bus pic

This is the bus where Chris McCandless lived when he lived in Alaskan Wilderness.

The Poem That Took the Place of Mountain

It reminded him how he needed
A place to go in his own direction,

The poem that Wallace Stevens refers to is a poem about his life. He chose to live his life like a poem instead of a mountain. Wallace chose to live his life like a poem because he did not want to face the same uphill climb that many people choose to follow. Instead, he wanted to live his life like a free flowing poem, that allowed him to go in the direction he wanted to go. A poem that allowed Stevens to compose and change the different settings and challenges he faced. As he reflects back over his life, he realizes that replacing the mountain with the poem has given him the freedom to follow his own path. A path that allowed him to escape the pressures and expectations of climbing the mountain. The poem has given him a new perspective about his life and the paths that he should travel. It has allowed him to see that he does not have to follow the paths that people tell him to follow. He can instead live a life different from those that follow the direction of the mountain.