Transcendentalism In The Call Of The Wild

In attempts to achieve a greater understanding of absolute reality and truth, Christopher McCandless temporarily separates from societal influences and undertakes an odyssey into the Alaskan wilderness. Powered by the notion of happiness through self-reliance, McCandless retreats from the social and into a deeper self, undergoing a profound realization of himself and truth. Linking McCandless’s countercultural actions to various literary influences ultimately reveal the overarching transcendentalist forces in which shape his determination to enter the wild and seclude himself from the social.

The philosophy behind transcendentalism recognizes and rejects the flaws and corruption engrossed in the precepts of the status-quo society. Transcendentalists

Jack London’s The Call of the Wild strives for the return to primitiveness in life: “He had been suddenly jerked from the heart of civilization and flung into the heart of things primordial.” This would explain McCandless’s seemingly unusual decision to set out in his Alaskan odyssey with little to nothing in his back pocket, considering he brought more weight in books than personal care items and supplies to survive. Vital for the duration of his journey were his hand-held gun in which he used to hunt animals, a book about edible plants in which he used to scavenge for food, and ten pounds of rice. Other than those three supplies, McCandless had not brought anything else to satisfy his health needs. In the eyes of some critics, McCandless fails to accomplish his odyssey, ultimately succumbing to his death as a result of his stupidity, naivety, and unpreparedness, a case where risk-taking went too far. Others thought McCandless to be delusional. However, it continues to be a controversial topic whether McCandless was simply ill-prepared and overestimated his ability or proves to be an exceptional model for other risk-takers and adventurers. However, The Call of the Wild suggests that McCandless had a greater intention in mind than achieving a difficult physical odyssey; McCandless sought to rely on self-dependence and solitude to maximize the potential of discovering the absolute truth and a greater understanding of his deeper self and the constructs of society. He hoped his experience would confirm that he needed “No phone. No pool. No pets. No cigarettes” to be happy, and “No longer to be poisoned by civilization, he flees, and walks alone” (Krakauer). This shows a lot in that McCandless had deliberately set out into the wilderness without a watch, map, spare change, and suffice clothing and food, with intentions of entirely living