The novel Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, tells the true story of a young man named Chris McCandless who left his life, his family, and everything he ever had to go out into the Alaskan bush north of Mt.Mckinley in April 1992. Chris gave away all of his saving which was $25,000, renamed himself Alex Supertramp and was found decomposed, after the last person saw him, by four moose hunters on an abandoned bus called Bus 142(Krakauer 1). The question still remaining today is if Chris McCandless was a true transcendentalist and to know if Chris was a true transcendentalist you first have to know what the word means. Transcendentalism is an intellectual, aesthetic, and spiritual ferment(Harding 1). Chris McCandless is a true transcendentalist because of his drive to push hard at accomplishing things, his spiritual values, and his liking to being alone sometimes.
From the very beginning Chris
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“It would be easy to stereotype Christopher McCandless as another boy who felt too much, a loopy young man who read too many books and lacked even a modicum of common sense”(Krakauer 184). Some people say that Chris was just a normal guy who read too many books and let it all get into his head and drive him crazy to the point where he would go out into the Alaskan wilderness with no one or no supplies. Although this may be true, there are more facts and evidence to prove that Chris is a true transcendentalist. “But the stereotype isn’t a good fit. McCandless wasn’t some feckless slacker, adrift and confused, racked by existential despair. To the contrary: His life hummed with meaning and purpose”(Krakauer 184). What Krakauer means is that the stereotype that people have against Chris is not true and that he choose to go out into the wild because it’s what he wanted to do like how some people want to go skydiving or go to Paris. Chris is a true transcendentalist and there is much to prove
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.
Christopher McCandless was a hurt soul indeed. He used his knowledge of freedom and spirituality that he saw in author’s writings to take it out of context and explore the wilderness on his own. Seeking a way out of his unfortunate hardship in a dysfunctional family he set out to achieve living on his own within his own thoughts in the Alaskan wilderness. I believe that Chris McCandless was crazy, and he was somewhat unaware in the reality of his decisions. Chris was bright yet made bad decisions, he could make friends easily, but left impressions on them, and he didn’t know enough about living in the wild which would ultimately cause his death.
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.
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
In this essay, I will compare the philosophies of transcendentalism and anti-transcendentalism through the writings of Thoreau and Emerson vs. Melville. In Thoreau’s excerpt of “Walden”, he tested the transcendentalist philosophy through experience. Emerson’s transcendental writing style is displayed in “Nature”. In Melville’s excerpt of Moby Dick, he exhibits anti-transcendentalism in his work.
Transcendentalism is based on the belief that institutions in the society corrupt an individual’s purity. Transcendentalists believe that people are at their best when they are truly independent and self-reliant. They also believe that from independence and self-reliance, a true community is formed. Even though Transcendentalism is not recognized, it still exists in the modern society. Though not clearly outspoken as in Emerson and Thoreau’s times, many people in today’s society still have transcendental beliefs. Transcendental ideals are found in songs, films, books and other works such as media and advertisements. One example is the song “Get up, Stand up,” by Bob Marley, it is found to be influenced and has inspiration of transcendental elements such as Solitude (individuality), self-reliance, non-conformism (anti-institution), anti-materialism, nature and spirituality.
Before I started cheering, both of my parents never knew how much goes into being a cheerleader. Though soccer was the sport I grew up playing, I ended up quitting to try out for cheerleading in seventh grade. I made the squad that year and I immediately became attached to cheerleading, though my parents did not know how to react exactly. Of course they were happy for me since it was something that I wanted to do, but it was not soccer. My dad did not consider cheerleading to be a sport in the beginning, claiming that “there is no team quality to cheering.” It was safe to say that he did not necessarily like that I quit soccer to take up cheering since he did not consider cheerleading to be a real sport. I have learned that going against tradition and conformity is difficult, but is worth it in the end.
Transcendentalists believed in relying on oneself and this was shown through Thoreau because he “built his own cabin from trees he lumbered himself, grew his own food, and generally lived a life of self-sufficiency” (Milne 843). Chris McCandless displayed his self-reliance while on his way up north to Alaska. After he gets dropped off on Interstate 70, Krakauer writes, “McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well– relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it” (Krakauer 55). The driver that leaves Chris, Ron Franz, had offered to adopt Chris as his grandson. Chris was uncomfortable with the request of Ron adopting him because it would prevent Chris from being solely dependent on just himself. During his trip, Chris was determined to remain independent like a transcendentalist would do. Being self-reliant is a key aspect of transcendentalism and Chris did so by leaving people that would hinder his goal of independence. He stuck to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s idea to completely “Trust thyself” (Emerson 2) and chose not to rely on the judgements from other people. Chris demonstrated transcendentalism while setting out into the wilderness alone by believing in and exhibiting
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.
Chris Mccandless and Ralph Waldo Emerson believed in the five I’s of transcendentalism. They both used all five I’s of transcendentalism in their life adventures. The first I of transcendentalism is believed to be the most important to Chris Mccandless and Ralph Waldo Emerson, individualism. Chris and Ralph considered themselves as individuals. Chris Mccandless knew he didn’t need his family to live. He didn’t think he needed the basic needs of society at all. Chris also didn’t like being around people for a long period of time, thats what led him to take off on journeys.Chris believing he was an individual led to his journey to Alaska. Emerson’s individualism led him to figure out he was a poet. He was also known as champion of individualism. The next I, is intuition, believed to be important by Emerson. I don’t feel Chris had any intuitions, however Emerson claims that intuition is the primary wisdom of life. The third I of transcendentalism is, imagination. On Chris’s journey to Alaska he used his imagination to get through it. He had to make up ways to get food. Emerson used imagination in his writings and speeches. The last two of the five I’s are idealism and inspiration. Chris used idealism and inspi...
“Every chemical substance, every plant, every animal in its growth, teaches the unity of cause, the variety of appearance” is an idea in the essay “Self-Reliance” that encompasses nearly all of transcendentalism (Emerson 5). It means that, between all bodies of life, whether it be as small as a chemical bond or as large as a tree, there it a unity between their beings, regardless of their physical form. This divine unity is the essence of transcendentalism. The philosophy was formed by the poets and authors such as Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The term “transcendentalism” is brought up frequently in the discussion of Chris McCandless, the focus of the biography Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer. The exact reason for Chris’ decision to drop off the face of the Earth is unknown, but the circumstances of his life bring up mainly 2 different hypotheses: he was a revolutionary
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, ...
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.