The renowned writer and leading transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau once said, “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see,”. In Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, Chris McCandless’ actions and thoughts throughout the book as well as his life fully echo the sentiment of the quote as that of a romantic. A romantic is someone who views the world with an idealized view, seeing things for what they should be rather than what they are. Despite fitting comfortably into the mold of a romantic, in some cases McCandless does not completely follow his ideals. However, these instances are but a drop in the pond compared to the innumerable amount of times that McCandless has demonstrated his visionary ideals of the world. Though McCandless …show more content…
As McCandless neared the end of his high school years he decided he didn’t want to go to college as he thought it would be, “pointless, a waste of time and money” but surprisingly, he yielded to his parents’ wishes and,“ended up going to Emory”(114). This departure from following his views of the world and allowing himself to submit to ideas that he didn’t really believe in characterizes McCandless in a much more pragmatic light. He may have realized that he was much more dependent on his parents in his day to day life or that college may help him advance his ideals with other like minded people. So instead of fanatically following his ideals to the extreme McCandless decided to keep those ideals with him and act upon them later when he felt the time was right. This would explain his sudden disappearance to go on his Alaskan odyssey many years later as he never let go of his pre-college ideals but rather hid them away temporarily. Chris had a multitude of ideals about the world and others, but he seemed to ignore …show more content…
He viewed the ideals he held as possible and became frustrated when others didn’t see the way he saw things. McCandless involved himself directly with matters around the world in his high school years and felt that the world could have been better. He, “became obsessed with racial oppression in South Africa.” in his senior year of high school (113). McCandless felt that the injustices of the world could and should be fixed, if not by others than by himself. To him an ideal world was a very real and possible thing to obtain if just enough people tried. Trying to achieve this he called on his friends to join, “ the struggle to end apartheid” in South Africa(113). Despite the seemingly fanciful ideals McCandless held towards the real world he actually acted out on his ideals in multiple occasions. He felt that the corruption and decay of society could be fixed and that he would be the one to do it. Going out on weekends, McCandless would go to one of the run down neighborhoods and would chat, “with prostitutes and homeless people, buying them meals, earnestly suggesting ways they might improve their lives”(113). To McCandless these people were not the scum of society, but rather people that should be aided and he would be the instrument of that. He truly believed that by interacting with them he could
McCandless was different to other people, Westerburg saw this, explaining how McCandless ”tried too hard to make sense of the world. To figure out why people were bad to each other so often”(18). When McCandless originally left, he had felt betrayed by his parents and in college he slowly started pushing his friends away. He was disgusted by all the lies and began to shut down and came the plan to leave in his Datsun. Anybody else in his place would have decided to take charge and take a decisive turn turn in their life, hoping it would be for the better. Many don 't realize that although the beginning he was escaping, he later preferred living in nature and didn 't want to stop. He said it himself in a letter “ The freedom and simple beauty of it is just too good to pass up”(33). Also, in McCandless story you’re able to see the evolution of McCandless mentality. At first, he is alone trying to cope with the setbacks he encounters, in which he almost dies from. Then, needing to recharge, he makes friends like Franz and the Westerburg that allow him to see the positives of having someone there for you. However, he still was not convinced that human relationships were necessary, he keeps a safe distance sending them postcards when he can. It is not until at Alaska that McCandless discovers what happiness consists of, he writes in bold letters, “Happiness only
The McCandless family all loved and cared about Chris deeply. The McCandless family was constantly distressed over Chris and the choices he made I life, as they knew they could not change his mind on any decision no matter how much they resented said decision. As shown in the book, “And then he left on his trip. . . We had our hearts in our mouths the whole time he was gone, but there was no way to stop him.” Page 118 Chapter 12. These quotes showed the constant worry they had over Chris fully knowing they could not change him. Chris’s feeling about his family weren’t as strong in return. Chris was more distant from his parents, Chris eventually grew a distaste for his parents when he discovered that his father never told him about his previous marriage. “He seemed mad at us more often, but he wouldn’t tell us what was on his mind and spent more time by himself.” Page 121 Chapter 12. Thoreau’s quote is similar to Chris’s viewpoint as Thoreau’s quote talks about lack of truth, which is why Chris is upset with Walt, lack of truth from his previous
Christopher Johnson McCandless was not justified for shunning society and social norms in favor of individualism. McCandless misinterpreted “Walden”, was crazy to shun society, misunderstood “Self Reliance”, and committed actions that contradicted themselves. McCandless was misguided, insane, and had no idea what he was trying to accomplish because he got two simple things like solitude and isolation mixed up.
McCandless’s family and peers expect him to live life a certain way, to follow the family tradition, however, it is McCandless’s high social standards for himself, and his sharp view of right and wrong, that would define the blueprint of his tragic flaw that caused him to go into the wild. In High School, McCandless would start to show some of his radical ideas about how he could help fix society. McCandless’s high school buddies explained that “’ Chris didn’t like going through channels, working within the system.”’ (113) Instead, McCandless would often talk about leaving school to go South Africa to help end the apartheid. When his friends or adults responded by saying that you are only kids, or you can’t make a difference, McCandless would simply respond “so I guess you just don’t care about right and wrong ‘” (113). McCandless would grow to learn that hi...
Chris McCandless was a young man who did everything in his power to try and represent that freedom he was searching for. McCandless had everything before we went out but he decided to go out and travel by choice. He was considered a selfish man because when someone offered him to help him he rejects it in a nice way since we wants to do things himself. In the book Into the wild he states that,"You don't need to worry about me. I have a college education. I'm not destitute. I'm living like this by choice."
