DEMYSTIFICATION OF THE MYTH OF FREEDOM IN THE CHARACTERIZATION OF CHRISTOPHER MCCANDLESS IN KRAKAUER’S INTO THE WILD

While Krakauer’s Into The Wild depicts McCandless’ flee from society to live in the wild, many reviews argue that McCandless was not really a kind of person who finds freedom in nature. The present study will investigate further the surface characterizations of McCandless as freedom chaser with the plot development to fill the gap between McCandless’ characterizations and the myth of freedom that he chases. By applying Barthes’ mythology, the study reveals that McCandless was described as an adventurer, immaterialist, and loner. However, the plot development reveals that as a person who sought an adventure in nature, McCandless would deal with water, but knowing that he had fear of water, it is contradictive with his characterization as an adventurer. As a person who rejected capitalism and materialist society, he was found working at McDonald's for having money in which both McDonalds and money are symbols of capitalism and materialistic society. As a person who spent his time mostly alone and intended to be alone in Alaska, he was a lonely person after all. Thus these contradictions demystify the myth of freedom that McCandless chases.

showed any signs of disliking his old society which was full of materialistic people. He rejected the new car that his parents gave him, telling them that he already had the best car.
He even gave Jim Gallien all of his money and watch and told him that he did not need that.
After donating all of the money he had for his study to a charity, he decided to leave home adopting a new name: Alexander Super-tramp.
Chris McCandless was depicted as an adventurer, immaterialistic person, and a loner.
He had done several adventures during his journey to Alaska, like camping in a tent and getting a free lift by hitchhiking in order to achieve his destination. He was not a materialistic person since he had rejected the car and left his upper-middle-class society to live his new life Ni Komang Arie Suwastini, Gusti Ayu Putu Suprianti and Nyoman Trijaya Suparyanta 2 as a vagabond. Mostly, he spent his time alone and stayed out of people for a long time.
When he met Franz and refused Franz' offer to be his grandson, McCandless felt relieved that he could evade the emotional feeling resulted in a long-term relationship. This signifies that he wanted to live alone without society. Connecting these surface characterizations with how McCandless left his society, these connote Chris McCandless as a free spirit person and a freedom chaser.
Chris McCandless was depicted as an adventurer, immaterialistic person, and a loner.
He had done several adventures during his journey to Alaska, like camping in a tent and getting a free lift by hitchhiking in order to achieve his destination. He was not a materialistic The research design used in this study was a qualitative study in the form of interpreting the qualitative design. According to Prior (2008), interpreting qualitative method is a method in which the researcher construes meaning from research findings and use the researcher's assumption/interpretation to provide a context to help the readers understand the result of the study. This research used textual analysis as the research method. According to Lockyer (2008) in Given (2008), textual analysis is a method to examine both the content and meaning of texts or their structure and discourse as accurate as possible. The data of this research were the signifiers which show the characterizations which signify the myth of freedom and the characterizations which demystify the myth of freedom from those 3 signifiers. After the data were gathered, they were analyzed by using Semiotics theory from Roland Barthes.

Myth of freedom
The surface characterizations of McCandless signify the myth of freedom. Those characterizations are an adventurer, immaterialist, and a loner. Stated below are the characterizations of McCandless which signify the myth of freedom, alongside with the analysis.

Adventurer
The first characterization which signifies the myth of freedom is an adventurer. This characterization is shown in sequences: 1a, 3a, 4d, 5d, 6a, 7a, 8a, 8b, 8d, 11a, and 12d. adventures. The evidence of his adventures is his appearances in those places. He even was depicted as an adventurer from the opening of the story which is in sequence 1a. From the opening of the story, McCandless had appeared in front of the truck driver name Gallien.
McCandless got a free ride from Gallien, and he told Gallien about his intention to live off the land for a few months, "He explained that he wanted a ride as far as the edge of Denali National Park, where he intended to walk deep into the bush and "live off the land for a few months." (Krakauer, 1995: 5).

Immaterialist
The second characterization which signifies the myth of freedom is immaterialist.
Immaterialist means not materialistic. The word "materialistic" means excessively concerned with material possessions or money-oriented. This characterization is shown in the sequence The intention to live alone in Alaska was caused by McCandless' disliking towards his old world which was full of materialistic people. The part of the story in sequence 4c tells that McCandless had rejected the offer from his family about the new car. He told them that he already had the best car. This can be seen from the passage: "Indeed, McCandless had only recently upbraided Walt and Billie for expressing their desire to buy him a new car as a graduation present and offering to pay for law school if there wasn't enough money left in his college fund to cover it. (Krakauer, 1995: 16) The part of the story above gives the information that he rejected the offer of a new car from his family. The word "upbraided" signifies the rejection towards the new car. He rejected the new car from his family because he already had a car. McCandless had upbraided his parents because they offer him a new car as a present for his graduation. He already had a car so that was why he rejected the offer. This shows any disliking towards the way his parents thought about money. The word upbraided connotes the rejection towards materialistic society.

