ipl-logo

Transcendentalism In Into The Wild

687 Words3 Pages

During life, many people are persuaded to do extraordinary things. In the unprecedented case of Chris Mccandless, he is driven to the edge of society by a childhood discovery which traumatizes him, as well as the ideas of nonconformity and self-reliance. In Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris Mccandless is motivated by a family discovery as well as the ideas and tenets of Transcendentalism, to make his trek into the wilderness of Alaska.
In the biography Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris Mccandless unearths a terrible secret kept by his father, which is eventually a contributing factor for his decision to go to Alaska. After finishing high school, Chris decides to go on a summer excursion and travel the country, where he ends up in California, revisiting his old neighborhood. This is where he spends time with his half siblings, from Walt’s first marriage, who still live there. Chris finds out that after he was born, Walt had been continuing the relationship with his first wife, which Chris infuriates Chris, and he takes very personally: “Chris was the sort of person who brooded about things. If something bothered him, he wouldn’t come out and say it” (122). Letting his emotions build and broil over the newly discovered secret, Chris feels alienated from his parents. After finding out about his father’s double life, Chris feels like his whole life is counterfeit, which he expresses vividly to his sister, Carine: “He later …show more content…

Motivated by a discovery within his family as well as the ideas of independence and defiance to society, Chris Mccandless decides make a trek to the edge of civilization. Throughout life, people are provoked to do remarkable things,such as Chris Mccandless, who was motivated to escape into the wild, where he unfortunately met fatal

Show More
Related
903 Words | 4 Pages

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).

Read More
920 Words | 4 Pages

Rhetorical Analysis of Jon Krakauer’s “Into the Wild ” Jon Krakauer ’s purpose in writing Into the Wild is to recount Chris McCandless’ journey, physical and metaphysical, from college in Georgia to his death in Alaska, through the use of factual, and anecdotal evidence. Krakauer uses factual evidence to establish that he is a trustworthy narrator capable of giving the reader a realistic scope on the events in the story. Jon uses anecdotal evidence to see into Chris’ psyche from the various perspectives found in the book’s excerpts, including how Jon understands the events.

Read More
822 Words | 4 Pages

Into the wild, is a book by Jon Krakauer that later got turned into a film by Sean Penn, it follows the life of Christopher McCandless, who graduated from Emory University as a top student and athlete with wealthy pushing parents. Instead of continuing his life as a working man of society and taking his offers at top law schools, he decides to ultimately completely disconnect himself from society and instead tries to find his own meaning of life in the wild. Shaun Callarman says “ I think that Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant at the same time.” and i really agree with him on that because even though he left his college a top student the way he wanted to completely disconnect himself the way he did was ignorant. Not only that In the movie it clearly shows that even though he didn't want to connect with people on his journey to alaska he did, I think that if he wouldn't have been so set on being alone and not being attached to others he wouldn't have died the way he did.

Read More
849 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
807 Words | 4 Pages

Chris rejected his father at first for being materialistic but the climax of the story is when Chris finds out that his father lived a double life as after the divorce of his first wife he continued seeing her while being together with Chris’s mother. This betrayal crushed Chris and as he saw things so black and white he could not pardon his father’s mistakes. “The deception committed by Walt made his “entire childhood seem like a fiction” (PG. 123). This trouble created a loss of identity and eventually a disconnect between him and his family. This rejection towards his father was centrally important to motivating Chris’s behavior in the next years and in the decision of going to Alaska after college.

Read More
765 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
866 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
1376 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More
835 Words | 4 Pages

Was Chris McCandless a true transcendentalist? Transcendentalism is a system developed by Immanuel Kant, based on the idea that, in order to understand the nature of reality, one must first examine and analyze the reasoning process that governs the nature of experience. Influenced by romanticism, Platonism, and Kantian philosophy, it taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity, and its members held progressive views on feminism and communal living. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were central figures. In Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into the Wild, McCandless is viewed as a transcendentalist.

Read More
637 Words | 3 Pages

Chris had a huge impact on everyone he knew, but he would not let them influence him or his decisions at all. He rebelled against his family because his father was too controlling. Later on, when any of his companions told him not to go to Alaska, or tried telling him to do anything that he did not want to, he would totally ignore them, and change the subject. As Krakauer writes in chapter 6, “McCandless…relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it. He had fled the claustrophobic confines of his family.

Read More
806 Words | 4 Pages

Into the Wild tells the story of Chris McCandless, a young man who embarked on an adventure across the U.S. Chris lived for adventure, and sadly met his demise in the Alaskan wilderness. Chris’ death brought about a large debate as to whether Chris was insane or simply idealistic. Krakauer wrote Into the Wild to prove Chris’ sanity and soundly completes that task by using rhetorical devices to persuade his audience. Throughout the book, Krakauer uses ethos to develop Chris’ credibility by providing examples of people who are similar to him. For example, Krakauer provides multiple examples of people who were very similar to Chris, such as Everett Ruess.

Read More
1727 Words | 7 Pages

Chris’s need to “divorce” his parents was due to the fact that he truly despised the lifestyle that they lived and had, especially since it was fueled by materialism and betrayal. Chris’s father, Walt, lived a double life before and during the first years of Chris’ life. He seemingly had two women at his beck and call, but as soon he got discovered and that lifestyle vanquished for him. Although,

Read More
629 Words | 3 Pages

Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild investigates the life and adventures of Chris McCandless. The author provides information about Chris’ life to illuminate his journey. Krakauer also uses rhetorical appeals to defend Chris’ rationale for his journey. Through Krakauer’s use of pathos, ethos, and logos, he persuades the audience that Chris is not foolish; however, Krakauer’s intimacy with Chris and his adventures inhibits his objectivity.

Read More
1945 Words | 8 Pages

He’s out there somewhere, and I’d want someone to take care of him like I tried with Alex.” (Krakauer 46). McCandless made the relationship complex, because he would always try to keep his personal life a secret even though he trusted her. Burres knowing the irritation, that would come upon persisting McCandless about knowing any single detail about his personal life to inform his parents about his whereabouts, because Burres had a child out in the world just like Chris she knew nothing about, seeking the opportunity to

Read More
882 Words | 4 Pages

Based on a real story, Into the Wild can make us think from different perspectives about what the main character Christopher McCandless did. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a dramatic but also remarkable story from a young, newly graduated, college student that escaped for a long wild journey but never came back. As time passes throughout the book, the reader may notice how the main character interacts with society and nature, finally McCandless dies in the wild but even though he was struggling for survival he died happy. Some people never get out of their comfort zone, others are tired of it and retire from their comfort zone to have different experiences in life, some are good enough or some are terrible.

Read More

More about Transcendentalism In Into The Wild

Related Topics

Open Document