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Essay Comparing Mccandless And Ralph Waldo Emerson

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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. He urged adults to see the world through the way a child would adore it, in a purer loving way. This goes against many Americans’ viewpoints on life, then and even now. He also mentions that he believes nature is a kind force to everyone, and is never cruel. On the other hand, Chris McCandless’s life is documented by the book Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer. Within the book, Chris’s past is documented by his inability to conform. He was expected to go to college, but after his experience freshman year summer travel, he …show more content…

This statement contrasts to Chris McCandless because he had exposed himself to the harsh conditions of the Alaskan nature. The conditions were so cruel to him that they led to his death, proving that Emerson is ignorant to the dangers of nature’s conditions. Emerson may have lived a survival lifestyle in the wilderness, or he may have wrote about his experience with nature outside of his home’s walls. Either way, the natural forces he speaks about were probably extremely thrivable conditions, even if he didn’t live in them. Nature is not always kind, and sometimes fights against humans such as natural disasters might. Chris McCandless chose to walk straight into those dangers, knowing that the beauty he’s committing his life to is not always

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Into The Wild was a tremendous story which Shaun Callarman did not have many positive things to say about Chris McCandless, the main character. He went on this adventure to find out what life is all about in his own eyes. He wanted to see how different living in the wild really was compared to society because he was not satisfied with his living arrangements and household. Shaun’s quote says that he thinks “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.

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Going out into the wild all by yourself can be nerve wracking and lonely. Jon Krakauer makes Chris McCandless seemed like a noble person who took the initiative to try to go out and live into the wild. The book Into the Wild written by Jon Krakauer, is about a teenager named Chris McCandless leaving society and traveling to Alaska by himself with nothing else but a bag of rice and a small .22 caliber gun. Chris is heroic because he went to Alaska by himself without any knowledge of Alaska and didn’t know any of the dangers of Alaska. One way Krakauer make Chris seem noble is when Chris is about to enter Alaska he tells Gallien “ I’m goin’ to get on up there live off the land,go claim me a piece of the good life” (Krakauer 4).

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They both were willing to put their lives in danger in order to examine nature closer or to get the full experience of nature. Both of them were under the assumption that they were basically immortal and that their only purpose was to be free. However maybe it is better that they both had roamed free- it is never a good idea to keep a wandering spirit cooped up. McCandless and Ruess had both felt that they were drawn to nature and meant to be there and that beauty was all that mattered. They were drawn to it and it eventually cost both of them their

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This statement, made by Shaun Callarman, pertains to Chris McCandless’s trek into Alaska that ultimately led to death by starvation. Since the recovery of Chris’s body, there has been much speculation about the prevention of Chris’s death and the possible causes. Despite Callarman’s plea of craziness, there have been both eye-witness accounts showing that Chris was sane and prepared when leaving for the Alaskan wilderness, many natural

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McCandless’s self-reliance is a big part of identifying him as transcendentalist. In the short story, “Death of an Innocent”, Chris says, “I've decided that I'm going to live this life for some time to come. The freedom and simple beauty of it is just too good to pass up.” McCandless feels that life should not be wasted doing what you do not love, and shows this by traveling and living off the land every chance he gets. Transcendentalists take in all of what nature has to give them by becoming one with it; like McCandless does throughout the story.

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Into The Wild portrays a man who went on a fatal unforgettable journey through the alaska wilderness. Chris McCandless was a man with great courage and the ability to live on his own made him more of a hero going on his fatal journey. Many would say he was foolish or not thinking right, but that is not the case. The case here is simply a man with courage wanting to fulfill is beliefs through his journey. One may ask what is courage.

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