In the biography, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer writes about a man named Chris McCandless. McCandless seemed like a normal person. He had good grades, a good home life, and had just graduated from college. Then, the 24-year-old went off on a journey, eventually ending up in Alaska, where he met an untimely death in an abandoned bus that he had taken shelter in. While McCandless never came out as a transcendentalist, his actions were indicative of some of the tenets of transcendentalism.
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.
Chris McCandless’s Rational Exploration: To claim that a young 22 year old boy going into the Alaskan wilderness alone is ignorant, witless, and crazy is inaccurate. This is Chris McCandless. McCandless embarked on a two year long, solo journey to break away from societal exceptions, and discover himself, along with the unknowns of the wild that was recorded in the writings of “Into The Wild” by Jon Krakauer. Shaun Callarman, a former police officer and now writer, expressed his disapproval of McCandless’ journey by attesting, “I think that Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant at the same time. He had no common sense, and he had no business going into Alaska with his romantic silliness.
Christopher McCandless, a foolish, narcissistic young man confidently ventured into the Alaskan wilderness unprepared and paid for it with his life. At least that’s what some people believe about him, but McCandless was more than just a foolish kid. McCandless was a courageous young man that dropped the luxurious lifestyle given to him to follow his heart and live naturally in harmony with nature. McCandless was the embodiment of great philosophers’ ideas such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, he was morally driven and had dreams that nothing was going to stop him from reaching, and in many people’s eyes, that made him completely unworthy of the injudicious, woefully naive title he was given by hundreds of critics. Christopher McCandless, the central figure in Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into The Wild, was an ambitious man that developed
Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless, and Henry David Thoreau express the aspects of Transcendentalism in their three points of view. Transcendentalism is based on the belief that human beings have self-wisdom and may gain this knowledge or wisdom by how nature flows. It has three common themes: self-wisdom, nature and its meaning, and social reform. Chris McCandless’s life expressed in Krakauer’s Into the Wild is similar to the Transcendental beliefs of Thoreau’s Walden. The first Transcendental point of Chris McCandless’s and Henry David Thoreau’s lives is their dislike of material possessions.
Being lost in the wilderness can be the best experience a person can have, because one can be alone with nature and at peace with themselves. This experience happened to one man named Chris McCandless in the book Into the Wild. Chris had enough of his life, so he adopted the ideas of a transcendentalist meaning one can be with god, nature and letting life take over a person. Chris McCandless is seen as brave and daring, due to him going against the social order of the world. Chris McCandless grew up in a “normal” household.
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.
“It is easy, when we are young, to believe that what you desire is is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want something bad enough, it is your God-given right to have it,” pg. 155 Into the Wild Jon Krakauer. Published in 1996, and made into a move in 2007, Into the Wild is a book about one man’s journey to follow his dreams, and discover who he is. The story is told, mainly, by the people he met along the way and his journal entries. Throughout the book the main character, Chris McCandless, demonstrates multiple characteristics that can be seen as transcendentalist characteristics.
Chris McCandless, Jon Krakauer, and Henry David Thoreau are some adventurous people that had Transcendentalism throughout their lives. In Krakauer’s book Into the Wild the reader can see that Chris McCandless relates to Henry David Thoreau’s excerpts from Walden by showing Transcendental beliefs. Both of the mean show that they are simple, seek individualism, and love the flow of nature. The way Chris McCandless attempts to live his life in Krakauer’s book Into the Wild is just like the way Henry David Thoreau describes a true Transcendentalist. One of the first transcendental beliefs that Chris McCandless seeks is a simple life.
Into The Wild Essay How the author wrote the novel about “Into The Wild”? Jon Krakauer was an author who wrote the novel about Chris’s life and death. Although Krakauer argues that the novel was not yet published. That is because the novel had not yet done to complete that make younger readers are being reckless and emotionally distress. However, This presented is a sad story that tells Chris McCandless explores how to go on outdoors to Alaska and survived there in the wildlife.
In Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild," the quote "The trip would be an odyssey in the fullest sense of the word, an epic journey that would change everything" refers to the protagonist Christopher McCandless' journey into the Alaskan wilderness. The quote is significant because it highlights the transformative nature of McCandless' journey and the impact it had on his life. The word "odyssey" has several meanings, most notably as a reference to Homer's epic poem, "The Odyssey," which chronicles the adventures of the hero Odysseus as he travels home from the Trojan War. Similarly, McCandless' journey into the Alaskan wilderness is an epic adventure, full of danger and discovery, as he tests his limits and explores the natural world.
Tashi Schorr Ms. Glick English 10 Period 2 10 April 2024. Into the Wild “To symbolize the complete severance from his previous life, he even adopted a new name. No longer would he answer to Chris McCandless; he was now Alexander Supertramp, master of his own destiny” (Krakauer 23). The non-fiction story, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer is a story about reinvention that follows a young man who abandons the status quo of his normal life and finds meaning through his adventures across the United States, until his demise in Alaska. The reinvention of Christopher McCandless creates a captivating story and mystery about who this kid is, and his personality and beliefs about the world are what caused him to reinvent himself.
Literary texts offer insight into other cultures by providing a new perspective of the beliefs, values, customs, and societal norms of that culture. Jon Krakauer's “Into the Wild” gives us a look into American wilderness, and the spirit of adventure and individualism that is deeply rooted in American culture. The protagonist, Chris McCandless, sets out on an adventure to explore the American wilderness, throughout the book we learn about his past and what he seeks to find in his journey. Into the Wild is set in various locations across America. Moreover, Chris McCandless travels to Arizona, California, South Dakota, and Oregon throughout his journey.
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.
Polite speech has been used for centuries by people worldwide for various reasons such as introductions, business meetings, or even simply serving food. It is typically a sign of respect or friendliness commonly used to greet people daily, informally and formally. Although some believe it is wasteful, the value of polite speech is extremely high as it can enhance the halo effect and improve peer relations. Admittedly, polite speech may be wasteful to some; however, polite speech can have a large impact on others' perceptions of oneself. For example, in Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, numerous people Christopher McCandless met on his crusade to Alaska such as Jan Burres would not have become as fond of him if he had not been respectful and utilized
