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Examples Of Transcendentalism In Walden

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The writings of Jon Krakauer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Michael Donovan reflect some of the ideals of transcendentalism. In this essay, the writer will integrate, summarize, and explain the shared themes of their writings. Some of the ideals they share are staying in tune with nature and self-reliance. “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson is a short story that shows the foundation of transcendentalism, a non-traditional appreciation of nature. He writes “ There I feel that nothing can befall me in life-no disgrace, no calamity(leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair.” This quote divulges that Emerson believes that nothing bad may happen to him that nature cannot fix. Henry David Thoreau also writes about the appreciation of nature in “Walden”. In the short story, Thoreau moved to the woods to learn to live deliberately. He yearned to learn what life had to teach him. He desired to live a purposeful life. Both short stories have a theme of admiration of nature. Both writers believe nature is the key to life and …show more content…

In Emerson’s short story, “Self-Reliance”, he writes that to be self-reliant one must stay true to themself and follow their own instincts. In the poem “It’s All-On-Me” by Michael Donovan, he writes “ It’s all-on-me…. therefore falls-onto-me, and becomes plain to see it’s gonna be all-up-to-me….” This quote shows that the narrator feels he is self-reliant and feels he must do everything himself. Chris McCandles, in the novel Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, is perceived as a self-reliant hitchhiker. The novel divulges his travels to and in Alaska, given through stories and encounters by people he met on his journey. In chapter one, Chris assured Gallien “‘I won’t run into anything I can’t deal with on my own.”’ This shows he believed himself to be self-reliant. These three works all show elements of transcendentalism through self-reliance and staying true to one’s

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After reading Krakauer’s Into the Wild and Henry David Thoreau’s exerts from Walden, we can see a deep connection between Christopher McCandless and Thoreau’s transcendental beliefs. Both Chris McCandless and Thoreau show transcendentalism in their actions of self-wisdom, differences, and liberation. Chris McCandless life choices in Into the wild reflect the transcendental beliefs of Thoreau’s Walden. The first transcendental belief of McCandless is that he marches to the beat of a different drummer.

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461 Words | 2 Pages

Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless, and Henry David Thoreau reveal the philosophy of Transcendentalism. After reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and Henry David Thoreau’s excerpts from Walden, readers see that Transcendentalism plays an important role in Chris McCandless’s and Henry Thoreau’s lives. Chris McCandless and Henry Thoreau have similar beliefs in Transcendentalism. Both men adopt deliberation, individualism, and self-wisdom. Chris McCandless adopts deliberation as a way of life.

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663 Words | 3 Pages

In the short story, “Death of an Innocent” by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless travels into the Alaskan wilderness with the intention of relying completely on himself. In the true spirit of transcendentalism, McCandless travels to escape the bounds of society and to remove himself from a materialistic world. Many argue, however, that Chris McCandless was not a transcendentalist because he travels to exotic lands as a means of avoidance, but actually, Chris McCandless is the epitome of a transcendentalist. Transcendentalists, however, rely on themselves and nature to survive and do not depend on material items. Transcendentalists romanticize individualism and believe that intuition is the best guide through life.

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If there is one person in the past or present that lived a truly transcendental life, many would say it was Alexander Supertramp, otherwise known as Chris McCandless. Throughout the 1990s, this man took transcendentalism to a new level that not many people in this day and age had seen before. In different points in his life, he exhibited all 8 of the main keys of transcendentalism. This paper will touch on just three of those, starting with reducing dependence on property. This is probably the number one key that is seen the most from McCandless in Into The Wild.

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554 Words | 3 Pages

The words of many authors, poets, and songwriters can influence certain aspects of a person’s life. One may simply admire the work because of the inspiration or beauty behind the piece, but others take the words to heart and live their lives by it. A fan of many transcendentalism authors Chris McCandless wanted to live his life with the same simplicity they did. After finding the inspiration in the works of Jack London and Henry David Thoreau McCandless ventured out into a two-year-long journey to find happiness in the Alaskan Wilderness. McCandless had the bravery to follow his own dream and was willing to risk his life for true happiness.

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935 Words | 4 Pages

Into the Wild: Transcendentalism at it’s Finest “If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again I want you to know you’re a great man (Chapter 14).” This was a quote from a letter that Chris McCandless wrote to an acquaintance named Wayne Westerberg. It was a week or so before Chris McCandless spent many months in the Alaskan wilderness alone, and eventually arrived to his death.

