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.
One trait of Transcendentalism in Wall-E is importance of nature. Without the plant Wall-E found in the beginning of the movie, there would be no plot. On earth, no one took care of nature, and now it is all gone. Now, Earth is riddled with piles of garbage, dirt, and dust.
The bold and brash approach on life by transcendentalists was truly an ambitious lifestyle. Such individuals like Henry David Thoreau, Chris McCandless, and Jon Krakauer have renounced all of their mainstream agendas to lead a more fundamental life, but not without the criticism other have faced. The actions portrayed in their novels demonstrate how important it is to incorporate others’ ideas when one’s own choices. As the world was in the midst of transforming, Henry David Thoreau yearned to yield away from the evolving world, as he considered them corrupt opportunists who are deprived of their true nature.
Into the Wild is a book about a young adventurer named Chris McCandless. He is the main character of the book and usually goes by the pseudonym Alex Supertramp. The author also includes other stories about people who had similar experiences to Chris McCandless. McCandless was a very smart, independent person who hitch hikes around the United States.
During the Transcendentalist movement, Henry David Thoreau was a leading transcendentalist whose work focused mainly on nature and adventure. Walden, or Life in the Woods is an exceptional example of a story based on adventure. In Thoreau’s account of his life at Walden pond, he first states, “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.” Through this quote Thoreau explains that he was tired of the complexity of normal life and desired to go on an adventure to live simply. Additionally, Thoreau states, “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…,” which again reveals his motivation for new life by adventure and simplicity.
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.
A little after noon on November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. A lot of opinions have been shared and compared. Within this paper I will explain my opinions on the assassination of J.F.K. It was very hard to develop an opinion about the assassination because there is very little factual evidence to support one individual being accused of the assassination. With some research I have come up with a few opinions of why I believe J.F.K was assassinated. By the fall of 1963, President John F. Kennedy and his political advisers were preparing for the next presidential campaign.
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.
Thoreau believes in the removal of civilization by choice, while Wall-E was placed in involuntary isolation. Both works also hold nature in high regard, Thoreau’s for religious purposes and Wall-E’s for the sustainability of mankind. Wall-E and “Where I lived and What I Lived For” have themes of self-reliance, but one focuses on physical independence and the other focusing on the moral independence needed. These works both show the importance of free-thinking and the conservation of the environment, truly showing how all these ideological views transpire into real world problems, calling mankind forward to find a
“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.
Chris McCandless, a Transcendentalist? Unlike the majority, Chris McCandless decides to leave his home and possessions, and embark on a dangerous journey to the Alaskan wilderness. In the novel, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, the author describes Chris McCandless’ journey in depth to show transcendentalist ideals. Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that focuses on following your heart and the idea that humans lead towards goodness, while defying against society and materialism. Many well known transcendentalists include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
Kevin Sun Mrs. Cohen English 2CP --D February 22, 2018 Another Perspective The film Into the Wild is based on the life of Chris McCandless, a young man who rejected the consumerist society of America in order to live a more simple life. Through his travels, Chris carried essays by Transcendentalist philosophers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, suggesting that McCandless is impacted by Transcendentalist ideals. Two key tenets of Transcendentalism that clearly influenced McCandless’ choices are the value of simplicity and the importance of self-reliance.
Was Chris McCandless a true transcendentalist? Transcendentalism is a system developed by Immanuel Kant, based on the idea that, in order to understand the nature of reality, one must first examine and analyze the reasoning process that governs the nature of experience. Influenced by romanticism, Platonism, and Kantian philosophy, it taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity, and its members held progressive views on feminism and communal living. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were central figures. In Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into the Wild, McCandless is viewed as a transcendentalist.
Do you think that we should be allowed to hunt? Hunting is the activity of hunting wild animals or game, especially for food or sport. Many people hunt for food for their families or they hunt for fun. Trapping is simply catching an animal in a trap. Many people practice trapping for food but it can also be used for many other things.
In his essay Walden, Thoreau affirms the Transcendentalist belief of living simply by emphasizing the thought of living with only the essentials and the importance of self reliance. Thoreau supports the ideal of living simply through the emphasis of only living with what one needs. Simplicity exists
