Happiness & McCandless
Happiness has been often mistaken for another emotion while in reality it comes from the translated form of the greek concept of eudaimonia which means flourishing, or literally translated to “good spirit”. With the concept of happiness clarified to an abstraction of fulfilment, or acceptance in life, rather than just a term used for a feeling of elation, it becomes a more open ended discussion piece due to the questions one could ask. What constitutes happiness? Can you achieve true happiness if it is an abstract concept? An interesting point of view of happiness comes from the literary works of american romanticism from eighteen twenty to eighteen sixty with Thoreau, and a later person who held the ideals of the romantics, Christopher McCandless, the two of which I will compare with my own idea of happiness. My own personal experiences of happiness have been limited due to my age so I have not had the time to really experience a longer life and therefore a more extensive grasp on the trials and tribulations of a lifetime. However with the hand I have been dealt so far, my concept
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He grew up in a urban environment where people were very hedonistic and ungrateful which led to his outlash and abandonment of his family and home. McCandless spent a lot of time running from his past and he did have human interaction, but he kept leaving it as if he was reminded of his past, and hated it. At the end of his journey, in Stampede Trail, Alaska and spending a extensive time there he wrote in one of his books that “happiness only real when shared” (Krakauer 189). With this quote it seems to mean that after living a long time without human interaction he realized that he could live with others normally and did not have to live like that to be