Chris went off after he graduated college and “lived off the land”. Chris would travel to the coast of Mexico, the plains of Kansas, and the dunes of Nevada. Chris went on a final expedition to Alaska that cost him everything. In the following paragraphs I will fully detail how Chris was reckless, selfish, and naive. I will also explore how Chris tied his life to the beliefs of transcendentalism.
Tony Krawitz’s 2011 documentary, The Tall Man features the narrative of Cameron Doomadgee, an Aboriginal Palm Island resident, who mysteriously wound up deceased in a prison cell, just 45 minutes after being taken into custody by Senior Sergeant Christopher Hurley. The documentary takes viewers on a journey through the series of events that led to Christopher Hurley being rightfully accused of manslaughter for the death of Doomadgee. The Tall Man is the type of documentary film that allows viewers to formulate their own opinion on the situation. With no narrator present to force personal viewpoints down viewer’s throats or acted dramatization to possibly exaggerate what really occurred, the film relies on archival footage and interviews with
When people isolate themselves from society they develop similar characteristics. In Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Christopher McCandless, the main character graduates as a top student and makes the choice to give away all his money to charity as well as leaving behind his belongings instead of pursuing a career. He then travels out to Alaska, journaling his experience in the wildness and changes his name to Alex. In the movie Grizzly Man, Werner Herzog uses footage shot by Timothy himself to document what inspired him to live with the wild bears in Alaska. One of the bears Treadwell takes care of tragically kills him; his footage gives a stronger look at nature and its harsh realities.
Cyanne Hall Mrs. Quassy English 4P 22 February, 2016 Into the Wild Essay One day in July of 1990, Chris McCandless severed all contact with his family and set out West and started his two year long journey that would ultimately end with his untimely death in the frozen, unforgiving landscape of Alaska. McCandless was like us, the only difference, he went for his dreams. Although criticizers of Krakauer and McCandless believe Chris was mentally ill, McCandless suffered through emotional damage from family problems and was easily influenced in his vulnerable state through literature. How can someone throw away so much and want nothing in return except the wild? The more I read into McCandless the more I saw why the wild interested him
In the 19th and 20th century transcendentalism was a new and exciting topic that caused tremendous controversy. In the novel Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless was a man with a very unique character. In more detailed words Chris McCandless was a transcendentalist. His actions and moods played a big part in his life, from beginning to end. He was a transcendentalist because of his self-reliance, confidence and non-conformity.
seclusion, so called simplicity, the beautiful landscapes, its hard no to believe that alaska could cure all of our issues. the dreamers and the misfits that jon krakauer meantions in the quote from page four in Into the Wild expect alaska to patch up the unsatisfactory holes in their lives. a person being interviewed from Into the Wild, Jim Gallien, explains that people, such as Chris McCandless, have certain expectations for alaska; these expectations include easily living off of the land and claiming "a piece of the good life". all of these people that expect "the frontier" to save us believe that since they will live an imagined simplier life, most of their problems will be cured. the holes they search for something to fill could be caused
"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.”- Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalism is an American philosophy that revolves around self-reliance and independence, commonly in nature, a Transcendentalist wants to find the true meaning in life. I believe that Chris McCandless was a Transcendentalist because he was able to leave his whole life behind and take on a minimalist lifestyle while having a strong relationship with god. However, I believe that I am not a Transcendentalist, but simply an adventurer.
Society’s Creation Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that protests culture and society. Toward the end of Chris McCandless’s life he started to show many signs of a transcendentalist. Unlike Thoreau Chris was not in it for his love of nature, but to free himself from a corrupt world and a bitter society. " So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future." (Krakauer p. 57) McCandless and Thoreau both idealized the American wilderness and shared the same thought that living a less materialistic lifestyle would positively affect ones being.
With human advancement, technology has taken on a life of its own. The current American society’s reliance on digital support has caused it to forget the importance of its humanity. The novelist, Wallace Stegner, wrote in a letter to argue for the preservation of the wilderness in order to help restore the spirituality and historical values of America, which he sent to David E. Pesonen, a research assistant for the Wildland Research Center at the University of California. His claim relays that the remaining wilderness needs to be preserved as much as possible because American society needs to remember and appreciate its ancestral roots. While he used primarily pathos as his method of persuasion, his argument lacks factual information and mentions minimal credibility.
A Windstorm in the Forest by: John Muir In A Windstorm in the Forest by John Muir, we learn that he is very passionate about the wilderness. He writes about going on an adventure; his adventure takes place in Mount Shasta, California, one of the Sierra Mountains. The author begins the story by explaining how as he was out enjoying a walk he came across a path where a hurricane had occurred. Interested in what the road had to show he continues to explore it he then comes across the valleys of the Yuba River.
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.
Maria Cabrera Documentary Reflection The Hunting Ground is a documentary film targeting the frequent sexual assaults on college campuses in the United States. Colleges across the United States have failed to meet justice for victims with confrontations. The film is concentrated on Annie. E. Clark and Andrea Pino, two graduates of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who decided to file a complaint about their assaults while they were attending the University.
Christopher McCandless, a 29-year-old dreamer, went on the journey of a lifetime to involve himself with nature and being truly independent. He had lived a life of privilege, made amazing grades in school, and even went to school at Emory College, getting degrees in both history and anthropology. Even though he seemed to have everything good going for him, it’s not the life he wanted. McCandless decides after law school to go deep into the “wild”, with no map, no resources. All he kept was a small journal and camera in which he captured and recorded all of his experiences in, allowing people for the rest of time to read and learn about his journey in his book titled Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer.
Society is influenced by everything. Whether it be the place people live, crime and law, family structure, famous people, social stratification and the biggest problem race. The movie A Time To Kill is a perfect example of all of these things. All of these items shape people and shape how they will live their lives. Sociology is the development, structure, and functioning of human society.
Romanticism was a movement during the late 18th century that encouraged imagination, exploration, individualism, and emotion. From it derived Transcendentalism, one of the first movements to originate from America and which bore the first American philosophers. These movements are often present in many pieces of American literature and this is no exception in Jon Krakauer’s novel Into the Wild. The historic account retells the story of a young man named Chris McCandless, who adopts the pseudonym Alexander Supertramp and takes to the road, only to die of starvation in Alaska. On the surface it appears to be cautionary tale, but Krakauer literally retraces McCandless’ steps, talking to the people who Chris spoke with and even traveling to Chris’ final resting place.
