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Essays about transcendence
Philosophy of transcendentalism
Philosophy of transcendentalism
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A shooting star darted across the sky, the candles on the cake blown out, it is 11:11 o’clock, time to make a wish. There are two types of people in this world, people who wish, and people who work. Wishing is easy, everyone can wish for something, anything. However, dreaming is different. Dreaming is when a person has an attainable goal in mind that they want to reach and are willing to do whatever they have to in order to achieve that goal. Dreamers are the ones who have the ambition to reach for their target goal. Chris McCandless, a young man who traveled across the country, unprepared, yet determined. The story Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer, gives the readers an insight on Chris McCandless’s journey to Alaska, where the harsh conditions …show more content…
where eventually fatal. McCandless learned many different life lessons on his journey and “what you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals”(Henry David Thoreau). Chris’s dream was to escape his torturous parents, give in to his transcendental beliefs, and follow the people who inspired him through their writing. Nobody was able to get into Chris’s way when it came to following his heart that was leading him in the direction of the Alaskan wilderness. The remarkable and intriguing story Into The Wild, convey’s Chris McCandless’s story as admirable and courageous due to his bravery and adventurous attitude. Chris McCandless’s move to reject society is recognized as an admirable decision because it displayed his bravery to defy his parents and free himself from the physical and mental abuse. The story, The Wild Truth, gives the readers more of an insight of Chris’s past because it was written by his sister, Carine McCandless. The McCandless’s had a very rough family history. Walt McCandless was seeing two women at the same time and raised two families at once. As Chris’s senior year of high school was ending, he was determined to take off in his beloved Datsun immediately after graduation. He did not know where he wanted to go or how long he would be, and that angered his father. The two men got into an argument, Walt claiming that Chris was being “completely irresponsible”(McCandless, Carine). However, Chris challenged that statement by reiterating the fact that he did very well in school, works hard for his own money, and got into a great college. His father was angered because Chris had a good point. Walt lost the argument, however, he was not going to admit defeat. As Chris turned around and started walking away, “[Walt] lurched forward and slammed his fist into the center of Chris’s spine, as if he were expecting level Chris to the ground immediately”(McCandless, Carine). The McCandless children were abused, physically and mentally by their alcoholic father. Walt “slammed” his fist into Chris. Carine’s diction symbolizes the lack of remorse Walt feels for hurting his son. Chris wanted to escape all the pain and heartbreak he was feeling from the people who were suppose to love for him and care for him. As the oldest boy, he was unofficially given the task to protect his siblings and because of that, he was also the target. Nevertheless, Chris was his own person and knew what he wanted in life, freedom from his abusive parents. Shaun Callarman believed that Chris “had no business going into Alaska with his romantic silliness”. Chris McCandless risked his life and traveled to Alaska to escape his parents. Not only did he want to, but he was felt forced to go before he was ready because he could not withstand the torture from his parents any longer. He was suffocating in the hands of his parents and could not breath until he was free from their grip. Chris repeatedly attempted to make peace with his parents despite the emotional trauma he had suffered as a kid. Despite the letter that Chris sent to his parents, explaining that his whole childhood experience was poisoned as a result of their unfair treatment to the innocent. Unfortunately, the detailed letter that “explained how damaging it had been to grow up within a household filled with such painful behavior, so many lies,”(McCandless, Carine), had no impact on the parents whatsoever. Chris’s goal was to make the parents feel the guilt that they made him feel while he was growing up. He wanted to make them feel the same torture that forced him to run away from his friends and siblings. The letter was a complete waste of time for McCandless and his parents replied back with a postcard and a brief note. The tone conveyed in the note indicated their stubbornness in “that contemptuous-pompous stance,”(McCandless, Carine) that Chris emphasized in his letter. Ignorance displayed from both Billie and Walt is what drove Chris over the edge. Callarman’s point that Chris “had no common sense” is completely false because he had enough common sense to remove himself from a situation that was emotionally traumatizing for him. There are many ways for a person to react to a situation similar to McCandless’s, some more rational than others. Chris’s initial reaction was to remove himself from the situation and take a step towards what he loves, nature. Common sense and passion is what brought Chris to Alaska, both were a result of the abusive and unloving nature he was immersed in. Chris’s life-altering decision to immerse himself into the wild was brought about by following his heart and his transcendentalist beliefs.
