Comparing and Contrasting McCandless and Emerson

Into the Wild, written by John Krakauer tells of a young man named Chris McCandless who 1deserted his college degree and all his worldly possessions in favor of a primitive transient life in the wilderness. Krakauer first told the story of Chris in an article in Outside Magazine, but went on to write a thorough book, which encompasses his life in the hopes to explain what caused him to venture off alone into the wild. McCandless’ story soon became a national phenomenon, and had many people questioning why a “young man from a well-to-do East Coast family [would] hitchhike to Alaska” (Krakauer i). Chris comes from an affluent household and has parents that strived to create a desirable life for him and his sister. As Chris grows up, he

Chris McCandless was a man who had everything to have a successful life. However, Chris McCandless decided to leave it all behind. Chris thought that he was going to go leave all society behind to go live in the wild. Chris thought that it was going to be very hard. Krakauer He was arrogant and ignorance toward the nature and society. In Into the Wild Chris leaves his life behind to live a life alone in the wild. In Into the Wild Krakauer’s message from Chris’s journey is for people to never get too ignorant or too confident because anything can go wrong at anytime.

Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that revolved around the works and ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson. The transcendentalist wrote about his discoveries while studying philosophy, religion and literature. In Emerson’s collection of essays, Nature, he stresses the concept of finding one’s own personal understanding of the universe. In another one of Emerson’s works he presents the over-soul-- which goes into deeper detail of the unity of God, man and nature. Chris McCandless, the protagonist of the novel Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, tells the story of a young male who elects to leave his upper-middle class life and travel the United States . Chris McCandless was heavily influenced by Emerson and became a living example of Emerson’s works.

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.

Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement developed in the early-19 century. This literary movement based on the importance of God, man and nature, allowed numerous authors to become known. Nowadays, in a society full of innovations and in which nature is becoming less and less important, some people still feel the need to live far from the cities, in the wilderness, and still appreciate the simple things of life. Chris McCandless was one of them and decided to live a simple life by following the basic ideas of transcendentalism.

Chris McCandless, Jon Krakauer, and Henry David Thoreau all relate to the thought of Transcendentalism. In the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and excerpts from Walden by Thoreau there is a strong relationship between Chris McCandless’s and Thoreau’s beliefs on Transcendentalism. Both McCandless and Thoreau relate to self-wisdom, individualism, and nature. Chris McCandless’s decisions in his life in the story Into the Wild by Krakauer reflect on the transcendental beliefs of Thoreau in Walden.

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.

The book Into the Wild is a story based on transcendentalism. Chris McCandless is the main character, and the book is all about his journey he had taken to Alaska. In the end, we ultimately learn that Mccandless did not come out alive. Throughout the book, Into the Wild, McCandless executes many transcendental actions including reduce dependence on property, non-conformity, and self-reliance.

Jon Krakauer is an author whose work primarily focuses on the wilderness and his experiences. His novel, Into the Wild, divulges into the life of Chris McCandless and his adventures into the wild Alaskan frontier. Chris seeks isolationism from his family and society and goes as far as to change his name to Alex Supertramp so he is not discovered or recognized by anyone. With mere long term survival experience, Chris makes several minor mistakes and dies; unbeknownst to anyone. After discovery, Krakauer devoted several years to Chris’ life story, going as far to use his journalism background to interview any family, friends and coworkers Chris encountered to synthesize a final overview of his life. Krakauer’s relationship with his own father

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.

Christopher McCandless was a man that could not stand to abide by other people’s rules. In the novel, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer documents his interview with McCandless’ sister, Carrie. She tells the audience that he always wanted to live by his own rules and despised restrictions. By saying this, he came to the conclusion that he had followed societies’ rules for long enough. He thought that the only way to escape their regulations was to begin a transcendental lifestyle. Transcendentalism is going above and beyond a belief system by experiencing life “outside” the normal range of experience. A tTranscendental lifestyle can be described as: detaching oneself from society, developing a spiritual connection to nature, and becoming self-reliant. Within five weeks, he was free from his parents and peers and a world that revolved around materialistic objects. Throughout his adventure, he read novels from other transcendentalists such as: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Chris McCandless can be seen as a good example to a transcendental life because he separated himself from modern society, was self-reliant, and immersed with nature.

Just like the Transcendentalists, Chris McCandless thinks society and the people around him are a detriment to his life and well-being which gives him another reason to “spend [days] as deliberately as nature” ( Thoreau). Society lets little valuables and expensive belongings take control of the individuals and the environment around them. Not only does society let these valuables take control, but is seen as “positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind” (Thoreau). In addition to, according to Thoreau and other Transcendentalists, Civilization is just another word for making money. Chris escapes from the preposterous society and starts to “explore thyself” in the process (Thoreau). McCandless takes in consideration of “how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity” are as he thinks of how society uses tradition to keep people from their spiritual truths

Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, is a memoir about how living in the wilderness and how Chris McCandless lived nearly two years in the wild. Throughout the novel, Krakauer relates Chris’ adventures to his own experience in mountain climbing and living on his own. This is not your typical memoir where the author tells a story about their lives. Jon Krakauer is not the main character; however he tells a story of this boy who leaves his well-developed family for no apparent reason. But not only does he tell Chris’ story, he tells his own by fusing them altogether.

Jon Krakauer 's non-fiction novel Into the Wild explores the mystery surrounding Christopher McCandless and his life before he inevitably ran off into the heart of the Alaskan wilderness in an attempt to discover himself in some manner. In order to tell this story as accurately as possible, Krakauer uses a variety of techniques to give different perspectives to Chris’ life. The most prominent decision Krakauer makes though is in regards to his decision to try include or exclude himself and his views from the text. When telling Chris’ story, Krakauer takes an almost fully unbiased approach, and yet when he does present his biased

In the early mid-nineteenth century, a philosophical movement known as transcendentalism took root and flourished in America. It evolved into a predominantly literary expression which placed an emphasis on the corruptions of organized religion, political parties, and societal involvement; above all, the movement promoted the wonders of “nature” and its deep connection to the divine. The adherents through transcendentalism believed that knowledge could be arrived through intuition and contemplation of the internal spirit rather than by the means of the senses. As the two most prominent figures in the transcendentalist movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau whole-heartedly embrace the principles of nature