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Christopher McCandless, also known as Alex Supertramp, was an avid explorer who many thought shared the beliefs of a transcendentalist. According to oxforddictionaries.com, transcendentalism is an “idealistic philosophical and social movement that developed in New England around 1836 in reaction to rationalism. Influenced by Romanticism, Platonism, and Kantian philosophy, it taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity, and its members held progressive views on feminism and communal living.” Chris admired many of the transcendentalists and shared their traits. Chris often studied Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau and inscribed quotes from them in his diary and etched quotes into the walls of the bus where he died. Transcendentalists often exhume the traits of spirituality, individuality, intuition, optimism, rebellion, and minimalism. Chris exhibited these transcendentalist traits in many ways throughout the book, Into the Wild. Chris expresses spirituality and individuality multiple times. He displays spirituality when he writes to his friend Ronald Franz, “I ...
Transcendentalists have many characteristics but one of many describes the dignity of manual labor. It cleanses their soul and makes them feel alive. Through the story, Jon tells the readers plenty about the character itself and reveals facts. Since Chris McCandless himself is a Transcendentalist, it is very easy for the author to talk about his tenets. The author states "It was a different story Alex, he was the hardest worker I've ever seen" (Krakauer 35) While Chris continued working for McCandless many people grew affection towards him. His co-workers said great things about him and so did his manager. Nobody imagined that he would go on an adventure and disappear in a couple months. He needed the money at the time, started working for a while, and then headed back on the road. He never gave them his social security number, because he did not want to leave any evidence or for the detective to find him. Krakauer used that quote to show emotion and to let the readers know that Chris surely wished...
Because he is a true believer, Chris McCandless is a very spiritual person. Although he never states he is part of a specific religion, he believes in a some godly presence; an important part of being a Transcendentalist. In the end of the book, when Chris is near his inevitable passing, he writes a farewell note to anyone who finds his body. In his final note, he is very euphoric, and not at all regretful of his decision to venture into the Alaskan bush, “I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!” (199). Because he said he had a happy life, and that he thanks the lord, it is clear that Chris appreciates the spirituality within Transcendentalism. It takes true dedication and appreciation in Chris’s final moment to write about spirituality, which is why he includ...
Chris McCandless: a man so infatuated with nature, he practically committed suicide to bring himself nearer to it. This extreme liking for nature, along with other ideals, makes up the core tenets of the transcendentalist philosophy. McCandless demonstrates other tenets of transcendentalism as well, most notably the supremacy of the individual, by detaching himself from the mammon of this world. Another way he shows the supremacy of the individual, by the belief that one should not conform to the usual policies of life, causes him great trouble in some cases. As well as the belief that the individual supersedes all else, McCandless received much of his inspiration from nature. Finally, always following what he believes correct, McCandless follows his own intuition to the point of death. Chris McCandless not only shows his transcendentalist beliefs by the way he acts and thinks, but also by how these actions and thoughts emulate those of the fathers of transcendentalism, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Many people have theories and philosophies about life in general. There have been countless amounts of books published by countless amounts of people on the ideas of people in the past and the present. Transcendentalism falls into a sector of all of these ideas. Transcendentalism has affected many people since the philosophy was first introduced. Henry Thoreau is a name that is always associated with transcendentalism through one of his famous novels,Walden. John Krakauer is able to explain how transcendentalism has affected Chris McCandless in the novel Into The Wild. McCandless's life is comparable to Thoreau's in a variety of ways such as motives, however both McCandless and Thoreau's lives are much different by means such as their reasons for traveling, and what they did.
Chris’s mindset of living a very simplistic life is shown during his limited time with Jim Gallien. Jim notes that “Alex admitted that the only food in his pack was a ten-pound bag of rice” and “Alex’s cheap leather hiking boots were neither waterproof nor well insulated” (Krakauer, 5). Nevertheless, Chris lets his hubris get the best of him by failing to realize that he would need waterproof boots if he wanted to go into a snow environment. Chris was about to enter into the Alaskan frontier with an extremely lousy set of equipment. Chris lets his arrogance and the anticipation of the wild get the best of him, causing him to have poor judgment in his decisions on what to bring with him into the wild. His egotistic personality ultimately led to his death in the cold and unrelenting frontier. Nevertheless, this was not Chris’s first failed attempt to live a transcendentalist lifestyle. “Will you come pick me up?” McCandless asked (Krakauer, 54). Chris was unsuccessful in his endeavor to become a hobo and travel all the way to Seattle and live a life there. Not even a full two months passed before Chris realized that living a life in Seattle that was of transcendent origin, was not just hard, but impossible. This display of him being overly confident in his abilities to live on his own was a build up to him believing he was well
A child of abuse and neglect, Chris McCandless awed the world with his inspiring trip across the nation to find himself in Alaska. Leaving his well off life and his problematic family behind to be true to his ideas of life. His life impacted the people who knew him well and the strangers that drove him to his haven. When the story of this young man hitch hiking across the country broke ground, it made many people question if this boy was just crazy or did he really have a true understanding on the day to day live we were living and where we were going wrong. Although some critics have conceived the idea that Chris McCandless was just a crazed mad man with schizophrenia and the unachievable idea of true happiness. Many believe he was a new
