Chris Mccandless Rebel Essay

What does it mean to be a rebel? According to the dictionary we can clearly see a rebel as someone who resists any authority, control, or tradition. Chris McCandless is a primary example of a rebel and also a transcendentalist. He came to hold a certain reverence of nature, seeing it as a very precious thing to be protected. Also, as he traveled, he avoided densely populated areas, and relied primarily upon himself to get what he wanted. Chris scorned modern society, and their beliefs on the techniques to a successful life and what true happiness is. In many ways Chris McCandless can relate to other transcendentalist such as Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson who once said, “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Chris McCandless Rebels in many aspects of the word. First, we see that he rebelled against his parents by not pursuing a career, and not settling down, but doing the exact opposite of both. His parents may have influenced this decision without even knowing it. Chris’s parents were not very involved in his life growing up, because they were always working. Their jobs however are not ordinary jobs, as a result we can see why he may have the urge to go and explore what the world has to offer.

We can describe Chris McCandless and the drastic change in his life as true characteristics and dedication to becoming a transcendentalist. At the beginning of his new life he had 25,000 dollars in savings, with which he donated all to charity. Not only did he donate all of his life savings to charity, but he also burnt all of the money and ID cards he had in his wallet. How does this relate to a rebel? Society today says that the more money and “things” you have the better you are, so by Chris getting rid of almost everything in his name he could not be considered