Blog post #4

Chris McCandless from Into The Wild and Mr. Fox from Fantastic Mr. Fox both strive for personal satisfaction and are prepared to risk what they have to achieve fulfillment in their life, a major aspect that contributes to their actions is family.

In the beginning of the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox was not satisfied with the outcome of his journalism career, as he felt no one read his column and it was of no value to anyone. A fox in nature will live in a "fox hole" underground to provide protection, but Mr. Fox had begun to feel poor and he wanted an upgrade or as he put it, something better for his family. The new home he chose was a tree settled across the way from three of the most dangerous farmers. The real estate agent had warned him about the homes conflict with the farmers, but Mr. Fox had decided to move his family into the tree anyways. Mr. Fox's past had consisted of stealing goods from farmers and part of the reason for moving was to feel like a wild animal again. This is easily relatable to Chris McCandless because they both portray a liking for high risk and dangerous situations. Chris McCandless was unaware of his family concerns that left them heartbroken in the end. Chris made decisions based on his own happiness and often let his family unfamiliar with his whereabouts. Like a wild animal instinct Chris wanted to get away from the standards of society, he didn't want to behave in such a way that followed the norms or rules of modern society. He was a free spirit and wild at heart.

Another view on the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox would be from the point of view of Ash (Mr. Fox's son). Ash becomes jealous of his cousin, Kristofferson, because of the amount of attention he receives from Mr. Fox. Kristofferson was an excellent athlete, much like Mr. Fox in previous years. Kristofferson received praise and encouragement from Mr. Fox while diving and playing whack bat, while Ash became angry and the little recognition he received. Ash was looking for approval from his father and worked very hard to receive attention. The trigger point of jealousy for Ash was when Mr. Fox asked Kristofferson to join him in a robbery from the three farms; he even received his own black mask. Mr. Fox didn't consider Ash's feelings when it came down to the bottom of thins, he often rejected Ash and left him behind. I believe Chris McCandless relates to Ash in the opposite sense, Chris wanted little approval from his parents and explained his thoughts to his sister through letters. This creates conflict between characters but I think they both wanted recognition. Chris want self-approval and Ash wanted approval from his loved ones. Chris's father, Walt, acts similar to Mr. Fox; he doesn't understand his son and often clashes personalities. He is confused on how, “. . . a kid with so much compassion could cause his parents so much pain." (pg. 103) In the end, he didn’t understand Chris's feelings towards his parents fighting and past history.

Emotional needs are important to the decisions and achievements of an individual and in both stories this is clearly demonstrated by the actions of the character.