Examples Of Transcendentalism In Into The Wild

Many people study the men and women who do the unordinary in which one was too completely leave society and start all over again just off of simple living and what he/she needs to survive. These people are transcendentalist. They value only simple living and the almighty God, becoming one with nature and not following any rules. Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" depicts the story of a young man who had all the smarts and talent to get him far in life, he has almost straight A's but decided to leave it all behind and live out in Alaska, by himself for as long as he could. He was not much of a social bug but more so of a transcendentalist. He studied previous transcendentalist and copied what they have done. This mans name was Chris Mccandless ,
Chris McCandless does fit this value because he doesn't follow rules, he does whatever he wants and doesn't think about the consequences or the result of his actions. He has a mind of his own. "Where I Lived, and What I Lived for" by Henry David Thoreau discusses Thoreau's life out in the woods and why he was out there. He escaped reality and lived off himself and his omw rules. Thoreau said "I wish to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life"(2). This quote shows us that you do not have to be locked into society, you can live simply and still be happy. Loving off your own rules rather than of others. Similarly, Chris doesn't live the real world, he leaves everything behind. He even committed crimes to become a transcendentalist. He burned the money because he didn't need it anymore. He wanted to be one of those transcendentalist people. Well I wouldn't say he is a hero but he is a transcendentalist. He looked off of the others who write about their actual experiences in the wild. They were the true transcendentalism heroes. He just fried to copy off what they were doing but that still makes him a transcendentalist, he went into the wild and committed to those values of transcendentalism. Thoreau's "Where I Lived, and What I Lived for" suggests that a true transcendentalist hero should value living by his/her ow rules rather than those given to them and Chris mccandless does exactly
Chris mccandless does for this value because that is where you become the finest transcendentalist you can become. Away from all society, alone in the wild just with yourself. By being out in the wild you can find the true meaning of peace and joyous presence. He fulfills the circle of a transcendentalist. "What is Grass" by Walt Whitman discusses the reason for life. How we can direct our paths and become who we are by our actions. Walt Whitman says "sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones"(9). This shows us that in nature you see things and feel things you wouldn't have been able to feel. Being locked away in society prevents you from seeing that purity in life. In contrast, Chris does this exactly by leaving society with the knowledge he received by studying in college and reading about all those transcendentalists. He know how to be one in nature, and he knows what he's doing and why he's doing it. He shows those values of a Transcendentalist from the beginning of his life. He doesn't fit into the social life when he was at Emory college, he was better when he was alone and he could teach himself those values a act upon them. Walt Whitman's "What is Grass" suggest a true transcendentalist hero does represent nature and the universal God thus, Chris mccandless does qualify as a transcendentalist hero because he showed those values through out his entire journey to Alaska and