Chris Mccandless Transcendentalism Essay

There are many challenges for people while they are growing up. In fact, these challenges are very common for most teenagers. However, many authors have written pieces with the intention to help students overcome their struggles. That is why a student who is struggling to find their inner self can trust several of the ideas of transcendentalism. In fact, Thoreau and Emerson include the ideas of optimism, intuition, and originality in many of their pieces of literature. It is clear that a teenager who is struggling developing their character should connect with the transcendent ideas from Thoreau and Emerson.

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

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It is not possible to be a transcendentalist in today’s world. Transcendentalism is complex way of life that has many requirements despite the broad belief of accepting one’s own views. With so many different beliefs and ways of life present in today’s world, it would be difficult to believe in one’s self. A transcendentalist would only work in today’s society if every person was accepting of everyone else, dedicated to living simply, and followed all the rules with every concept of transcendentalism; something very hard to achieve. Even if everyone achieved this idea, it would no longer be a transcendentalist society anym but would be more of a utopian society where everyone

However, the dark side of this perspective is we do not follow our true beliefs. Transcendentalism certainly does not mean getting out of control and live freely under your will (The Positives and Negatives of Transcendentalism). Transcendentalism certainly means to live to adapt to the surroundings based on what suits the situation well, but still have an appreciation towards natural surroundings. By one appreciating their own instincts and beliefs, they can certainly pioneer a new pathway that could be harder to pass through, but can bring one more joy and happiness after. The movie “Into the Wild” explicitly portrays the main character - Chris McCandless - who was highly educated and was interested in transcendentalism, connects with the nature and with him living under hard circumstances, he learns that fully adapting himself into the nature is very hard as he does not have any knowledge about the setting around him. After Chris living in the nature for a certain time, he learns to celebrate his natural surroundings. However, as he was not prepared to fully commit himself into the world of nature, he reaches death by eating the

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.

American Transcendentalism was an important philosophical and literary movement which placed an emphasis on staying true to one’s beliefs and expressing oneself no matter the situation or consequence. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau fully embraced these beliefs as their influence has allowed these

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

Mansions and cars can never make a person truly happy, even if he believes it himself.

Adopting the values of a transcendentalist could be a way an individual can learn to believe in their own pursuits and find their own way through life. This way more people will stand

Transcendentalism was a huge cultural movement in the nineteenth century; however, the ideas of the movement still continue to influence our society in the twenty-first century. These ideas of Transcendentalism have continued to exist throughout many years because the ideas remain relevant to society. In fact, the problems that many Transcendentalist writers encountered still happen today in new forms. These similar problems include conformity, the role of government in society, and the importance of nature. In general, people still feel that society needs to better itself for the benefit of all individuals, which is at the heart of Transcendentalism. Some of the ideas that Transcendentalists constantly defended included individualism,

One of the most famous texts ever written for the sheer purpose of Transcendentalism was Emerson’s Self Reliance. In his essay, he writes about the importance of nonconformity and individualism. In Self Reliance, Emerson tells us to “trust thyself.” From only two words, one can gather the whole purpose of his essay. With nonconformity, man can defend himself against the tendency to become satisfied with life, and lose his own individuality. With “good- humored inflexibility” the self-reliant person can become someone who obeys himself. When it comes to a battle of law or a battle of morals, the self-reliant man will follow his morals and discard the law. One is not to use their logic, but use intuition. Emerson simply was striving for not the superiority of one man, but for originality and individuality of all humankind. He wanted to

There have been numerous religious rebellions throughout history, but none quite like that of Transcendentalism. This movement embodies the idea that spiritual growth can be achieved through personal journey instead of conflicting with organized religion. By the time of the movement’s onset, newly gained religious freedom in the United States allowed for new ideas and beliefs to prosper freely. At the heart of this movement was Transcendentalism philosophy famous ambassadors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and apprentice Henry David Thoreau. These men believed nature is what forces us not to depend on other ideas but to develop our own.

     Many people have theories and philosophies about life in general. There have been hundreds of thousands of books published by many different people on the ideas of people in the past and the present. Transcendentalism falls in amongst all of these ideas. There have been articles, essays, poems, and even books written about this subject. Transcendentalism has effected many people since the philosophy was first introduced. The idea was complex and hard to grasp for many commoners and therefore it was understood by few people, and some would think that the idea was not understood at all and that was part of the idea. Henry David Thoreau once stated about himself, “I should have told them at