Joyas Voladoras Transcendentalism

Hearing your baby's heartbeat for this first time can be a life changing experience for any parent. For author, editor, and father, Brian Doyle had a somewhat different experience. His son Liam was born only three chambers, which is one less chamber than the average human has. In order to learn more about how the heart works, Doyle gives us a fact filled essay called “Joyas Voladoras” which translates to flying jewels. A jewel is very delicate, just like the humming bird. Throughout his essay he informs us about the hummingbird’s heart as a whole. In order to do this Doyle uses unconventional writing techniques to help connect his overall concept.

“Joyas Voladoras” is a poetic essay written by Brian Doyle. This essay is about the heart, big and small. The hummingbirds have the smallest heart while the blue whale has the biggest. Doyle is trying to tell us readers a message. The message he is telling us is that our (mammals, birds, reptiles, etc) hearts are strong and amazing, but fragile. We have to be careful what we do.

Moving out into the the woods and off the grid isn’t for everyone. For a few families, this is a way of life. This lifestyle showcases many beliefs of transcendentalism, many that are still abundantly present in society today. Transcendentalism is shown in the way people live and in the television shows like “The Boonies”. In “The Boonies”, transcendentalism appears in the ideas of Idealism/Individualism and in Nature.

Few relationships are as deep as those between child and parent. While circumstance and biology can shape the exact nature of the bond, a child’s caretaker is the first to introduce them to the world. And as they grow and begin to branch out, children look to their parents as a model for how to interact with the various new situations. Through allusion, potent imagery, and nostalgic diction, Natasha Trethewey constructs an idolized image of a father guiding their child through life’s challenges only to convey the speaker’s despair when they are faced with their father’s mortality in “Mythmaker.”

In Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, Chris McCandless' actions exemplify transcendentalism through three of Thoreau's principles: living in the moment, lifting people up, and listening to one's instinct. By living in the moment, Chris plays with Jan Burres and her dog. To Chris, nothing else seems to matter. Chris lifts up his father when he thanks him for everything he has done. He listens to his own gut by keeping in a secret and entering the wild causing his parents pain and suffer.

Chris McCandless believed in many of the teachings of Henry David Thoreau in his life. As stated in Into the Wild, several transcendental books were found on the bus McCandless stayed in during his Alaskan trip. McCandless’s books show his beliefs and his dedication to transcendental keys.

A quote from William Bolitho states, “Adventure must start with running away from home”. Into the WIld is a true account of an individual who seeks the natural land of Earth to develop a better life for himself. The author, Jon Krakauer, publishes the series of events that lead to the death of a young nomad, Christopher McCandless. The mysterious death of the runaway intellect was investigated by Jon Krakauer, an editor who retraced McCandless’s steps and interviewed everyone that had an interaction with McCandless or his alias, Alexander Supertramp. McCandless left everything behind, including his wealthy and bright future, to start a new life as a nomadic hitchhiker. He intended to begin a life of religious philosophy, connecting with nature, to connect with himself through optimism, self-reliance and nonconformity, a life of transcendentalism. As he traveled around the Western United States, Christopher McCandless lived an optimistic life which allowed him to overlook the dangers and hardships of his journey detached from society.

Transcendentalist loves the environment, and insists on breaking away from traditions and customs. Living in the wild, trashing identity, and abandoning family seems like the life of a transcendentalist. Chris McCandles was a crazy, selfish man who hoped to live a transcendentalist life but only got to touch on the idea. Chris’s craziness led him to the wild unprepared; along the way acted selfish to the people he met along his journey only to achieve a transcendentalist life that he only got to touch on.

On September 6, 1992, a group of moose-hunters discovered the remains of Chris McCandless’ body, which, through abject starvation, had withered and decayed in the unforgiving Alaskan bush. Upon discovery, Chris’ corpse became a symbol of misguided passions and misinterpreted values and inspired many to explore and document his story of demise. In Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, the story of Chris, attempting to achieve ultimate freedom and independence is told. On this journey, it is evident that Chris McCandless’ shunning of society was unjustified because he took the transcendentalist ideas expressed in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self Reliance and radically misinterpreted them. Because of his analytical error, McCandless was unable to attain freedom and independence, despite his support for these values; egotism overcame individualism, and McCandless’ hubris and extreme risk-taking resulted in foolish isolationism and rendered his journey useless.

Into the Wild shows Chris McCandless’ journey to Alaska in search of enlightenment. Chris graduated college feeling disconnected, and felt life was meaningless. In his pursuit of happiness and enlightenment, he left his family and went across the country eventually ending up in Alaska. Chris McCandless should be considered as a modern day transcendentalist because he is self-reliant, a free thinker, and appreciates the importance of nature.

Imitation of some sort is all too common now, even as we try to rebel in acts of noncomformity from the rest of society. Transcendentalism takes noncomformity further, tearing down ideas of living life to the fullest by saying one has truly lived only if life has been lived simply. Christopher McCandless wishes to live his life on these terms, becoming a part of nature and finding happiness in his tramping. Into the Wild represents the ideas of transcendentalism, but McCandless’s quest leads him to find the pain in nature and solitude and eventually makes him realize that he can never truly escape the significance family has to him, the bits of joy in his journey are not enough to make up for what he gives up.

General Douglas MacArthur diverges from the beliefs of Transcendentalism in his speech “Duty, Honor, Country” by disagreeing with the transcendental ideas of civil disobedience and nature.

Chris McCandless and Transcendentalism In Into the Wild Chris McCandless, a man who devoted his life to nature, expressed many different transcendental keys. He showed these keys through his actions throughout his life and adventures. Chris McCandless expressed the transcendental key of self-reliance many times throughout Into the Wild. McCandless expressed this key with his action of not accepting gifts from his parents, such as, money and a car.

If we can break through to another side whatever that side may be is it worth it? Transcendentalists seem to attempt to find answers within an impossible world. They try to rebel against what the situation truly is. Transcendentalists looked for truth and answers in higher powers. Transcendentalists believe we should break though because the answers we will find are the truth.

This past summer I followed my heart all the way to Fiji, for the sole purpose of diving one of the most recognized shark reefs in the world. Not many people would pay a hefty sum of money to dive one hundred feet into the ocean with bait hoping to find numerous sharks, especially when those sharks happen to be considered one of the more dangerous species to man: the Bull shark. Everyday for three weeks, ten other shark loving teenagers and I sought adventure deep in the ocean with sharks up to twelve feet long and 500 pounds. When my English teacher introduced transcendental essays in class written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, a 18th century philosopher, I immediately thought of my shark diving experiences. My shark diving experiences embody