Into the Wild by John Krakauer is a rare book in which its author freely admits his bias within the first few pages. “I won't claim to be an impartial biographer,” states Krakauer in the author’s note, and indeed he is not. Although it is not revealed in the author's note whether Krakauer's bias will be positive or negative, it can be easily inferred. Krakauer's explanation of his obsession with McCandless's story makes it evident that Into the Wild was written to persuade the reader to view him as the author does; as remarkably intelligent, driven, and spirited. This differs greatly from the opinion many people hold that McCandless was a simply a foolhardy kid in way over his head. Some even go as far as saying that his recklessness was due to an apparent death-wish. Krakauer uses a combination of ethos, logos and pathos throughout his rendition of McCandless’s story to dispute these negative outlooks while also giving readers new to this enigmatic adventure a proper introduction.
Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, describes the adventure of Christopher McCandless, a young man that ventured into the wilderness of Alaska hoping to find himself and the meaning of life. He undergoes his dangerous journey because he was persuade by of writers like Henry D. Thoreau, who believe it is was best to get farther away from the mainstreams of life. McCandless’ wild adventure was supposed to lead him towards personal growth but instead resulted in his death caused by his unpreparedness towards the atrocity nature.
Transcendentalism is a religious, philosophical, literary, and social movement of the nineteenth century. Essentially, this movement was based upon the ideals of the “sixth sense,” nature, and non-conformity, as well as individualism, intuition, idealism, imagination, and inspiration. A few of the works and writings featured in the transcendental unit include Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, The Beatification of Chris McCandless: From Thieving Poacher into Saint by Craig Medred, and Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The primary focus of this essay is to provide an opinion on a strikingly debatable topic; Whether or not Christopher McCandless, hero of Krakauer’s Into the Wild, was a true transcendentalist. Despite the bold actions of Chris McCandless on his daring Alaskan odyssey, he turned out to be far from a true transcendentalist, failing to meet the definition of transcendentalism, being solely concerned with himself, and acting out of revenge rather than seeking self discovery - nothing more than a childish suicidal rebel.
McCandless was not the 'sit down and take it in stride' kind of person. If he saw something wrong, something he did not agree with, he would try to fix it, or help in any way that he could. He was inherently compassionate, a man of his principles; owned by the rules that he governed himself with. It is apparent that he had always been an idealistic dreamer, and had always believed himself capable of much, because as his friend shared: “He'd say 'Come on,...
...elligence to help him last an extended period of time in the Alaskan wilderness. In truth, McCandless was someone who wanted to find himself. He wanted to get away from a life in which he could not find fulfilment, which is something many others would be able to relate to. Although most people would not go to such extremes to find fulfilment, everyone has a different way of finding happiness and going after what their heart truly desires. For McCandless, his desire was to live out in the wild. Unfortunately, this man of great character did not succeed in getting out alive. However, that does not change the fact that he tried. McCandless knew what he wanted for himself and he persisted, regardless of the obstacles he faced. He put an incredible amount of effort into accomplishing his goals and never gave up, and that is why Christopher McCandless is someone to admire.
In 1990, when he was 22 years old, Christopher McCandless ventured out into the Alaska wilderness in search for true happiness, and 2 years later he suffered a tragic death. An aspiring writer, Jon Krakauer, found McCandless’ story fascinating and chose to dedicate 3 years of his life to write a novel about him. The book entitled “Into the Wild” tells the tale of Christopher McCandless, an ill prepared transcendentalist longing for philosophical enrichment, who naïvely, failed to consider the dangers of isolating himself from human society for such a long period of time. Though Christopher McCandless made a courageous attempt to separate himself from society, in order to achieve self-fulfillment, the stubborn nature of this reckless greenhorn led him to his unfortunate demise.
“Into The Wild” by John Krakauer is a non-fiction biographical novel which is based on the life of a young man, Christopher McCandless. Many readers view Christopher’s journey as an escape from his family and his old life. The setting of a book often has a significant impact on the story itself. The various settings in the book contribute to the main characters’ actions and to the theme as a whole. This can be proven by examining the impact the setting has on the theme of young manhood, the theme of survival and the theme of independent happiness.
...nt happens when McCandless starts his journey. Just like when he encountered Franz, and had a close relationship with him, McCandless met other people, and he made lifelong relationships with those people that he met. He even wrote letters to them so they could keep in touch. To him, all those people, like Franz, Westerberg, and even Jim Gallien all seemed like his family. Some of them gave him a place to crash for the night, gave him a job, and even assisted him on his journey like giving him a ride. McCandless being nice and appreciative to all those people for helping him throughout his journey shows how “saintly” he can be.
...can be a life-changing experience. McCandless entered the wild as an overly confident hitchhiker and left as a self-accepting and humble man. He thought that human relationships were futile, he was impervious to materialism, and that he could understand nature on a scientific level. However, McCandless left the wild with a newfound appreciation for humanity, some clarity on his purpose in life, and the ability to create his own legacy. Many people finish reading Into the Wild and form negative opinions about McCandless’ reckless behavior. However, it is important to focus on how being in the wild brought McCandless closer to understanding himself. Into the Wild should motivate humans to participate in explore the wilderness to discover the true meaning of life.
McCandless was a fearless human being. I think that most of the people’s ideologies and personalities have to do with how they were raised by the parents and everything that was taught to them. When a lack of love exists from a parent towards his child, a hate can be created without knowing it. McCandless could have gone away from society to escape reality or, for being in a place where he could find himself at peace. Either one, we can assume that he obviously had different ideas about civilization; the idea of having a life full of danger and adventure inspired and excited him.