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How Is Chris Mccandless Justified In Pursuit Of Individualism

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“McCandless was a seeker and had an impractical fascination with the harsh side of nature” (Krakauer 85). Christopher Johnson McCandless: a scholar, and an athlete, and a naturalist, and a transcendentalist. After high school, Chris was internally conflicted which pushed him to leave his home, although, he did return to finish out college after a short period of adventuring. Once he was done with college, he indulged himself in a peregrination; after meeting several people and venturing into the wild he received mental salvation and enlightenment. Chris “Alexander Supertramp” McCandless was justified in shunning society and social norms in pursuit of individualism; Into the Woods by Henry Ticknor and “Self Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson best …show more content…

Chris was fully aware of these tyrannical actions his parents were dictating on his life: excel in education, finish high school, go to college, get a successful job. Chris reflects this in a letter to his sister, “‘so irrational, so oppressive, disrespectful and insulting that I finally passed my breaking point’” (qtd. in Krakauer 64). In his fragile state of mind due to repressed emotions formed by knowledge of his father’s affair, he became increasingly more contumacious. Henry Ticknor, a preacher, observes, “Chris never confronted his father with this [newfound] knowledge. He chose instead to keep it secret, buried inside, but slowly his anger began to emerge in silence and withdrawal” (Ticknor 1). Since this situation had gotten so severe, the only resolution was separation and time; by breaking the social norms and detaching himself from family, Chris preserved his individualism. Although opposing viewpoints may argue that Chris caused harm to the people he met under the ambition to find himself, one counterargument is that Chris impacted the people he met in a positive way and didn’t completely drop them after he left again. For example, Ronald Franz: Franz was so inspired by his wisdom that he stopped drinking and got a church membership, but most of all he listened to McCandless’ advice and took more risks in his

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Both Chris McCandless and Ralph Waldo Emerson are against modern society’s way of living and believe one should live their life in a non-conformist lifestyle driven by the awe of nature. Emerson wrote an essay called “Nature”. There he talked about the relationship one should have to God through nature, and was a popular role model of the transcendentalist movement. Emerson was anti-governmental, believing one cannot own nature or the land. He also writes about how he feels welcomed in nature, more so than he does in a village or society, favoring the natural land over the land humans created.

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In Fact Chris never gave up on his goal, as noted on Page 75 in the book Krakauer tells us “Chris cheerfully announced that he had “Recast” his goals and next intended to walk around the world living out of his backpack.” Ever since he had everything handed to him, he always wanted to live somewhere where he could find truth. In all honesty, Chris gave people gifts, in the book it says, “Alex insisted on giving Gallien all he had, and that if he didn’t accept it he would throw it away. ”(Krakauer 3) Chris felt that anything that he got from his past life would just be a distraction and he did not really need it. Lastly getting along with people, never giving up on his goal, and giving people gifts are reasons why being faithful kept Chris McCandless going on with his Journey till it led to his

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In both of these instances, Chris’s willful rejection of traditional beliefs and behaviors made him into the man he wanted to

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He was a bit selfish, narcissistic, and extremely egotistical. Be that as it may he was searching for a sense of purpose just as most people his age often do. While some may go backpacking through Europe or maybe experiment with illegal substances Chris knew the path he needed to take to find purpose was a nomadic one where a new sunset lay on a different horizon each night. Chris tried to convince others that this was the way to find true meaning in life. He wrote to a friend saying, “Once you have become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty.”

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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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In “Into the Wild, ” Jon Krakauer explores the human compulsion with nature and the purpose of life. Throughout the book, Krakauer documents the intoxicating/galvanizing life and death of Christopher Jon McCandless, aka Alexander Supertramp, a young hitchhiker that embarked on an Alaskan Odyssey to explore himself and the wilderness. Like many before him, McCandless thought that he could give is his life meaning by pursuing a relationship solely with nature. McCandless had “an impractical fascination with the harsh side of nature. (85)

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Society is a limitation, often preventing many from following their dreams or beliefs. Some may forsake these dreams and ideals and forget who they are in an attempt to conform. Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer narrates the story of Christopher McCandless, a young man from Virginia. McCandless hitchhiked to Alaska in 1992 to follow his beliefs and managed to live off the land for four months until he met his death in the wilderness. His story gained a lot of publicity and it has led to debates about his sanity and heroic qualities.

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Christopher McCandless, the protagonist of the novel and film Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, is not your average guy. Driven by his minimalist ideals and hate for society, he challenged the status quo and embarked on a journey that eventually lead to his unforeseen demise. A tragic hero, defined by esteemed writer, Arthur Miller, is a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on tragedy. Christopher McCandless fulfills the role of Miller’s tragic hero due to the fact that his tragic flaw of minimalism and aversion towards society had lead him to his death.

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"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.

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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.

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“How is it … that a kid with some much compassion could cause his parents so much pain?” (Krakauer 104). Chris wanted to escape his abusive father and the poison of his life at home. No one can truly be at fault for wanting to find freedom in a way that they feel and know is best. McCandless was forced to make one of the hardest decisions of his life to save himself.

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He’d successfully kept Jan Burres and Wayne Westerberg at arm’s length, flitting out of their lives before anything was expected of him. And now he’d slipped painlessly out of Ron Franz’s life as well,” every time someone tried to become close to him, he pushed him or her away. When Ronald Franz asked to adopt him, Chris told him that they would talk about it when he returns from Alaska. Chris’ problems with his father affected his ability to form new, close relationships, and ultimately sent him to his death.

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As a human sometimes we come come across ideas in our head that seem so right or perfect at some points but in reality they are so wrong in different ways, as it is life we also seem to stumble into thing in our path. Sometimes I think of doing somethings that in my mind they play out right but as soon as someone else hears them they think of them stupid and I would listen but; Chris did not even want to listen to the advice that was given to him and thought he was smarter and more knowledgeable. I agree Callarman when he said that “Chris makes a lot of mistakes based on arrogance”.

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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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What really drove Chris McCandless into the wild? I believe the top three of the countless reasons that drove McCandless into the wild was the emotional damage from his parents, rebellion of the youth & risk taking tendencies, and his hubris and detestation against authority and/or someone telling him what to do. Some may believe that Chris McCandless went into the wild because of his literary heroes Leo Tolstoy, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau , and Jack London but the real reason he left everything was because of those reasons. In this essay I will elaborate on why I believe those are the reasons that drove McCandless into the wild.

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