In October of 1990, a park ranger, Bud Walsh, and his group were sent on a mission to Lake Mead National Recreation Area to observe a very rare plant known as A. californica. Little did this man know he was about to come across one of the most significant pieces to Chris’s journey. While the park rangers were looking around and climbing up a bank, one of the rangers caught a glimpse of a peculiar looking object that did not quite fit the scenery. The group went down to investigate the concealed large object. As they pulled off the tarp that was shielding the car from the rangers curious eyes, “they found an old yellow Datsun without license plates”(Krakauer, 26). Leaving his beloved car behind marked a very important milestone in Chris’s journey to Alaska. His car represented the portal between him and society and it symbolized the connection that he was attempting to rid himself from. He could not be completely consumed by the wilderness until he rids himself from the impurity that reeked from his home. Once Chris left his car behind, as well as other belongings, it marked his first official step alone in the wilderness. Chris wanted to push himself and test his abilities to survive on his own without the assistance from man-made machines. Chris is considered a transcendentalist due to his unique idea that nature is what brings people …show more content…
happiness. He believes that a person does not need any extravagant devices to shine light on a person's cloudy mood. Before cell phones and computers existed, the human nature was far more different than it is today. Face to face communication and writing letters were the only way to communicate with another person. As the growth of electronics became more affordable, slowly, that face to face communication became much more rare. Nowadays people depend on cell phones to talk about uncomfortable situations that they are too nervous to talk about in person. Henry David Thoreau is someone who inspired these transcendental ideas that were constantly swarming around Chris’s mind. Like Chris, “Thoreau carried out the more famous experiment of self-reliance when he went to Walden Pond, built a hut, and tried to live self-sufficiently without the trappings or interference of society”(“Transcendentalism”). Thoreau was applauded for his courageousness and determination to remind people that “all good things are wild and free”(“Transcendentalism”). The only difference between Henry and Chris is that Henry made it out of his journey alive, he lived to tell about it. People are questioning Chris McCandless because he was not as lucky. If Chris walked out of that forest there is a very strong possibility that the reaction from the public would have a very dramatic shift compared to the negative feedback that his story has received. It is not fair to call Chris’s trip to Alaska “romantic silliness”, as said by Shaun Callarman, because him believing in something is not silly. Chris believes that nature heals and protects and that was exactly what he needed. Henry David Thoreau managed to remind people of that during his time out in the woods. Unfortunately, his success was soon forgotten about by many people in society. Chris is considered brave and courageous for following his dreams and continuing a legacy put in place by Henry David Thoreau years before him. In the very controversial story Into The Wild, it is clear that Chris McCandless’s actions were justifiable and admirable due to his harsh family life as well as his courage to follow his beliefs.
Chris McCandless risked his life to travel to Alaska to escape the small box that his parents confined him in. He was abused mentally and physically and needed an escape to a place where he would never have to worry about encountering that same guilt he felt in society. Being inspired by someone is not a new concept in this world. It is very important to find someone to admire and look up to because they can assist in shaping that person’s future for the better. Henry Thoreau is an author who Chris felt a deep connection with and was inspired by him and his transcendental beliefs. Chris is courageous for ignoring the people around him who were trying to bring him down. His whole childhood he was told exactly what he was and was not allowed to do. Having as planned out of a life as he did, he chose to reject society and focus on the original beauty of the world rather than look as what it was forced to become. Chris is some way relates to the nature and wildlife because he understand what it is like to be abused without having chance to defend itself. Humans have control of the world, and it can be changed around with just snap of out finger. However, people do not think of the consequences it has on the earth. People are abusing what the earth is providing us for their own selfies
reasons. Without thinking of the consequences, sooner or later the resources that are necessary for human survival will not be produced any more, they will be gone. Similarly to how Chris’s parents took him from granted and used him for their own personal gain. They forced Chris away and now he is not here to tell his story. Chris’s dream was to find peace in this hectic, self-centered world and the only way he could do that was by isolating himself. Humans take everything they have for granted until it is too late.
Nature for McCandless was something he knew very well, for he had been since he was small, always wanting to climb higher. When at home, he felt trapped and the wild served as a cleansing power for him. When arriving to alaska, McCandless wrote a declaration of independence, as Krakauer puts it, writing “Ultimate freedom. . . . Escaped from Atlanta. Thou shalt not return , ‘cause ‘the west is the best’”(163). McCandless felt like he had no home,so he made nature his own. Similarly, Thoreau explains, “i found myself suddenly neighbors to the birds; not by having imprisoned one, but having caged myself near them . . . to those smaller and more thrilling songsters of the forest”(9). Thoreau cherished nature and the endless possibilities it contained. Likewise, Thoreau 's house was a place in which he “did not need to go outdoors to take the air for the atmosphere within had lost none of its freshness”(9) This allowed Thoreau stay in touch with the wilderness without feeling captive in his own home. Both Thoreau and McCandless were attracted by nature and the clarity, freedom can bring to one’s
Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, describes the adventure of Christopher McCandless, a young man that ventured into the wilderness of Alaska hoping to find himself and the meaning of life. He undergoes his dangerous journey because he was persuade by of writers like Henry D. Thoreau, who believe it is was best to get farther away from the mainstreams of life. McCandless’ wild adventure was supposed to lead him towards personal growth but instead resulted in his death caused by his unpreparedness towards the atrocity nature.
