though many have financial power, many more have influential

power over our choices in life through their fame, ranging from our appearance to things we buy

to be like them in an attempt to feel similarly ‘successful’ in life. We tend to build a closer

rapport with the celebrities that act friendlier and closer with the public; Brad Pitt and Angeline

Jolie, for example, draw so much attention not only for their attractiveness, but also because of

the various charity projects they are involved in and the children they adopt from impoverished

regions around the world.

Power, it seems, often comes from a sense of having control, or at the very least a strong

effect, over others. Couldn’t it also, however, come from a sense of having power over

ourselves? In his book “On Suicide: a Discourse on Voluntary Death”, philosopher Jean Amery

romantically argues that a person’s life belongs only to him or her, and that a person has the right

to kill themselves if they so desire; he killed himself two years after his book was first published

in 1976 (27, 133). Although the idea of ending one’s life instead of suffering in life is indeed a

morbid example, and one which I do not in any way encourage, it is nonetheless a way in which

we can have the most direct power over our destinies. It is a good thing that we have medicines

to cure depression and therapy sessions for those who may contemplate such suicidal thoughts,

and most of us aim to cure periods of depression in their lives by going to entertainment venues

or shopping- all things which require money. For many, the freedom to do whatever they want,

without answering to any form of authority or abiding by any certain set of rules, is power; we

can’t, however, continue living a comfortable life for too long without being caught or stopped

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in some way if we are acting immorally, and for sure we also cannot do so if we cannot afford to.

In this way, even the power over our own lives and destinies, as individuals, eventually becomes

dependent on money.

As I said before, we live, and continue our lives, in search of power, which can be either

be maintained through physical or mental excellence. Unlike the world of hundreds of years,

today, we live in a world of global society enthralled by rules and regimes. According to

Professor Stephen Krasner of Stanford University, our daily lives are globally interconnected,

espceially in the more developed countries (60). We want to establish a unique camaraderie

therefore, we embrace the orthodoxy instead of the marginality. As a result maintaining power

has an obvious but challenging path. Briefly speaking, today, we define power as belonging as

much as to the society. The standard way of thinking of power is respecting to the authorities,

having education, family, a car and a house. However, when an individual rejects what we offer

as a society, we consider him/her psycohopathic.

Werner Herzog’s “Grizzly Man” and Sean Penn’s “Into the Wild” documentaries narrate

the story of two men who went to Alaskan wilderness to find a different reason to live. The

protagonist of “Grizzly Man” is Timothy Treadwell who embraced Alaskan grizzly bears along

with its wilderness and dedicated his life to protect them even though he knew he might die.

Unlike most of us, Treadwell did not succeed to become one of us; he had tried but his innate

inclination to wilderness and aloof character, has led him to choose animals rather than us. The

documentary by Herzog depicts how this interesting man is trying hook life by becoming friends

with grizzly bears for 13 consecutive summers. Treadwell loved his animal friends, he even

promised to to not to hurt them and protect them from invaders; however, he paid for the

consequences trying to transgress the invisible boundary between animal and human world. On

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the other hand, the protagonist of “Into the Wild” Christopher McCandless does not go to

Alaskan wilderness because he loves animals or wants to protect them like Treadwell, instead he

wants a new challenge. Unlike Timothy Treadwell, McCandless has everything; he is a college

graduate Harvard candidate, belonging to a healthy but also wealthy family. He is successful at

sports, academics, society, briefly speaking, any type challenge he encounters. However, as I

said before our insatiable natures makes us inherently in search of power and this was the case

for McCandless, too. He was in search of a different challenge that most of us would dare not to

do, which was to survive at wilderness. He wanted to prove the world that he was the best;

however, as depicted at “Into the Wild” McCandless did not realize what he was doing was

aimless until he faced death. Sean Penn’s “Into the Wild” shows how an egocentric young man’s

decision can have deadly consequences.

Timothy Treadwell and Christopher McCandless are two individuals who were ostracized

from their environment and family because they wanted to maintain power in a different way.

They had different reasons to reject the power of society but their goal was same – real

experience. Their childish nature has led them to be more courageous than most of us, therefore

experience Alaskan wilderness. Timothy Treadwell’s and Christopher McCandless’s stories

prove how we abandon differences in our socities and how childish bravery can be bold, even

though it may bring the certain end of death.

