Into The Wild: A Novel: Chris Mccandless And Transcendentalism

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Chris McCandless and Transcendentalism
In Into the Wild Chris McCandless embarks on a solo trip wherever the road takes him with the final goal of conquering the Alaskan wilderness. McCandless was always fascinated with the wilderness and after he graduates from Emory college he decides to leave his family in the suburbs of Virginia. Throughout high-school and college McCandless kept a 4.0 grade point average but as soon as his time was up he went out on his own. Some call him stupid and selfish because he left his family behind without telling them where he was or where he was going. Others praise him because he followed the ideas of transcendentalism and he did what he wanted to. He did not let other people stop him from what he wanted to achieve. McCandless took the transcendental ideas that he gained from reading lots of books and made them his way of life. On all of his trips he tried to reduce his dependence on property by bringing very little supplies to survive on his own.
In chapter one McCandless shows that he does not conform to what the government says is required and what everyone else expects. Gallien asks Chris …show more content…

In chapter 13 Carine, Chris McCandless's sister, is given what was found with Chris McCandless's body. It shows that he did not take very much with him in order to survive in Alaska. This connects to Thoreau's ideas in "Walden", on page 410 because in "Walden" it says that people should live a simple life by only concentrating on the important things. Chris lives his life simple by taking very little with him on his trip, so that he doesn't have to worry about and deal with all this extra stuff. By living free and uncommitted, Chris McCandless is able to live close to nature like Thoreau thought everyone should. With these examples we can tell that McCandless definitely agrees with the ideas of transcendentalism but do I

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