Throughout Into the Wild, Krakauer portrays Christopher McCandless as an infallibly eager young man hoping to distance himself from the society he so obviously loathes, to "live off the land," entirely independent of a world which has "conditioned [itself] to a life of security." Chris, contrarily to this depiction, is disparagingly viewed by some as a "reckless idiot" who lacked the sense he needed to survive in the Alaskan wilderness. This derogatory assessment of Chris's mindset is representative of the society he hopes to escape and contains all the ignorance that causes him to feel this way. Nevertheless, he is misjudged by these critics, allowing Krakauer to hold the more accurate interpretation of Chris's character, his goals, and his accomplishments.
In 1990, when he was 22 years old, Christopher McCandless ventured out into the Alaska wilderness in search for true happiness, and 2 years later he suffered a tragic death. An aspiring writer, Jon Krakauer, found McCandless’ story fascinating and chose to dedicate 3 years of his life to write a novel about him. The book entitled “Into the Wild” tells the tale of Christopher McCandless, an ill prepared transcendentalist longing for philosophical enrichment, who naïvely, failed to consider the dangers of isolating himself from human society for such a long period of time. Though Christopher McCandless made a courageous attempt to separate himself from society, in order to achieve self-fulfillment, the stubborn nature of this reckless greenhorn led him to his unfortunate demise.
Life is a form of progress- from one stage to another, from one responsibility to another. Studying, getting good grades, and starting the family are common expectations of human life. In the novel Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer introduced the tragic story of Christopher Johnson McCandless. After graduating from Emory University, McCandless sold of his possessions and ultimately became a wanderer. He hitchhiked to Alaska and walked into the wilderness for nearly 4 months. This journey to the 49th state proved fatal for him, and he lost his life while fulfilling his dream. After reading this novel, some readers admired the boy for his courage and noble ideas, while others fulminated that he was an idiot who perished out of arrogance and
Into the Wild, written by John Krakauer tells of a young man named Chris McCandless who 1deserted his college degree and all his worldly possessions in favor of a primitive transient life in the wilderness. Krakauer first told the story of Chris in an article in Outside Magazine, but went on to write a thorough book, which encompasses his life in the hopes to explain what caused him to venture off alone into the wild. McCandless’ story soon became a national phenomenon, and had many people questioning why a “young man from a well-to-do East Coast family [would] hitchhike to Alaska” (Krakauer i). Chris comes from an affluent household and has parents that strived to create a desirable life for him and his sister. As Chris grows up, he becomes more and more disturbed by society’s ideals and the control they have on everyday life. He made a point of spiting his parents and the lifestyle they lived. This sense of unhappiness continues to build until after Chris has graduated college and decided to leave everything behind for the Alaskan wilderness. Knowing very little about how to survive in the wild, Chris ventures off on his adventure in a state of naïveté. It is obvious that he possessed monumental potential that was wasted on romanticized ideals and a lack of wisdom. Christopher McCandless is a unique and talented young man, but his selfish and ultimately complacent attitude towards life and his successes led to his demise.
He went through many obstacles that could have proved fatal. From canoeing in the Colorado River to picking the right berries, he was testing his intelligence. Chris had a true confidence in the land and in himself to set out on a mission so dangerous. “Wilderness appealed to those bored or disgusted with man and his works. It not only offered an escape from society but also was an ideal stage for the Romantic individual to exercise the cult that he frequently made of his own soul. The solitude and total freedom of the wilderness created a perfect setting for either melancholy or exaltation” (Nash; Krakauer 157). Chris longed to escape from society and rely on only mother nature. An innumerable amount of people desire to withdraw from society as Chris did; but they are so comfortable and secure with a normal life they do not dare take such a gutsy
To begin with, McCandless’s decision to walk into the wild was acceptable because he wanted to become an inspiration and an individual. Emerson states, “There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance: that imitation is suicide” (Emerson). Chris McCandless left to shun the conformist society that he could feel changing him. Chris wanted the chains that bound him to be broken. Society takes the individual and locks it up and destroys it. According to Emerson, “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion: it is easy to in solitude to live after our own: but the great man is he who in the midst of the crow keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude” (Emerson). McCandless left his materialistic family to be his own person ad to be unique. The world’s opinion does not make the man wh...