Another evidence of immaterialist characterization happens when McCandless met
Gallien. In the story, McCandless insisted to give Gallien his money, which was 85 cents, his comb, and his watch, but Gallien insisted not to take them. McCandless then told Gallien that if Gallien did not take them, he would throw them away, "Alex insisted on giving Gallien his watch, his comb, and what he said was all his money: eighty-five cents in loose change……[sic] "If you don't take it, I'm going to throw it away," Alex cheerfully retorted. (Krakauer, 1995:7).
The line "If you don't take it, I'm going to throw it away," signifies that McCandless was immaterialist. The way McCandless gave Gallien his money, watch and comb signify the immaterialist characterization. McCandless did not want to concern with the material or money that he had. He even told Gallien that he would throw his money, comb and watch away if Gallien did not take them.  (Krakauer, 1995:37). down at the swift current and remarked that he was afraid of the water. "A year ago down in Mexico," he told Gallien, "I was out on the ocean in a canoe, and I almost drowned when a storm came up." (Krakauer, 1995:6

)"
From the part of the story above, what is denoted here is the fear of water characterization. From the first line of the part of the story above, it is known that, by looking down at Nenana River, McCandless shows any gesture that he wanted to make sure about the condition of the water. By knowing that the water of Nenana River moved fast, he mentioned to Gallien that he was afraid of water. McCandless also mentioned that a year ago in Mexico while canoeing, he faced a storm that almost drowned him. This bad experience made him afraid of water.
From the part of the story above, the location of McCandless should be near Nenana River, because he easily looked down at the river. This river is located in Alaska. By 8 knowing that McCandless' intention was to live alone in Alaska, there should be some big rivers in Alaska, for example, Teklanika River. Due to his fear of the water, McCandless could not move further if he faced the big rivers to continue his adventure. This becomes contradictory that as a person who sought an adventure in nature, McCandless was afraid of water which is part of nature. Thus, this contradiction denies the idea of an adventurer.
McCandless' fear of water connotes that he could not survive his life alone in the Alaska wilderness. While he was in Alaska, he should face a lot of big rivers. He will put his life in danger if he is trapped in a situation where he could not cross the river. Further investigation results that the part of the story below denotes the condition where McCandless could not move further because he could not cross the river, "McCandless was a weak swimmer and had confessed to several people that he was, in fact, afraid of the water.
Attempting to swim the numbingly cold torrent or even to paddle some sort of improvised raft across seemed too risky to consider." (Krakauer, 1995:117).
The information that is denoted from the part of the story above is the fear of water characterization and a weak swimmer. This can be seen from the first line of the quote.
Swimming ability is essential especially for those who deal a lot with nature. Being signified as a weak swimmer reveals that McCandless was lack of surviving ability. As an adventurer, having a lack of swimming ability will put McCandless' life in danger and limit McCandless field of adventure. He could not continue his trip if he faces the big rivers which require him to swim across. This lack of swimming ability is also supported with the fear towards the water, makes it harder for him to continue his adventurer, thus becomes a contradiction with his characterization as an adventurer.
Thus, based on the investigation above, being afraid of water connotes McCandless' unavailability to live in Alaska considering that Alaska has lots of big rivers. For a person who sought adventure in nature, McCandless must deal with water a lot, since water is an integral part of nature. Not only having fear of water, but he also had a lack of swimming ability which is necessary for him to survive his life. The fear of water becomes a contradiction towards an adventure characterization as the signifier of the myth of freedom.

Fear to depart from capitalist consumption
Chris McCandless has tried to leave the materialist society he once lived in by having a trip to Alaska, where he could stay alone. He is signified as an immaterialist by donating all his money to charity and rejecting the new car that his family offered because money cannot buy his respect (Krakauer, 1995). He is also signified as a person who rejected the rules and all systems in it. This can be seen from the sequence when he did not follow the flash flood sign, burned the money, did not carry any ID, did not have a hunting license, and even he swore to government that "how I feed myself is none of governments business. Fuck their stupid rules" (Krakauer, 1995). He is also signified as a hater of his old society because he did not use his real name anymore when introducing himself. By considering these signifiers, his actions connote the rejection towards materialistic society and capitalism. Curiously, when McCandless applied for the McDonald's job, he presented himself as Chris McCandless, not as Alex, and gave his employers his real Social Security number. It was an uncharacteristic break from his cover that might easily have alerted his parents to his whereabouts. (Krakauer, 1995:29). Alaskan hunters know that the easiest way to preserve meat in the bush is to slice it into thin strips and then air-dry it on a makeshift rack. But McCandless, in his naivete, relied on the advice of hunters he'd consulted in South Dakota, who advised him to smoke his meat, not an easy task under the circumstances. "Butchering extremely difficult," (Krakauer, 1995:114) The first line denotes the easiest way to preserve meat; instead, McCandless used the smoking method. McCandless did not know the easiest way to preserve the meat, so he followed the advice from South Dakota Hunter. Knowing the conditions where he was in South Dakota and Alaska was totally different, the method of preserving the meat is also different. Thus, this condition makes McCandless failed in the end to process the moose meat when the maggots started to appear. This also reveals that McCandless had no experience before in dealing with the big game because before he left his society, he used to eat the food he could find in his society, which was a capitalist society. Thus, this condition connotes that McCandless had any fear to depart from capitalist consumption.

