Transcendentalism Misinterpreted?
Transcendentalism is a philosophy that originated in the early 19th century. Their core belief is that humans are basically good but need to get away from materialism and aim to be more self-reliant.
Transcendentalism had a deep impact on Christopher McCandless’s life as seen in the book Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer. Christopher McCandless was especially enthralled by Henry David Thoreau, a famous transcendentalist. He read his book Walden and tried to recreate and experience self-reliance, a deep connection with nature and spirituality through his adventures.
Transcendentalism supported non-conforming to societal rules and regulations. Chris McCandless shows this when he turns away from his family and familiar surroundings. He chooses to live a simplistic life. After his graduation, he leaves behind his comfortable upper/middle-class lifestyle, donates all of his money to charity, and gets in his car to drive off on his adventure. We can also see his lack of materialism when he burns his paper currency in the desert and leaves his yellow
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The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” This was written by Chris McCandless in a letter to Ron Franz where he shares his strong opinions about society and how there is great joy and peace to be found in non-conforming to societal rules. Chris McCandless felt that he had found his true connection to nature and