By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban
“An abandoned bus in Alaska featured in the film Into The Wild has been removed after increasing numbers of tourists got into difficulties visiting it.”
“A US army helicopter lifted it from a trail outside Denali National Park. The local mayor said it was “a big relief”.
This was a sample of news headlines on June 18 – 2020 on the removal of ‘the Magic Bus 142’, on the Stampede Trail, Alaska, where Chris McCandless, the young American adventurer passed away, alone, 34 years ago. The bus has rested there since the forties. The last footage of the bus in the grip of a military helicopter, hanging in the air, along with the hearts and memories of many people around the world, including myself, sends shockwaves and sever criticism. Like billions of people, I have never been to that magic spot in the wilderness in person, nor any place else. However, some raw, deep and alluring feelings have sprung in my chest, struck a chord in my heart and hooked me gently, and sometimes violently,to the story, the setting, the hero, the tragic end of Chris and the aura of the place since I started following the heartbreaking news of many pilgrims who had lost their lives on their way to the spot, years before the removal of the iconic bus.
Passion for adventure
Immediately after graduation, Chris decided to donate all his money to charitable work and started his journey to the wilderness, driven by his passion for adventures that grew with him since childhood and was ignited by the travel books he loved.
He chose to abandon modern life and technology, and search for a new home in the heart of the Alaskan wilderness. He found there an old abandoned bus, used to carry workers of a company operating there in the 1940’s of the last century. Chris lived on the bus and started writing his diary; he described everything there: the weather, the plants, and the animals, and his daily moods. A few months later, Chris no longer had enough food; nor are the currently available technological means to help reach him as he did not inform anyone of his whereabouts. On his way back, he failed to cross the rough Tek River; it was so high up. Chris returned to the bus to die there a few days later.
The magic bus
The story of Chris McCandless has inspired writers and inflamed the imagination of artists in the cinema industry; a movie entitled ‘Into The Wild’ depicted the story, featuring the bus or a replica of it. Soon after, the bus and the whole place became a magnet for lovers of travel, adventure and wildlife; they made pilgrimage to it throughout the years; some lost their lives while crossing the river, whereas others got lost as the rushing water washed them away. It did not matter. What mattered for the bus fans was to reach the place, the theatre that witnessed the chapters of Chris’s adventure and heart wrenching end, whatever the cost.This used to cost the authorities there a lot of headache, time and money searching for the missing persons.
What’s in a place?
Psychologists and environmentalists say that a place does not become a place unless people dwell in it, where the love of the place grows in their hearts and where memories, warmth, family, comrades and things live on. Otherwise, it remains just a space. Hence, we can understand the nostalgia for the place; the bus became an icon and a symbol full of fresh, raw emotions. The bus contained Chris’s stuff: his books, diaries, clothes and his bed.
After a series of accidents, adventure lovers were appalled by the authorities ’decision to lift the magic bus from its alluring place in June 2020 and deposit it in a warehouse for a decision on it later.
Two poles apart
The news triggered cascades of diverse reactions. People were two poles apart: supporters of the move to save the lives of otheradventurers who may suffer the same fate as the hero of the story, and opponents who saw it as a demolition of an edifice of sincere feelings, inspiring memories and a tourist destination that could have been equipped with adequate safety means, such as building a bridge on the River of Death and offering other services to visitors. The footage of the bus, hanging in the air amid a background from above showing the prairies diminishing and the terrifying river turning into a hardly visible zigzag line in the picture has ever since lingered in hearts and memories. It is very suggestive. Yes. It suggests weakness and strength of the human beings at the same time.Hope I would tackle the semiotics of the story and the bus removal from a linguistic perspective in a future article. It is really worthwhile.
Only time will tell
And after the bus removal,the question that has kept resounding in my head is: Will the magic of the place and its symbolism live on? Or they will be sent into oblivion with the absence of the magic bus icon. We do not know. Only time will tell.
‘One cannot remove history’
Finally, as I wrap up my article, let me quote what an adventurous person says: “Look…as a camper, hiker, survivalist adventure seeker myself…I understand their intent…but let me tell you… this will not prevent seekers…from still going to that exact location…and setting up a camp…this is almost certain… one cannot remove history from its origin or birth place…the echo and memory…always remain!”
By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban Professor of linguistics Faculty of Arts
Kafr el-sheikh University
Email: [email protected]