Today, many individuals worship money, as represented by the current capitalistic

system under which everyone at every level, including companies and countries, thrive. Money

is power, and it affects everything and everyone. For those who are employed, the earning of

money affects their work performance, punctuality, and pretty much everything else in their

daily lives. Happiness, love, comfort, loneliness, and sadness have become a measure of how

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much we carry in our pockets. Therefore, we are either positively or negatively affected with

money. Yet, this hegemony of money in our lives has caused us to establish certain norms for

our future. Common sense seems to dictate that being successful is a measure of our money,

family, friends, and our other possessions. However, if a person is not able to make money and is

unable share the same dream we have, we would ostracize this individual. Timothy Treadwell,

the grizzly man, has tried to become a member of the society but has failed to and this has led

him to embrace and put his energy into a different ambition – animals.

If we take look at Timothy’s life based on the story depicted at “Grizzly Man” directed

by Herzog, we would see Timothy’s ambition to become one of us. He was a classic American

kid; he was popular, athletic, and sociable. However, everything changed at Timothy’s life when

he was send away from college. He tried to get a job, worked as a waiter and even went to

Hollywood to become an actor but he did not qualify. Timothy, then, was left with nothing to do

at his life; therefore he squandered his time by drinking alcohol. Timothy’s unwholesome

condition continued until he met the Alaskan wilderness, which he got connected to in a short

time. For 13 consecutive summers, this poor man earned money to go to Alaska and be a part of

its wilderness. He even wanted others to share his experiences therefore he gave seminars at

primary schools free of charge and recorded his adventures through a camera. As Timothy

confesses at his recordings his connection to Alaskan wilderness was different because this place

was not only his new home but also an ecosystem that hosts his childhood passion. He went to

Alaska in order to be with his grizzly friends and try to cross an invisible boundary that most of

us would not dare to. Even though Timothy knew what he was doing was dangerous; which is to

go to ground zero and record one of the most deadly animals on world without any precautions,

while trying to survive within the wilderness, he did not stop but nourished what he did because

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this wilderness accepted him. After travelling several times to Alaska to be with bears, Timothy

drifted away from society and wanted to be a part of grizzly society. This particular point can be

further illustrated through Timothy’s diary, in which he writes that he wanted to leave

humanness and become one of them. As his communication with grizzly bears got more

frequent, Timothy wanted to morph into the shapes of these animals and drifted away from us:

Treadwell got increasingly comfortable morphing into a bear, making

huffs, grunts, woofs, growls, and snapping noises, crawling on all fours, avoiding

eye contact, rearing up, and stomping, dressing in black and rolling in the bears’

beds to look and smell more bear-like. Humans encountering him in the field

reported that he would act like a bear; he would woof at them; he would act in the

same way a bear would were he surprised. (qtd. in Brinks 304-323)

Timothy thought he crossed the boundary between men and animals however, the result of his

work clearly states he did not manage to because a bear killed him during his last journey. For 13

consecutive summers, Timothy Treadwell went to Alaska because the wilderness and grizzly

bears embraced him, thus Timothy embraced them.

Timothy, like most of us, was in search of power, unlike most of us who try to maintain it

by money; he tried to maintain power with friendship and communication. He would be living

today if he had not fail to join our society and share our dream rather than becoming successful

with communicating with bears.

Why bears? One may question why Timothy Treadwell did not embrace any other animal

at Alaskan wilderness rather than a bear. Why did Timothy love the mostly deadly animal in that

region? The answer lies far deep in Timothy’s childhood. Ever since he was a child Timothy

loved bears therefore instead of embracing any other animal such as a dog, fox or a lion Timothy

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embraced bears. He had an inherent inclination to bears that caused him to develop a childish

understanding of them. The movie of “Grizzly Man” contains scenes that the audience is able to

meet Timothy’s family and house. And, during these scenes we learn how Timothy loved bears

when he was a child from his mum. She even gives her interview to Herzog with one of

Timothy’s childhood toys, which is a bear. However, Timothy’s childhood inclination to bears

may have integrated into his adulthood, it does not answer our question. Why did Timothy

choose to love bears? To answer this we must understand human psychology. When we are child

and even as a teenager we tend to idolize. And, this is most effective when we are child. As

mentioned before, we are in search of power. For this reason, we may say that Timothy

Treadwell was impacted by bears because of their physical appereance and power. Like each and

everyone of us he had a childish fantasy. However, his childish fantasies were probably

morhping into a bear, dominating the animal kingdom and conquering land/s. As a result of these

kind of idolization, Treadwell embraced bears with a childish understanding. He wanted bear

toys to be bought for him. Yet, as he aged his childish understanding of bears become more

intense, and the jailed fantasies deep inside in his brain surfaced when he encontered grizzly

bears again as an adult. Timothy’s childish understanding of grizzly bears caused him to embrace

them rather than any animal he encountered during his journies to Alaskan wilderness.