Chris McCandless is regarded as being something as a spiritual figure almost as a cult hero, some call him a disillusioned fool, some call him a great adventurer, and the debate still continues. As Matthew Power calls in his article, an article where he tells the story of McCandless,“The debate falls into two camps: Krakauer's visionary seeker, the tragic hero who dared to live the unmediated life he had dreamed of and died trying; or, as many Alaskans see it, the unprepared fool, a greenhorn who had fundamentally misjudged the wilderness he'd wanted so desperately to commune with.” Like so many stories covering Christopher McCandless’ death, both ends of the argument are discussed in an unfavored manner in the hopes to help develop an opinion on the McCandless story. This open ended question can only be answered open-endedly based on what the readers base for themselves as covered stories intend. Like Power has done, ...
The novel “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer goes into great detail to describe the main character, Chris McCandless, who died traveling alone into the Alaskan wilderness. McCandless, whom in the novel renamed himself Alex, left his home and family to travel to Alaska in 1992. In Alaska McCandless planned to live an isolated life in the desolate wilderness, but unfortunately he did not survive. This non-fiction novel portrays his life leading up to his departure and it captures the true essence of what it means to be “in the wild”.
In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer explores the human fascination with the purpose of life and nature. Krakauer documents the life and death of Chris McCandless, a young man that embarked on an Odyssey in the Alaskan wilderness. Like many people, McCandless believed that he could give his life meaning by pursuing a relationship with nature. He also believed that rejecting human relationships, abandoning his materialistic ways, and purchasing a book about wildlife would strengthen his relationship with nature. However, after spending several months enduring the extreme conditions of the Alaskan wilderness, McCandless’ beliefs begin to work against him. He then accepts that he needs humans, cannot escape materialism, and can never fully understand how nature functions. Most importantly, he realizes that human relationships are more valuable than infinite solitude. McCandless’ gradual change of heart demonstrates that exploring the wilderness is a transformative experience. Krakauer uses the life and death of Chris McCandless to convey that humans need to explore nature in order to discover the meaning of life.
Sometimes a character may be pushed over the edge by our materialistic society to discover his/her true roots, which can only be found by going back to nature where monetary status was not important. Chris McCandless leaves all his possessions and begins a trek across the Western United States, which eventually brings him to the place of his demise-Alaska. Jon Krakauer makes you feel like you are with Chris on his journey and uses exerts from various authors such as Thoreau, London, and Tolstoy, as well as flashbacks and narrative pace and even is able to parallel the adventures of Chris to his own life as a young man in his novel Into the Wild. Krakauer educates himself of McCandless’ story by talking to the people that knew Chris the best. These people were not only his family but the people he met on the roads of his travels- they are the ones who became his road family.
Although Chris McCandless experienced many different things and entertaining things on his journey, the thrilling adventure led to his own demise. It was Chris McCandless/Alex Supertramp’s fault that he died because it was his actions that led to the consequences he had. “No longer would he be called Chris McCandless; he was now Alexander Supertramp, master of his own destiny.”(23) This shows that by changing his name and heading out on his adventure that he knew what he was getting himself into. It also shows that he wanted to be the master of his future and that he thought he was prepared for what would happen.
A quote from William Bolitho states, “Adventure must start with running away from home.” Into The Wild is a true account of an individual who seeks the natural land of the Earth to develop a better life for himself. The author, Jon Krakauer, publishes the series of events that lead to the death of a young nomad, Christopher McCandless. The mysterious death of the runaway intellect was investigated by Jon Krakauer, an editor who retraced McCandless’s steps and interviewed everyone that had an interaction with McCandless or his alias, Alexander Supertramp. McCandless left everything behind, including his wealth and bright future, to start a new life as a nomadic hitchhiker. He intended to begin a life of religious philosophy to connect with himself through optimism, self-reliance and nature, a life of transcendentalism. As he traveled around the Western United States,
Alaska is one of the most unpredictable, lonely, and barren places in the country, and it would soon become home to two men’s most extreme expeditions. Christopher Mccandless traveled to Alaska in 1992 after already spending two years on his own; his story is shared in the Jon Krakauer novel Into the Wild. Jon shares Chris’s story of attempting to defeat the barren Stampede Trail through discovered journal entries from Chris, as well as interviews with the people he interacted with. To compare himself to Chris, Krakauer reveals his own story of tackling Alaska when he was approximately Chris’s age. Jon traveled to Alaska in an attempt to scale the hazardous Devil’s Thumb, and he explains the horrific experiences and trials he must complete to survive. Both men speak of the intense challenges of Alaska, and how their health and sanity are put at risk. Although both men took the same journey to Alaska, their lives, values, and motives were very different, as well as analogous in some ways.