The Call of the Wild Versus Into the Wild

On the other hand, the men had several differences. In two of the stories, Into The Wild and Grizzly Man, the main character perishes as a result of his choice to live this way, while in Walden, Thoreau survives all the way through his experience. However, the most prominent differences between the characters were their reasons for venturing into the wild in the first place. Henry David Thoreau went into the woods “because [he] wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if [he] could learn what it had to teach, and not, when [he] came to die, discover that [he] had not lived” (Thoreau, Chapter II). His goal was to live his life simply yet richly in the wilderness.

Seeking emotionally connection to nature and wanting to be alone from the rest of the world Chris McCandless, also known as Alexander Supertramp, is determined to go into the wild. Many are lead to question why someone would do such a things as leave your family, leave your riches, and leave everything you have to have nothing and be alone in Alaska. Within this book Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer you see the personal views and beliefs of Chris McCandless; while having many excerpts within the book of his favorite authors’ gives you an insight to why as he would choose to do such a thing. Some may believe that Chris McCandless went into to the wild because of his rebellion of youth however this was not the real reason. I believe the combinations of internal and external forces such as: literary influences, his family issues, and his determination to do what he truly wanted was what truly led him to the wild.

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of SECURITY, CONFORMITY and CONSERVATISM, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind. But in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit of a man than a secure future...."(Krakauer, 58). To be a transcendentalist you have to be unsure, at all times. You have to completely trust your gut and believe that you know you are doing the right thing. Chris McCandless, the protagonist of Into the Wild did just that.

This need for transcendentality is real and strong, especially in the two novels The Call of the Wild, by Jack London and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Transcendentalism is the belief that thought and spiritual experience is more important than everyday experiences and material belongings. The main character in the call of the wild is buck, a dog forced into trancendality as he was kidnapped and handed a brutal northern life. The main character in Into the wild is Chris McCandless, a young man who chooses the call of nature over modern society, also demonstrating transcendentalism. The protagonists, Chris McCandless and Buck, exhibit their transcendentality in conflicting yet converging ways including the specific occurrences which cause this diverging from society, the positive and negative effects which happen to them as a result, and the picture that is portrayed by the finale of each tale.

By closing up to Chris McCandless’s face and also his hand which is grabbing on the bush, it can be easily seen that Chris McCandless is unwilling to give up his dreams. Although he knows he is going to die in the wild, he doesn 't want to die in a way that he has not experienced enough in the

Also, in the same letter to Franz, he explains how he thinks that people live within their comfort zones, and don’t take any risks and how much that dampens adventure. When living in your comfort zone, you can’t have any adventure, so by going on this adventure into the woods, he shows how he isn’t living in his comfort zone. He didn’t want to focus on the nature around him like Thoreau, he wanted to focus and explore his own

His main principle was to push himself to his limit and find a purpose in life so that when he died his life wouldn’t be a meaningless one. He wanted to become one with nature and prove to himself that he had the mental and physical ability to handle whatever struggles life threw at him. In one of McCandless’s letters to Ron he expresses how “So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future” (Krakauer 56-57). Since Chris was a little kid, he possessed leadership qualities that almost made him seem arrogant at times. By viewing the sport running as a

This is shown when Hals, Charles and Mercedes die off because they were unable to use instincts to cope with the harsh situations of the wild. Because of this, buck was able to make the transition from lovable play pal to a skilled hunter. By getting in touch with his natural instinct, he was able to change his way of life and survive in the environment he found himself. Buck becomes wild and uses social Darwinism and survival of the fittest to survive.

We will not be able to function in any world except the one we live in, making us extremely and very dangerously vulnerable. We need to, instead, embrace these instincts as our ancestors did to help them survive in their own unique, yet brutal environments. We can never revert fully back to Primitivity as Buck did, that would cause absolute chaos. We do however, need to utilize certain aspects of these natures, the ones that can help us survive, give us special intuition, and allow us to come closer to ourselves and understand what it means to be a truly free and independent human being in a world that is entirely too dependent on altering everything that humans need to embrace.

A major controversy that can be observed is that according to Hobbes fear has complete power over independent action which may not always be the matter. . Fear is a human characteristic and in the state of nature of all against all this fear commands obedience for man pursues life, peace and security. Man only fears something from which he needs protection.¬¬ This is because the main objective of man is to continue in motion and as per the laws of nature, to preserve (which is also to be protected from something that results in the contrary) himself and seek peace. Hence, wherever there is fear of discontinued motio¬¬¬n, obedience follows.