Chris Mccandless Conformity

Since the beginning of humanity, people have tried to separate from society’s norms and live life the way they choose. Sociology labels these people as ‘non-conformist.’ But what exactly is sociology on a large scale? Sociology is the study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society (Giddens, 2001). Nonconformity in sociology refers to behaviors or thinking that doesn’t comply with society's norms and expectations (Ridgeway, 1981). For example, imagine a person walking down the street in the summer wearing a bright red jacket. That is nonconformity. Nonconformity is especially important in Jon Krauer’s book, “Into the Wild (1996).” Main character Chris McCandless was the ultimate non-conformist. His lack of conformity allowed

him to develop himself. Examining principles in McCandless life such as defying social norms, developing a sense of self-reliance, and alienation from modern day society can help us understand ideologies of nonconformity.
In life, there are guidelines and principles by which we are judged by. As we grow up, our parents tell us things we can and cannot do. However, most households hold their own sets of beliefs and they often vary from one another. One thing that remains the same in a society is norms. A norm is a script that governs civilization (Sunstein, 1996). It can be viewed as all of the important things and petty things a group of people consider acceptable. Norms are not frequently written in words, they are simply just a set of values that society abides by. McCandless did not abide by the norms of society. He graduated from Emory University with a degree in anthropology and history. Soon after graduation, he did something strange. McCandless donated $24,000 dollars to OXFAM America, which was a charity dedicated to fighting hunger. This was money that his parents believed Chris would use to attend law school. This breaks social norms because McCandless ditched his college education to go into the unknown. Once McCandless embarked on his journey, his car ended up getting caught in a flash flood near Lake Mead in Nevada. The reason McCandless car got stuck in a flood in the first place is because he broke a norm. He took his car, “ignoring posted warnings that off-road driving is strictly forbidden, McCandless steered the Datsun off the pavement where it crossed a broad, sandy wash. He drove two miles down the riverbed to the south shore of the lake” (Krakauer, p. 23). After the flood, McCandless ended up draining the battery trying to start the Datsun while the battery was wet. McCandless didn’t even try to get help from the park rangers since there were other issues with his vehicle as well; so he ditched it. McCandless drove the vehicle with no insurance and an expired license of two years (Krakauer). Shortly after abandoning his car, McCandless burned his money, a legal issue and crime in the United States. Krakauer quotes, “he arranged all his paper currency in a pile on the sand—a pathetic little stack of ones and fives and twenties—and put a match to it. One hundred twenty-three dollars in legal tender was promptly reduced to ash and smoke” (p. 24). Later in the book, McCandless is also arrested for trying to cross the Mexican Border back to the US illegally without ID. In the beginning of his journey when asked where his hunting license is, McCandless responds, “hell no…how I feel myself is none of the government’s business. Fuck their stupid rules” (Krakauer p. 6). All of these are examples of how McCandless did not follow social norms. McCandless did not look to society for the norms he should live by, but instead created his own code and set of rules.
McCandless also did not like to depend on others, and being self-reliant was one of his core values; almost to the point of self-absorption.

One can grasp a better understanding of McCandless through Emerson’s essay, “Self Reliance (1841).” Emmerson taught that individuals must distance themselves from the world so they can listen to their own thoughts, because society will force you to try and conform. Emmerson even says society is, “a conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members” (p. 3). He thought that modern day society influenced people so much, that they forgot certain values such as pursuing happiness without leaching it from other people, but most importantly, being content with being alone. To become truly independent and self-reliant, McCandless did everything he felt necessary. At his college graduation, his parents offered him a new car as well as paying for law school which he refused to accept. In a letter to his sister Carine he complains, “I've told them a million times that I have the best car in the world, a car that has spanned the continent from Miami to Alaska, a car that has in all those thousands of miles not given me a single problem… I'm going to have to be real careful not to accept any gifts from them in the future because they will think they have bought my respect” (Krakauer, p. 19). This shows McCandless’s hatred of materialism and depending on others. McCandless saw this trait in his parents and his fellow students at Emory,

which is partly why he had to get away and go on his journey in the first place. McCandless was ashamed by his family’s wealth saying, “wealth was shameful, corrupting, inherently evil” (Krakauer, p. 15). Emmerson reiterates McCandless and helps us understand his thought process saying, “Men have looked away from themselves and things so long, that they have come to esteem the religious, learned, and civil institutions as guards of property, and they deprecate assaults on these, because they feel them to be assaults on property. They measure their esteem of each other by what each has, and not by what each is” (p. 20). Also, McCandless was offered food, shelter, and clothing plenty of times from travelers along his journey, but he always brushed them off saying he could manage with the items on his back. He was always challenging himself to become wholly self-reliant. Krakauer states, “…it was important to him to see how self-reliant he could be” (p. 53). Chris made sure that along his journey he accomplished his goals through his own hard work, which is exactly what self-reliance is.
What is also strange about McCandless, is the fact that he alienated himself from most of society. Take for example his living situation in Atlanta during college. Krakauer writes, “During that final year in Atlanta, Chris had lived off campus in a monkish room furnished with little more than a thin mattress on the floor, milk crates, and a table. He kept it as orderly and spotless as a military barracks. And he didn't have a phone, so Walt and Billie had no way of calling him” (p. 20). Walt and Billie were his parents. The last things his parents received from him was a letter with his grades from his last semester in college. Soon, they began to worry since their son hadn’t contacted them in a while. They went to visit him, but he was long gone. Once he alienated his family, he even changed his name and went by the name Alex Supertramp. This is ironic because a tramp is a person who is a wanderer. That is exactly what McCandless wanted to be, a great wanderer who walked alone through nature. Throughout his journey, McCandless went for months at a time without encountering another human being. Marx’s theory on social alienation can also help us realize why McCandless isolated himself from society. In summary, Marx says that social alienation within the capitalist mode of production (the United States is ran by capitalism) happens because the worker loses the ability to take charge of their destiny since they are no longer able to control their own actions, and instead, their goals are governed by the bourgeoisie, who own the means of production (1964). This is why McCandless isolated himself often. Though he had jobs, he often left them once a person in charge tried to exert power over him. Take for example when he was working at a McDonald’s in Los Angeles. His manager lectured him for keeping poor hygiene and that he should shower more often; McCandless quit soon after.
McCandless had the courage to defy social norms, develop a sense of true self-reliance, and alienate himself from the civilized world.

Some see McCandless as an idiot for venturing into the wild, but others see him as an inspiration. His life has a meaning and a purpose to him, and the life he lived meant more to him than any person or possession ever could. Even in his dying words in his journal, Chris McCandless blessed the world saying. “I have had a happy life and thank the lord. Goodbye, and may god bless all!” (Krakauer p. 61). This goes to show that McCandless found happiness in nature and defying the plastic life that most Americans live. McCandless helps us realize that we don’t have to live life according to someone else’s rules; also the fact that we need to be able to focus on our own abilities and rely on ourselves; and finally sometimes you have to alienate yourself from the world for a few moments so that you can view it through your own eyes, instead of seeing the projection that society wants you to

see.