Endless suffering from loneliness
Chris McCandless has spent lots of his time alone. Not only when he left but also when was at home. His sister, Carine, also stated that he spent his time mostly alone in his family. In his trip to Alaska, he had met several people who were interested in him, but he decided not to stay for too long with them. In Anza Borrego, McCandless had met Ronald Franz who wanted to adopt him, but McCandless rejected his offer and then he claimed that he felt relieved to evade the emotional baggage resulted from the further relationship. When he met Stuckey in Alaska, McCandless claimed he wanted to spend his time alone in Alaska without any single person and any sign of civilization. He also declared his independence when he was in Alaska by mentioning about no longer to be poisoned by civilization (Krakauer,1995 One of the evidence which signifies loneliness characterization happens in sequence 13b. In sequence 13b, Carine McCandless mentioned that they rarely saw their parents home because they worked all the time (Krakauer, 1995). They often saw the clash between their parents that they often used verbal sparring and sometimes threatened divorce (Krakauer, 1995). His conditions back then were in a family who were so busy making money and were often in a clash. Having a family with lots of clashes causes McCandless feels a lack of happiness. There was no interaction between family members because the parents are only concerned about money. By knowing the fact that McCandless did not have lots of interaction with his parents and often to see the clash between his parents reveal that he was in a state of loneliness. Perlman & Peplau (1981) mention the parents who were less trustworthy, disagreeable, and divorced cause great loneliness towards the children.
McCandless had experienced that his parents were disagreeable, have lots of clashes, and almost got divorced. There was a different way of thinking between McCandless with his parents which cause disagreement. There were a lot of clashes happened between Walt and Billie which causes them almost got divorced. These facts cause great loneliness feeling inside his heart. He felt that his society was not warm anymore. Then, as a result, he decided to leave the society with the reason to find freedom. The strong evidence of suffering from loneliness is when McCandless realized true happiness. The phrase "HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARE" (Krakauer, 1995: 129) shows that McCandless realized that true happiness is with people around him. This shows his regret because he threw away everything he got just to fulfill his ambition to get freedom from society. This also highlights that what McCandless wanted the most is happiness, not freedom. That is why he felt unhappy at the end of the story. McCandless was unhappy because he was in the state of loneliness. Perlman & Peplau (1981) stated that in order to minimalize the feeling of loneliness, people can try to reduce their loneliness' feeling by gratifying their needs in alternative ways.
Referring to the above statement, McCandless was lonely. What McCandless needs the most was happiness. In order to find happiness, he used the journey to Alaska as the escape route to reduce his loneliness. As a sociable human being, his character shows that he was easy to get attached to people whom he met. He could impress those people and showed his respect towards them. Living alone would not bring him what he wanted from the bottom of his heart. He did not get experiences, he did not get warm feelings from the other people, he could not share his experience, he could not talk about philosophy, and more importantly, he did not find any happiness which he realized when he lived for months inside the magic Bus 142 in Alaska. He did not find any happiness in his old society which only concerned about money because he thought that money could not buy his respect. If it is referred to what Pearlman and Peplau have stated, McCandless was lonely after all. In order to reduce his loneliness, he is gratifying what he wanted the most, which was happiness, by having a trip to Alaska.

CONCLUSION
Based on the result, the depiction of Chris McCandless as a freedom chaser is denied through the evidence found during further investigation towards the plot development of Into The Wild. As a person who sought an adventure in nature, McCandless would deal with water, but knowing that he had fear of water, it is contradictive with his characterization as an adventurer. As a person who rejected capitalism and materialist society, he was found working at McDonald's to earn some money in which both McDonalds and money are symbols of capitalism and materialistic society. As a person who spent his time mostly alone and intended to be alone in Alaska, he was a lonely person after all. Thus these contradictions demystify the myth of freedom that McCandless chases.
After meeting with warm people during his journey, McCandless seems realized that what he intended to find is not freedom, but happiness from the people around him. He did not get that happy when he was in his old society in which his parents only concerned with