Nonetheless, after watching “Grizzly Man” one may question Timothy Treadwell inclination to

grizzly bears based on the relationship between him and Timmy the Fox. Yes, Timothy liked to

spend time and capture footages of Timmy the fox but his love to this animal was nothing further

than a timely interaction. Timothy Treadwell did not go to Alaska in order to be with Timmy the

fox or any other animal; he went there to be with grizzly bears and capture their footages. Also,

as mentioned before Timothy idolized grizzly bears because he was in search of power since he

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was a child. When we compare a fox and a grizzly bear, we can conclude Timothy would tended

to idolize grizzly bears because of their superior physical apperance and power compared to

foxes and other animals. Treadwell had done 13 consecutive summer visits to spend time with

his friends and recorded his experiences to share with us, even though Timothy knew being with

the bears was dangerous and he might die one day because of them, he insisted to live his

childhood dream until his childish manner killed him.

Timothy chose to go to Alaskan wilderness because he thought he belonged there. He

thought he should never kill or harm any animal in any circumstances even though they attack

him. Timothy loved animals and chose to visit his friends however, McCandless the protagonist

of Herzog’s “Into the Wild”, did not love animals. On the contrary, McCandless killed animals

in order to survive at wilderness and protect himself. He left his home, family, and wealth

because he wanted to live a pure life. A life that is not artificial and not capitalistic driven. He

wanted to experience, dream, and most importantly be challenged. He perceived this to be only

gateway to reality, therefore life. McCandless has left to survive at Alaskan wilderness to have

the ultimate challenge.

Contrary to Timothy Treadwell, Christopher McCandless is a successful person in

conforming with the social norms. He has always been a successful student who graduated from

college and applied to Harvard. Throughout his life, he excelled at sports and social

relationships, and most importantly, he has never had a financial drawback, which would alter

his decisions. McCandless’s family has bought whatever he needs and even offered more than a

typical teenager should have; they bought cars, clothes and other types of property for

McCandless. However, McCandless was never satisfied with the materialistic approach of his

parents and felt ostracized from his environment and family. He donated some of the money he

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received, denied to buy new cars, and even refused comply with his parents in most cases. He did

not feel he was having the real taste of life, he found his life to be artificial therefore he left to

Alaskan wilderness. As McCandless reveals through his notes and reactions to his experiences,

he was amazed and happy to see wildlife. He thought that he was experiencing the real life. He

felt that he was happy and even thought he shared it, not with his family but with nature. He has

stopped to suffer after he leaves the life he has been living and starts a new one, in which he is

cyclic but also natural. According to the James Gallien, a sincere companion who met

McCandless four miles out of Fairbanks and drove him to head of the Stampede trail, he was

passionate. "There was just no talking the guy out of it," Gallien recalls. "He was determined. He

couldn't wait to head out there and get started” (Krakauer). This is where the Buddhist approach

towards life comes in. Buddhism believes “life is a suffering. Overcoming life is then the goal…

There is no distinct self” (May 18). Buddhists diminish their earthly ambitions and pleasures in

order to purify their souls and reach the essence of themselves. We may conclude that

McCandless had a Buddhist approach towards life, even though he was a Christian; he searched

to find the essence of his existence. Challenge was the only way to purify him from corruption.

McCandless has always been successful at academics and relationships. His parents tried to

satisfy McCandless with what they bought, such as cars and clothes. Nevertheless, McCandless

was never satisfied with the materialistic approach of his parents. He perceived them and us to be

contaminated and believed we never experience the real taste of life. He went to Alaska in order

to alienate himself from the materialistic world moreover, adopted a new identity as Alexander

Supertramp, to be a part of nature while challenging it.

Even though McCandless was an adult who excelled at academics, he was an individual

with a childish character. If we look back at McCandless’s life we would see nothing imperfect.

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He was successful both at academics and sports, he was wealthy and had a good family that not

only protected but also tried to satisfy him. As I said before, McCandless did not go to Alaska

because he liked the Alaskan wilderness. Alexander Supertramp wanted to challenge and thus

maintain power and prove us, the world, that he was powerful. “I read somewhere... how

important it is in life not necessarily to be strong... but to feel strong.” He did not only want to

feel strong but also makes us feel weak so that we’ll admit he was strong. At the film of “Into the

Wild”, McCandless’s sister says that McCandless challenged the world. She says he wanted to

prove the world he was strong. However, McCandless wanted to prove his superiority by trying

to accomplish what we can’t do. Whether it is graduating with perfect grades from college

enough to apply Harvard Law School or going to Alaska by leaving everything behind,

McCandless wanted to make us feel weak. If he had not been successful at his academic and

social life, he would not dare to go to Alaskan wilderness because being successful at challenges

determined by our society and wilderness is different. McCandless thought that he would be

successful at Alaskan wilderness because he was successful in society. His childish character

overwhelmed him and caused this American to leave everything behind and challenge nature. He

may have lived a life full of accomplishments and challenges but he had never faced death,

therefore he was not able to interpret the consequences, dangers and limitations of death.