Transcendentalism means to go beyond, and it is something many people have sought after for over a hundred years. People all over strive for something more than just the everyday experience, they want to reach a higher state with new truths and insights, while for others it means to push their whole body beyond its limits, mentally and physically. Many intend to reach this through going out into nature and contemplating the world in its raw and natural state, a place without human interference, where any previous human society near it has been reclaimed by nature. This is what one young man, Chris McCandless wishes to do. Jon Krakauer chronicles this boy’s quest across the country in his book Into The Wild. A quest with the purpose of escaping
People in modern day society should learn from past transcendentalists and engage in the concept of solitude. Henry David Thoreau and Chris McCandless were both transcendentalists that believed in the key fundamental idea of solitude. Henry Thoreau was a transcendentalist that practiced the form of solitude throughout his life. Later in his life, he left society and moved into woods to be alone. Henry David Thoreau wrote a book called, Walden where he recalled important lessons and ideas that his master Ralph Waldo Emerson taught him about transcendentalism. Along with Thoreau, a more modern-day transcendentalist was known as Chris McCandless. McCandless journeyed to the wilderness in Alaska to be able to experience a minimal amount of human
In the film Into the Wild directed by Sean Penn, viewers may have gathered enough evidence to back up their thoughts on Christopher McCandless being a transcendentalist or a non-transcendentalist. Chris portrayed the effort of being a transcendentalist just as Ralph Waldo Emerson and David Thoreau did. He abandoned his nice life to hitchhike all over North America and he was happy about it. McCandless unfortunately died in the wilderness of Alaska after he had eaten moldy seeds. Sooner or later, that mistake was enough to end his life. He shows behavior of being a Transcendentalist by the ways that he despised society, burned his money after he abandoned his car, and went out to Alaska on his own.
...hat Christopher McCandless is, in fact, a true transcendentalist because he failed to qualify for so many of the requirements of transcendentalism. Ultimately, Christopher McCandless proved to be far from a true transcendentalist; nothing more than a childish suicidal rebel.
Transcendentalism plays a key role in all of our lives. Many commonly shared values are rooted from the transcendental keys. Some devote their entire lives to try and live as transcendental as possible. For example, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were huge undertakers in these ideas and virtues. Chris McCandless looked up to these great thinkers and many others to find an outline for his life. McCandless dedicated his entire life to following many transcendental keys such as non-conformity, reducing dependence on property, and self-reliance.
The story of Christopher McCandless is that of an over-ambitious youth trying to find himself. Chris’ story, as told in detail in Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, ended tragically in his death within the Alaskan wilderness many months after running away from home with no contact to his family. In Krakauer’s work, he recounts interactions between Chris during his travels and multiple strangers. In this, one may conclude that Christopher McCandless is simply a reckless narcissist, who is selfish and privileged enough to think he can do and get away with whatever he wants. This is, in an emotional analysis, incorrect. Chris was subject to a severe Icarus complex, his ambitions being more than his body and life can handle. He refuses to contact his
In the 1830s the Transcendental movement sprouted. Through the movement founded by Ralph Waldo Emerson, the idea emerged that there is an inherent goodness in all of us. We learned that just because everyone else has a certain philosophy, it does not mean you are required to think that way. Transcendentalism revolved around the themes of religion, politics, the environment and intuition. Even though the transcendental movement ended more than a century and a half ago, its ideals thrive within modern day society. A fantastic example of a modern day transcendentalist would be Bono, the lead vocalist for the world renowned band, U2. Throughout the years, Bono has carried on the legacy that Emerson and his fellow transcendentalists left behind. Bono and U2 demonstrate transcendentalism through the band’s religious beliefs, political beliefs/actions, environmental movements, song lyrics, and the passion through which they express themselves.
The idea of Chris McCandless being a transcendentalist might be a bit far fetched to some people, yet McCandless shows many aspects of doing so. Being a transcendentalist is not a simple pleasure for some. You need to be dedicated, but not too dedicated. You need to be carefree, yet you still need to know your morals. It is simply a balancing act that is not everyone's ideal. Chris McCandless on the other hand, knew exactly what he was doing without even trying. He did not think of himself as a transcendentalist, he just saw himself as a creation of nature, or maybe even as Alexander Supertramp. McCandless was not always seen as a transcendentalist however, is it even sure that McCandless knew he was affiliated with transcendentalism.
Chris McCandless is regarded as being something as a spiritual figure almost as a cult hero, some call him a disillusioned fool, some call him a great adventurer, and the debate still continues. As Matthew Power calls in his article, an article where he tells the story of McCandless,“The debate falls into two camps: Krakauer's visionary seeker, the tragic hero who dared to live the unmediated life he had dreamed of and died trying; or, as many Alaskans see it, the unprepared fool, a greenhorn who had fundamentally misjudged the wilderness he'd wanted so desperately to commune with.” Like so many stories covering Christopher McCandless’ death, both ends of the argument are discussed in an unfavored manner in the hopes to help develop an opinion on the McCandless story. This open ended question can only be answered open-endedly based on what the readers base for themselves as covered stories intend. Like Power has done, ...