A worldview is the lens through which one views the world; a set of values and beliefs that one uses to make decisions and judgments. One’s worldview is detrimental in the forming of their personality and pattern of behavior. Psychology has shown that their parents determine the majority of one’s worldview. Children often carry on with the beliefs and practices previously held by their parents. When one’s belief system comes crashing down, they are thrown into a world of unknown. A world that previously seemed orderly and clear is now a chaotic mesh of “grey areas.” The individual becomes lost in a sea of uncertainty. This is what caused Chris McCandless to set off on his nomadic journey. He wasn’t looking for attention, but for himself and …show more content…
One may think that with a venture as important as creating a new worldview that one would take a substantial amount of time finding the right one. However, a lack of belief system causes a lack of purpose, and a purposeless man is hardly a man at all. McCandless was in desperate need of a worldview and fast. It was no secret that Chris was an intelligent young fellow. “Well educated,” was Franz’s first observation about Chris. McCandless quickly found a worldview in the writings of Transcendentalists Jack London, Lev Tolstoy, and Henry David Thoreau. He wanted to believe in something so desperately that he clung to the transcendentalist ideals regardless of whether the writings were fact or fiction. “He seemed to forget that it [the book] was fiction” Pg. 67. McCandless was chasing a fairytale. The ideals of McCandless’s new worldview were the opposite of his parents. While his parents measured the value of ones life in success and outward appearance, Chris focused on becoming one with nature. They wanted Chirs “to go to a good school” (pg.114) and afterword attend “law school” (pg27). However, after his parents lies were revealed to him, he hated his parents. He stated that his father was a “hypocrite” and “evil,” (pg. 64). Chris rejected
In one the passage was highlighted in the book “Family Happiness” that Chris brought with, the author Leo Tolstoy talked about how a person's life should be. “I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. … which found no outlet in our quiet life.” (p.15) Tolstoy explained how a life should be excited and interesting not just living day by day without any enjoyment. Chris followed his beliefs. He believes that he should live a life that he would not regret later on. That could be one of his reason he was going into the wild to make an excited life. Another passage was also found with McCandless’s belongings is from Henry David Thoreau’ “Walden”. “All nature is your congratulation, and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself. … a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched.” (p.47) This passage explains the fact that happiness can found in nature. McCandless wanted to found his purpose of his life and Thoreau stated about the importance of the nature. And McCandless believed Thoreau. If Chris McCandless had believed some authors, he would follows that in his whole
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.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is known as the father of Transcendentalism, a philosophical movement based on feelings rather than logic, it is a movement for the nonconformists and unique thinkers. Transcendentalism’s main ideas are individualism, intuition, imagination, idealism, and inspiration. When Emerson created the movement in the nineteenth century he was a well known writer and is still today a prominent figure in American Literature. Christopher McCandless was also a transcendentalist. He left everything he had in order to go on a great Alaskan voyage. Unfortunately, during his journey, something went wrong and he died due to uncertain causes. McCandless is also the protagonist of the nonfiction novel, Into the Wild which Jon Krakauer wrote about McCandless’s life. Emerson and McCandless show similarities with each other such as their transcendental thinking, their individuality, and their life goal of searching for their identity.
McCandless views life as a true transcendentalist and embraces the natural world and steps away from society while Franz keeps to himself and fears stepping out of his comfort zone. McCandless sets on that journey to prove nothing but to find himself. McCandless respects Franz for even trying to make a difference in his life, even if he doesn’t join him.
Was he a reckless idiot? That is the big question. This is what people always seem to talk about when they talk about Chris McCandless. There are many people who think that Chris McCandless was a reckless idiot who was mentally ill, or something else was wrong with Chris. It seems that almost everybody that met Chris thought maybe Chris was crazy or had problems. Here are just a few things that people said about Chris and his state of mind. Pg 40 Zarza admits saying, "he was always going on about trees and nature and weird stuff like that. We all thought he was missing a few screws. Pg 42 Charlie said, "seemed like a kid who was looking for something." Pg 45 Burres said "I thought Alex had lost his mind when he told us about his 'great Alaskan odyssey, ' as he called it."
Chris McCandless does not wish to follow defined life structure that society enforces to simply be alive, instead, he chooses to take a seek a path to live a life with purpose. Such an eagerness to seek detachment from what is expected by society, is enforced by not only McCandless but also Thoreau. A primary factor resembling this, is McCandless’ view that many people “live within unhappy circumstances...yet will not change…they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism...damaging to the adventurous spirit(40).” The detesting tone risen through the confliction of “unhappy circumstances” and “damage,” to “safety, conformity and conservation,” emphasis his will to separate from a lifestyle lacking change. This is done
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.
