Chris Mccaandless Transcendentalism Analysis

Chris McCandless was a very unique individual. In Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, he tries his best to make sense of McCandless’ journey to the Alaskan wilderness. However, he never really figured out what McCandless’ purpose of the trip was. Looking at McCandless’ life throughout the book, I believe that Chris McCandless went on his journey to find happiness within his own life and did achieve it in the end.

Both Henry David Thoreau and Christopher McCandless ventured out into the woods to get away from the dreariness of everyday society and to find themselves. Only one lived to tell the tale. What was the fatal flaw of the man who didn’t continue on? The only way to find this is to analyze the differences and similarities between the two. McCandless, while embracing some of the same values as Thoreau, was ultimately a different man. While they led very contrasting lives in very distant times, both McCandless and Thoreau sought a type of freedom that can only be achieved when immersed in nature. Thoreau’s entitlement and cozy cabin in the woods is a far cry from McCandless’s constant struggle during his expedition, however, certain parallels

Transcendentalism is a philosophical and literary movement that has major themes of nature and spirituality while going against society and materialistic things. Christopher McCandless is a Transcendentalist in every sense of the word. The young adventurer, who is the main character in Jon Krakauer's nonfiction text Into the Wild, travels throughout North America, following three main Transcendentalist ideals: the disconnection of society, a minimalist lifestyle, and a reverence for both God and nature.

Transcendentalism is defined as the philosophical movement that manage an insistence to the idea of culture and society. For example, Robinson gave a meaning of it with the quote, “This philosophy,

Transcendentalism by definition means to live a rational life with nature and becoming one entity that rules over itself. That seems difficult though because living in this day an age without having to worry about anything or about anyone else is like asking for forever lasting gum. In the book Into The Wild, Chris McCandless tries to do just that and succeeds. While on his journey to Alaska, Chris becomes the embodiment of transcendentalism. He embraces multiply of the qualities of transcendentalism but there were three that were the most prominent throughout the story. He believed in living closer to nature, relied on self trust and self reliance, and also he insists on breaking from traditions like government or paying taxes like most

The desire to be at one with nature sometimes becomes apparent within some of us. Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer highlights the fact that Chris McCandless is a reckless fool and a narcissist due to his carelessness, ignorance, and incompetence.

McCandless exhibits the transcendental tenet of nonconformity in his actions throughout his journey. First, McCandless did not connect with society, because he hated that people were left to die. He believed in equality, a transcendental ideal, so when his car broke down on his road trip to Alaska “he abandoned it in the Arizona desert” (4). He then proceeded “to bury most of his worldly possessions in the parched earth of Detrital Wash and then ... burned his last remaining cash” (4). These acts signify that he refuses to be materialistic and conform to society standards, but he chooses to live by his own morals. Second, in the movie, McCandless visits a bar with his coworkers where he explains his dislike of society. He says, “Society, man! You

What is transcendentalism? How is Christopher J. McCandless a transcendentalist? Transcendentalism is a philosophy, and a way of life. It consists of being a non-conformist, becoming one with nature, and rejecting materialism. Throughout Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into The Wild, McCandless happens to achieve all of the above. “Whoso would be a man, must be a non-conformist” (Emerson). He defied society, lived in the wild, and never cared about “things”. He existed off the land in Alaska, the west coast, and even Mexico. McCandless did not want anything else in life but happiness; he found this in the wilderness.

Throughout history, people encounter a stage in their lives where they feel the necessity to assert their independence and challenge their abilities and self-worth. In the book, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, the author shares his understanding and kinship with the main character, Chris McCandless, a young man who thrusts himself into a life of solitude and a harsh environment during his search for meaning to his life. Krakauer depicts himself and McCandless as modern day transcendentalists with an abundance of competency, resourcefulness and skills as naturalists. Although McCandless chose to experience a life of solitude and face the hazards that nature presents, his lack of preparedness prevented him from completing his endeavor successfully.

Chris McCandless left all that he had back home to go on this long transcendental trip to the Alaskan wilds that he thought he would find out who he is. He left behind family, friends, college, burned his money, and his life. When he left he did so without saying anything to his family and changes his name so he can truly start over. During his trip he has had many hardships and points where he should have died, but he kept going on in the end to reach his end goal of reaching Alaska and a goal he managed to complete, but it would not last long as in August of 1992 Chris died from starvation, but one question arose from his story. Was he truly transcendental? Some believe he was and other do not, it is sometimes up to opinion to decide whether he was or not, but you must first must understand what transcendentalism is before you can decide whether or not Chris McCandless was a transcendental person or not. The key things to know about transcendentalism is its core beliefs, those who “found” transcendentalism and their differences, and how these beliefs from these founders differed from what McCandless did during his transcendental trip. So, did Chris McCandless leave everything behind to become transcendental and die as a transcendentalist or was he a fool that left home because he was a rebellious person who ended up dying alone in a bus in the middle of the Alaskan wilds?

Transcendentalism is a religious, philosophical, literary, and social movement of the nineteenth century. Essentially, this movement was based upon the ideals of the “sixth sense,” nature, and non-conformity, as well as individualism, intuition, idealism, imagination, and inspiration. A few of the works featured in the transcendental unit include Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Song of Myself by Walt Whitman, and Walden by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The primary focus of this essay is to provide an opinion on a strikingly debatable topic; Whether or not Christopher McCandless, hero of Krakauer’s Into the Wild, was a true transcendentalist. Despite the bold actions of Chris McCandless on his daring Alaskan odyssey, he turned out to be far from a true transcendentalist, failing to meet the definition of transcendentalism, being solely concerned with himself, and acting out of revenge rather than seeking self discovery - nothing more than a childish suicidal rebel.

Chris McCandless used many transcendentalist keys throughout his life, such as non-conformity, the importance of self-expression, and self-reliance. Throughout the book Into the Wild, McCandless uses these keys as if his life depended on it. These keys have shaped many lives, including: Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and more. While McCandless used all of the transcendentalism keys throughout Into the Wild, he used non-conformity the most.

Krakauer himself agrees with such claim. Before he even begins to tell the tale of Chris McCandless, Krakauer speaks directly of McCandless transcendance. In the authors note Krakauer writes that McCandless “invented a new life for himself...wandering across North America in search of raw, transcendent experience” (Krakauer Author’s Note). To deny such a direct assessment from someone who shares so many sympathies with McCandless, is ludicrous. Krakauer also compares Mccandless to transcendentalist monks on several occasions. From the description of Chris’s “monkish room furnished with little more than a thin mattress on the floor, milk crates, and a table”( Krakauer 22), to stating that he is “as chaste as a monk” (65). Krakauer even goes

The idea of transcendentalism was only understood by few people because the idea of it was too complex for many to understand. Henry David Thoreau stated, “I should have told them I was a transcendentalist. That would have been the shortest way of telling them they would not understand my explanations” (Reuben 1). Only people who were able to call themselves “transcendentalist” had their own thoughts of what transcendentalism was, which we figure were actually based on the thoughts of others. Transcendentalism was defined almost like a philosophy.

Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s. A few of their beliefs included individuality and independence. In this essay I will integrate ,summarize,and explain the shared themes of Emerson,Krakauer,Thoreau,and Donovan’s transcendental beliefs as seen in the poem and the book,Into the wild. One example of transcendental beliefs used throughout the texts is independence.