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217 Words | 1 Pages

“Into The Wild” is a non-fiction book by Jon Krakauer in 1996. The book is an extended article on Krakauer’s take on the case of Chris McCandless, an example of a modern-day transcendentalist. Transcendentalism can be described as a philosophy that draws attention to the idea that people, both men and women equally, have a better comprehension or understanding of the world around them and themselves. In addition, McCandless enjoyed the simplicity and the beauty of nature, for which he was determined to go out into the Alaskan wilderness. As Chris McCandless is taking on his Great Alaskan Adventure, he met all kinds of people along the way, but there were a few he had quality time with and impressed.

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“So many people live in unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation” (57). Chris McCandless was determined to not be one of those men, he strived for a life in solitude, away from the demands of society. For that reason he went on an epic transcendental experience that took him from Mexico to Alaska. Along the way, he met and made an impact on peoples’ lives, people like Wayne Westenberg and Ronald Franz. Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild discusses Chris’s journey, and makes the reader question Chris’s reasons for going out into the wild.

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884 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout his long journey across the country, Chris McCandless proves to be a true transcendentalist through the essence of the philosophy. Chris’ individuality should

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1154 Words | 5 Pages

The book, Into The Wild, provides the most popular and detailed outline of Chris McCandless’ adventures. Through the examination of this book, it can be seen that Chris McCandless is a transcendentalist. A transcendentalist is a person who seeks to find their relation to the universe through a direct relationship with God and nature and believes in the tenets of transcendentalism. The validity of McCandless being a transcendentalist can be seen in his time in the Detrital Valley. In addition to examining whether McCandless is a transcendentalist, it is helpful to self-reflect and determine if I am a transcendentalist.

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835 Words | 4 Pages

The characteristics of transcendentalism is individual vs society and the connection between human and nature. A subject of Into the Wild is individual vs society because Chris McCandless tends to desire to chase freedom and be alone rather than with people. In the last letter ever received from Everett Ruess, to his brother Waldo on November 11th, 1934. He explains that he wants to live in isolation.

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Into the Wild; the Realist Account of a Transcendentalist’s Story Into the Wild is a realist work of literature that tells the tale of Chris McCandless, a man who lived his life in accordance with transcendentalist philosophy. The novel itself, Into the Wild, can be classified as a realist work, for its honest and truthful portrayal of one man's life. It includes both the good and the bad, with candor and simplicity. In its pages is the telling of Chris McCandless’s life, and adventure. It reveals that McCandless is a transcendentalist, who rejected the typical societal life for one that revered self reliance, nature, and human connections.

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1159 Words | 5 Pages

Transcendentalist writers were focused on the belief of the divinity of the individual soul, the inner voice, (Crawford, Kern & Needleman, 1961) to overcome social stereotypes and to avoid conformity. It is highlighted the importance to return to nature to enhance the quality of humans beings by living simply since being apart of common social rules is the only way to be in communion with nature’s wisdom. Those transcendental characteristics could be seen in Emerson’s ¨self-reliance¨ or Thoreau’s ¨Walden ¨ bearing in mind that although, Emerson’s ¨Self-reliance¨ adheres more descriptive examples to illustrate metaphors and Thoreau’s ¨Where I lived and what I lived for¨ introduces metaphors creating much more imagery, both make a critique of the modern individual using

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783 Words | 4 Pages

Henry David Thoreau is one of the primary promoters of the transcendentalist movement and has been inspiring people to take on the transcendentalist lifestyle ever since the mid 1800’s. Mccandless was an admirer of Henry’s philosophy but he wasn’t as fully immersed in his work and ideals as Thoreau was to his own. His intentions were not as closely aligned to the movement as Thoreau’s and the difference between these icons are clearly visible. Self reliance is one of the most significant components of the transcendentalism movement that Henry David Thoreau contributed to in his literary career. “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.” - (taken from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden”).

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637 Words | 3 Pages

Transcendentalism, a philosophical and social movement, demonstrated how divinity spreads through all nature and humanity. One of the main ideals of transcendentalism, living simply and independently, define as the principle. In matters of financial and interpersonal relations, independence projects as more valuable than neediness. Henry david Thoreau elaborates on these transcendentalist ideals when he travels into the woods and writes an essay.

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