In the book foundations of Christian thought by Mark Cosgrove in part 1 the, Concept of Worldview, in chapter 5, Integration of Faith and Learning, Cosgrove explains the model of faith being broken down into four simple approaches. These models are the sole authority, separate authorities, equal authorities, and foundational authority. First, I will define Sole Authority, also known as the Against model, defined as faith against learning. In this model, it says that there is no point in studying human knowledge and that human knowledge is probably going to be incorrect. Everything worth learning, we can learn from God’s word. Secondly, is the Separate Authorities model, also known as the Parallels are faith and learning. This model says
The truth of life and existence is only achievable through personal satisfaction of goals and breaking away from the expectations of society. Chris was not one to stand by and let society define his path, instead he took control of his own destiny and found his own “truth”. In all, Chris McCandless should be considered a transcendentalist. He chose to live a life of simplicity, with a spartan apartment and living in the woods, lived a simple life in an off campus apartment until he left to live off the land in the Alaskan wilderness and rely on himself and his skills and talents to make it. Although, he was unfortunate and did not live to tell his story, his beliefs and ideas will be remembered as those of a transcendentalist.
“One who formulates, strives after, or attempts to live in accordance with, ideals” is what Funk and Wagnalls Standard College Dictionary describes an idealist as. It is evident that Christopher John McCandless fits this definition in every way: he constructed his own ideals and principles, dreamt up what his consummate existence would pertain, and went for it...head first. This on its own is exceptionally noble, because in order to live out this utopia he envisioned he willingly cut off all of the stability and security that his life at home provided. Contrary to popular belief McCandless was not insane, was not arrogant and seeking praise for his actions, nor did he have a death wish; in actuality he was a noble idealist that acted upon his wildest, dreamt up endeavours. McCandless was an extremely compassionate man, and would always loyally abide by his ideals and principles. What he sought was life in its simplest form; he no longer wanted anything to do with modern society and all of the troubles that it brought. Then lies the extremities to which he took making this all become reality. How many people could honestly claim to have sufficiently reached out to their dreams, could honestly claim that they had at least tried let alone pushed hard enough to succeed?
Chris McCandless was a young man from Washington, D.C.. In an effort to live closer to nature, he abandoned his life and education at university studying. He gave his life savings to a charity and started hitchhiking and traveling for almost two years. He eventually finds himself in Alaska, where he lived for four months before he unfortunately died due to starvation. McCandless’ journey was in tune with the movement of transcendentalism, a movement in which its founders were a strong inspiration to Chris. Chris McCandless was very in tune with his surrounding and the nature within it and his connection with it. A turning
Kleinfeld tries to categorize Chris McCandless as a hero, dumb jerk, or soul searcher. She uses pathos as well as blatantly stating her opinion to achieve her goal. In Jon Krakauer’s book Into the Wild we see many aspects of Chris McCandless that both support and contradicts these categorizations given by Kleinfeld. Jon Krakauer shows us every aspect of Chris McCandless’s journey as well as his life before, by doing this Krakauer shows Chris McCandless is not just one category, he is not any category at all. Kleinfeld’s condescending tone expresses the lack of heroism she sees in McCandless. (Adjust thesis to fit new purpose).
Chris McCandless had a reputation for being overly ambitious since grade school. His teachers noticed at young age he was abnormally strong-willed which he coupled with intense idealism and strong physical endurance. In high school, Chris served as the captain of his cross country team asking them to treat each race as a spiritual experience. After graduating high school Chris continued on to college where he would graduate with a bachelor’s degree, doub...
Chris McCandless lived a life in which he disgusted by human civilization, and left it, eventually being led to his death in Alaska. McCandless entered the Alaskan wilderness severely unprepared, a brutal error that cost him his life. In the novel, Into the Wild by John Krakauer, Chris glances into his mindset by they way of his journal, history, and analysis of his life reveals that Chris McCandless as an arrogant and judgemental narcissist, while not mentally unstable, had a condescending attitude towards society and perished not only from his reckless stupidity but also from his unparalleled ego. Chris McCandless was immune to love and had an obsession with nature and society, him showing characteristics that created the appearance of McCandless
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, ...