Mccandless Vs Transcendentalism

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

            For years, wolves have been falsely accused for crimes in stories, myths, and life. In Never Cry Wolf, author Farley Mowat demonstrates how even though wolves are mistakenly stereotyped as evil; people don’t know anything without evidence. Farley Mowat takes a trip to Churchill, Canada, to study Arctic wolves for the Canadian Wildlife Service. He is studying the Arctic wolves because he needs to prove that the wolves are killing all the migrating caribou. During the entire book, he witnesses and experiences, new journeys about wolves and Eskimos, throughout his time in the tundra. Mowat learns over time, how wolves are mischaracterized from who they

About a century ago, a man by the name of Farley Mowat was sent to the frozen wilderness of Canada to examine the actions of wolves and how their survival affects the plummeting of the caribou herds. While studying a pack of seven, he acquired a deep feeling of admiration for this certain pack of wolves. Almost halfway through the novel, Mowat gives each of the three adults a name that goes along with their role in the family. While living near a pack of seven wolves, Mowat soon realizes that they are not at fault for the decline in caribou society, as a matter of fact, they are doing quite the opposite. There is something far more powerful than wolves harming the population. Human kind itself is destroying the community of our nature. "I kept coming up with the fantastic figure of 112,000 animals killed by trappers in this area every year”(Page 86). With all the hunters and trappers in Keewatin, the population of most animals are immensely falling downward. Over the months, Mowat observes the wolves during their play time, how they hunt along with feeding the growing pups, and how they survive. After all, wolves are not what they are said to be. After realizing that wolves are not the problem, Mowat notices that wolves are actually

Following are excerpts of statements/interviews from Derek Randles, a friend known as “The Bear Hunter”, and Justin Smeja. The blogger Robert Lindsay conducted the interviews of “The Bear Hunter” and Justin

In the short story “The Glass Roses” by Alden Nowlan. Nowlan portrays the idea that adversity is part of our lives, and this adversity shapes us as individuals. But in the face of adversity an individual must either strive to fulfill their individual self-interests and ideas or abandon them to conform to authority. Nowlan suggests this idea through the character, Stephen and his struggle to conform to authority or pursue his ideas which suggests that humans often bring about changes to themselves in order to adapt to the environment they live in.

Many individuals is faced with the decision of conforming or choosing personal desire, and it is not an easy decision. It is hard because being shunned by others for being different is not a good feeling. Choosing to conform over personal desire, often leads to loss. On the other hand, personal desire is what sets others apart and gives them joy. In the poem, “The Jackhammer Syndrome”, Al Purdy discusses the good and bad memories he has experienced. He goes through his memories of when he had fun and made mistakes, but he reflects on what he could have done better. The author of “The Jackhammer Syndrome informs against choosing the welcoming joy of conformity over the long-term gains of personal desire. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire may seem easy at first, but if the choice is to conform, the joy it gives will not last. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire Conformity may seem to give joy at first, but it does not last. When Al is playing pool with his brother, he wants to win badly, but losses. However when he did not care to win, Al wins! Conforming can lead to loss but personal desire has much to gain. If the choice is to conform, personal identity may be lost. In my life, I recognize several instances in which I found several similarities between Al and myself. I have made decisions that were not always good ones such as swimming across long distances with friends.

Waking up to discover the immense, pristine wilderness of Alaska, listening to the birds chirping their sounds while feeling the tremble of your heart beating through your veins. Trees as far as one can see with rolling hills and distant peaks covered with unblemished snow. The sounds of streams growing larger until they rush over a fall, and into an untainted lake. Pondering the true meaning of life while observing Mother Nature’s true grace. Very few people can relate to this scene of the wild. One of them being Christopher Johnson McCandless, a young pioneer and traveler, who was determined to seek the truth no matter what the cost.

The day is unlike any other. The mail has come and lying at the bottom of the stack is the favored Outside magazine. The headline reads, “Exclusive Report: Lost in the Wild.” The cover speaks of a twenty four year old boy who “walked off into America’s Last Frontier hoping to make sense of his life.” The monotony of the ordinary day has now vanished from thought as Jon Krakauer’s captivating article runs through the mind like gasoline to an engine. The article is not soon forgotten, and the book Into the Wild is happened upon three years later. The book relates the full story of Christopher Johnson McCandless and how he left his family and friends after graduating college in order to find himself. Krakauer based the book off of his article

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.

When Chris was on his journey he studied Henry David Thoreau and he underlined the word “truth” in a line from Walden saying: “ Rather than love, than money, Than fame give me truth”. Chris also felt that the life he should live should be away from civilization and nature is where real life exist. While in the Alaskan bush he wrote in his journal stated “I am reborn. This is my dawn. Real life has begun.”(168) . McCandless sees regular society to be insufficient for anyone who wants self-fulfilling life. These views are similar to Timothy Treadwell’s view because he too didn't find much value in regular society but he found it in nature. Treadwell communicated best with bears and seemed to understand them more than humans and the way they live. He often talked to the bears like he was talking to a baby child in the documentary showing how much he adored nature. Timothy and Chris always liked the truth within nature and they both believed that it was not attainable through society.

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.

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

In today’s world, people are constantly moving around from place to place. Today’s society is much more transient than generations in the past. How, then, do we as humans in this day and age hold on to our identities in the blur of people we meet and relationships we form as we try to discover the life we want to live on our travels? It is normal that we adapt as we move through life, but where does one cross the line, becoming someone completely different and losing themselves? It is my belief that one can only fully understand what the good life is if they fully understand themselves. To fully understand oneself, one must be true to oneself. I believe that people are at the greatest risk of losing themselves when they move to a new location. It is in this situation that people must adapt to the new people they surround themselves with, in hopes of fitting in and forming new relationships. People become more susceptible to changing who they are when they are trying to become a part of a new way of life. At the same time, the people already inhabiting that area adapt to the new person’s presence as well. As humans, I believe that we have the ability to find the balance between adapting to those around us and staying true to ourselves, in order to discover what the good life means to us. This ability is demonstrated in the writings by Clive Thompson and Mark Twain – “I’m So Totally Digitally Close to You” and an excerpt from “The Diaries of Adam and Eve”, respectively.

Our society has long been plagued by racism, but in a Transcendental society, racism wouldn’t exist, as they believe we all contain God within us, and therefore are equal and divine beings, worthy of each other’s respect. In line with our divinity, they believe we are divine and unique in thought. The importance of which was stated in 1841, by the founding member of the Transcendentalist movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson when he wrote, “Envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide,” (Emerson, ) in his essay Self Reliance. His friend and follower Thoreau added in chapter 18 of his book Walden that each man should, “step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away” (Thoreau, 915). Who are we to judge God, and by extension, each other? If this belief was accepted and practiced, we would find ourselves far less inclined to hate and fear one another due to different skin color, or opinions, and would instead discover ourselves far happier and with freer thought.

This past weekend I challenged myself to practice a principle of transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is a literary and philosophical movement consisting of 6 principles; valuing nature, do not conform to society, trust yourself and be confident, live simply, reject technology and reject material goods. The principle which I choose to practice was rejecting technology. I decided that for the weekend I would give up my favorite app, Instagram. In today's society, the world of technology and social media is an example of where transcendentalism could be extremely prevalent. For one to practice the basic tenets of transcendentalism through the rejection of technology, they must realize why they are doing this and that it won’t necessarily be easy considering today's world revolves around technology. I chose to give up Instagram because I can easily get caught up in the application and not fully be in the present. Living the life of a transcendentalist means living a life of simplicity which is what I wanted to work towards.