Examples Of Transcendentalism In Into The Wild

In my opinion, Chris McCandless is an example of a modern-day transcendentalist -- someone who believes in nature, confidence, free thinking, self-reliance, and non-conformity. Because transcendentalists are typically people who live in the wilderness with no contact with society, transcendentalism usually relies on a more spiritual thinking rather than a certain scientific-like thinking based on materialistic things. This way of life can prove fatal if carried to an extent exceeding the person’s capabilities, knowledge, and/or experience. “There are no fixtures in nature. The universe is fluid and volatile. Permanence is but a word of degrees.” Emerson, Circles, page 226. Nature is a big part of transcendentalism and is deeply incorporated

In the movie, Into the Wild, Chris McCandless was completely surrounded by nature and had to use it in order to survive by scavenging wood for fires, eating animals for nutrition, drinking impure water, and, alas, searching for edible berries and other plants for sustenance. Within what Chris McCandless perceived to be a sparse Alaskan environment, he was also lucky to come across a bus for shelter that happened to have some vital supplies on board while offering an enclosed shelter. Ironically, despite the perceived sparse environment, Chris was actually within a half a mile of civilization; a half a mile that would have saved his life if he had known and wanted it. The quote, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” (Thoreau, Walden)

The quote “It’s not always necessary to be strong, but to feel strong.” (Into the Wild Quotes, page 1) describes how Chris was confident in himself. He was so confident in himself that he planned on emulating Henry David Thoreau length of time in the wilderness and anticipated being able to stay a couple years out in the Alaskan wilderness. He was confident in the things he brought, such as a gun, fishing net, and sleeping bag even though he did not bring a map or compass. In his mind and with his lack of sophistication, Chris believed that he would allow himself a kind of delusion and almost illusion in thinking he could wander aimlessly and perhaps even safely if he would devoid himself of a map. Emerson, Nature, Section, page 13, also provides an elegant quote that clearly illustrates this voyage as well as Chris’s confidence in thinking he would and could survive in the wild: “Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of