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Examples Of Transcendentalism In Civil Disobedience

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Transcendentalism was a cultural movement during the early 1800’s that swept across America through the works of authors such as Emerson and Thoreau. The movement placed value upon the spirituality of nature, individuality and breaking away from the moral shortcomings of society and government as seen in Emerson’s essays “Nature” and “Self Reliance” and in Thoreau's Essay “Civil Disobedience”. In today’s world, to be a transcendentalist one does not need to adhere to every tenet postulated by the leaders of the movement, but one does have to listen to his/her own moral code and attempt to live simply and frugally. In this sense, Christopher McCandless is a modern day transcendentalist evident through his actions and philosophy captured in the …show more content…

Thoreau once stated that he believes that the “Government is best which governs not at all” (Thoreau, Civil Disobedience) and that the “Government is at best expedient; but most governments are...inexpedient” (Thoreau, Civil Disobedience). When McCandless’ car died he had a choice to go to the rangers and ask for help, which would bring up legal issues regarding the car and what McCandless was doing in a regulated area of nature, or he could ditch the car and begin to walk on foot. He chose to leave the car because “he answered to statutes of a higher order” than the United States government and because he “considered it his moral responsibility to flout the laws of the state” (Krakauer 28). Thoreau has a critical view about the morality of government that is similar to the moral code McCandless lives by which tells him not to adhere to the laws established by the state because the very foundation of them, while perhaps convenient, is

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