Furthermore, he was not aware of death or tried to understand his childish manner towards life

and challenges may cause him to die. Death is the most important fact about our lives; it is the

end of our friendships, emotions, projects, and every other involvement in the world. Death is

unavoidable and in death, the world does not exist or takes a different form, life ends.

Nonetheless, we still tend to neglect an aspect of our lives, which has a big momentum, based on

our ambitions, relationships and young age and recognize our mortality when we are threatened

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with death (May 6-10). McCandless neglected death and acted as if he was an immortal because

of the momentum of his young age. As he confronted death, McCandless felt the presence of the

unavoidable and regretted the childish decision he made; however since there is no escape from

death he paid the consequences for his childish manner with the fragility of his life – death.

Another way of understanding McCandless’s childish character and how he was

controlled by it would be through his reactions to his family and successes. For example, based

on the movie ‘Into the Wild’, rather than basically rejecting his parent’s offers McCandless has

reacted surprisingly defensive to them. When a new car was offered to him for his Harvard Law

School graduate degree, McCandless reacted as if his parents were trying to harm him. He

directly connected the situation to different levels and told them to stop offering these ‘things’.

McCandless did not want to receive help. As his father says during his conversations with his

son within “Into Wild”, McCandless wanted everything to be difficult; he did not try to ease his

challenges. McCandless was reactive to his parents not only because he thought they

contaminated him but also he denied them as his parents. At the beginning of “Into the Wild”,

McCandless mentions that he thinks that they are the wrong couple and thus their union would

lead to a catastrophe. The idea of incorrect union has contributed to McCandless’s character. He

rightfully denied their offers and them, in which turns out to be childish. He was an adult,

however he failed to control his childish character, therefore it overwhelmed him. His childish

character and need to avoid his parents have made McCandless to draw a barrier between his

parents and him; thus led him to leave everything behind to pay with the ultimate price for his

decisions with death.

We search for power. It exists in more aspects of our lives than we realize. Hundreds

years of ago, before the formation of civilization, we searched for it through physical excellence

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and today we search for it by intellectual vitality, in we worship money. Our lives and feelings

have become a measure of how much we have in our pockets. Common sense seems to dictate

that we should be successful, have a family, children, a car and a house. As the society we

nourish and embrace the ones who share this common goal with us however, we alienate those

who try to maintain power differently. Timothy Treadwell and Christopher McCandless were

alienated from their environment and family because their understading of power was different.

Even though they were driven with different goals, they shared a will to experience. Their stories

prove how we ostracize differences in our society and how childish bravery can be bold.

Timothy Treadwell and Christopher McCandless have challenged our society and dogmas to

experience the Alaskan wilderness, even though their challenge brought the unavoidable

achievement of our lives – death. Before I finish I would like to commemorate the Greek

philosopher Plato, “The measure of a man is what he does with his power” (Brainy Quotes).

Works Cited

Amery, Jean. On Suicide: A Discourse on Voluntary Death. Indiana University Press,

1999. Print

Brinks, Ellen. “Uncovering the Child in Timothy Treadwell’s Feral Tale.” The Lion and

the Unicorn 32.3 (2008): 304-323. John Hopkins University Press. Web. 22 Mar. 2011

Gandhi, Mohandas K. “Power Quotes.”Wisdom Quotes. Ed. Jone Johnson Lewis. 2010. Web.

22 Mar. 2011

Grizzly Man. Dir. Werner Herzog. Perf. Werner Herzog, Timothy Treadwell, and

Amie Huguenard. Lionsgate Films, 2005. DVD

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Into the Wild. Dir. Sean Penn. Perf. Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, and Catherine

Keener. Paramount Vantage, 2007. DVD

Krakauer, Jon. “Death of an Innocent.” Outsideonline.com. Outside Magazine, Jan. 1993.

Web. 22 Mar. 2011.

Krasner, Stephen D. The Evolution of Political Knowledge: Democracy, Autonomy, and Conflict

In Comparative and International Politics. Ohio State University Press, 2004. Print.

May, Todd. Death. Stocksfield: Acumen, 2009. Print

Plato. “Power Quotes.”Brainy Quotes. BookRags Media Network, 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2011

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