Definition Of Freedom In Into The Wild

A difficult existential concept that many humans are often at odds with is the concept of Ultimate Freedom. It is something that many philosophers have pondered over, with each of the philosophers coming to different conclusions even if those differences are minute or even very large. The true differences of these conclusions lies in the definition of freedom attributed by the philosopher. Freedom is a very difficult concept to define and its meaning is often changed as we progress to a more equal and just society. Specifically, individual freedom as it is discussed in Into the Wild, is unattainable as society has never experienced this true freedom throughout its history and until humans live only individually and off themselves is when true

Through Chris McCandless’s journey, the reader learns many insightful things about the concept of freedom. Chris McCandless first searches for true freedom away from society. This means that true freedom involves no reliance on society or any other person. One may only be truly free when they are by themselves. This is true when connected to the real world. Many people only do things by themselves. For example, many behaviors one person may do, such as picking their nose or masturbating, is something they do in private. In a sense, these people are able to do as they choose only when by themselves, making them truly free. The novel combines this topic of freedom with freedom for societal problems such as money or interpersonal relationships. Freedom again is achieved alone when one can escape from their interpersonal relationships just like the author and McCandless. From all this, it is reasonable to say that the definition of freedom has three core concepts: one may do as they please, one does not rely on society, and one must be free of societal problems therefore experiencing

A person, however, can still live in society without necessarily being reliant on society. They would simply be able to fend for themselves entirely and do as they please without actually relying on society to give them anything but some extra serotonin and dopamine. This would of course happen involuntarily as living in a society inevitably causes social interaction. However, this does not mean that a person is truly free. Firstly, a person is not able to do whatever they want. There are still things in society that are illegal, for example murdering someone. A person is not truly free if they are not able to do as they wish even if that wish were to be able to kill someone. This ties back to the definition given earlier in the paper that one must be able to do as they please. Additionally, this means that the person is susceptible to societal problems. Societal pressure is a big cause for problems in many people, and it is near impossible to not feel societal pressure when living in