Each time a section of reading is assigned, go back to the book and identify a connection. Write about those connections and post those reflections here. Write about specific lines, scenes, incidents, and/or details in the book and their connections to the ideas of Transcendentalism and/or specific quotes from the Thoreau/Emerson packet.
* SO, for chap. 1-3 you should have one post. For chap 4-7, you should have one post.
MAIN TRANSCENDENTALIST VALUES
The importance of living simply and as close to nature as possible.
The importance of living in the moment, keeping the senses aware of the present moment.
The need to get rid of the distractions in life that take away from our ability to live mindfully and meaningfully.
The value of non-conformity – questioning authority and traditional ways of thinking.
The quest for true self-knowledge – creating time and space for honest introspection.
The rejection of the materialism and traditional measures of success.
The importance of individual conscience vs. society’s laws or expectations.
Spirituality means connecting with the divinity in all living things.
Maeve Gurbey
ReplyDeleteChapters 1-3
Speaking to Jim Gallien, McCandless said, "How I feed myself is none of the government's business. Fuck their stupid rules" (page 6). Chris's disinclination to abide by the government's regulations shows the transcendentalist value of the importance of individual conscience vs. society’s laws or expectations. He wanted to be able to live by his own rules and not have to listen to what any ones else said.
Nick Paquin
ReplyDeleteChapters 1-3
Connecting Transcendentalism to Chris and into the wild, his first action of becoming a Transcendentalist would be the scene where he gets rid of all his personal belongings. This is the first step for Chris to become a true Transcendentalist. He goes beyond the reading of Thoreau and Emerson, and practices what they have written. By living close to nature and discovering himself, he starts to become one with his innerself, really focusing on what he stands for and believes in by getting back to nature and away from a structured authoritarian environment. Be getting rid of all personal belongings and anything he doesn't need to survive with he disconnects himself fully from the world around him, while exploring the “wild” that we as a society are slowly destroying. By doing this he is putting himself in a situation where he doesn't have to worry about anything but his own survival. Besides that he explores the world around him making him richer in experience and perspective, By doing this he gets a wide view of the world and learns about everything that will shape him into the person he will become. His travel into Transcendentalism is modern perspective of what Thoreau and Emerson went through searching themselves.
Nick Paquin
DeleteChap 4-7
“ The very basic core of a man’s living spirit in his passion for adventure.The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, Ron you must lose you inclination for monotonous security.”
Pg. 57 letter excerpted from Chris to Ron
This quote from a letter sent to Ron Franz shows Chris’s next step in his transformation. At this point he’s been on the road for a year and a half, and has fully embraced the transcendental lifestyle. He uses his experience on the road to preach to others the ways of getting back to nature, and simple living and this is one of those moments. In many ways he is becoming like Thoreau and Emerson preaching the ideas he’s learned to others through interaction instead of writing. The author soon draws many connections between Chris and many Transcendentalist lifestyles, one of the clear connections that was draw was innocence and purity through lack of sexual interaction. This parallel and the whole idea of purity through nature and the happiness surrounding us is preached by Chris over and over again to others he meets.
Chris or Alex depending on what you want to call him had the need to get far away from all the distractions of life. He wanted to clear his mind of everything that he believed rotten in his life like his family and his bright future. He wanted to live alone and and live it meaningfully and the only place he thought he could do that was in Alaska. "On Alex's map, nevertheless, the broken line meandered west from the Parks Highway for forty miles or so before petering out in the middle of the trackless wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. This, Alex announced to Gallian, was where he intended to go"(Pg 5). Alex felt that he needed to remove all the distractions from his life by leaving civilization complety, and in the end, life on earth. He removed himself from all other civilized forms of life to find himself but sadly didn't make it out alive. He may have found himself, but some hunters found his body.
ReplyDeleteChelsea Snide
ReplyDeleteChapter 1-3
In these chapters Chris McCandless shows transcendentalist ideas and values such as rejection of the materialism and traditional measures of success and the need to get rid of the distractions in life that take away fromour ability to live mindfully and meaningfully. Right away we see these ideas from Chris. He is picked up by Jim Gallien who brings him on request as far as the edge of Denali National Park where he wanted to live off the land for a bit. Gallien reports that he didn't have close to the amount of adaquet supplies needed for a trip as such, but Chris wasn't worried. Chris rejects the food and supplies Gallien trys to give him. This shows his rejection of material itemsl, Chris didn't think he needed them. When Gallien drops him off, Chris asks if he wants his watch, his comb and the rest of his money. Gallien would reject. Chris says "I don't want to know what time it is. I don't want to know where I am. None of this matters." This shows transcendentalist values. He's saying in a way that he doesn't want any distractions or be put on a schedule. He just wants to do stuff that he thinks his meaningful and important. By getting rid of his watch, he'll be scheduale free and do stuff on his own time. This is the implication of living simple and carefree.
There is a connection between transcendentalism and Into the Wild. The strongest connection can be seen by the quote "the value of non-conformity- questioning authority and traditional ways of thinking." Thie first time McCandless goes against rules is when the guy driving him into Alaska asks about his hunting license. He said, "Hell no, How I feed myself is none of the government's business. Fuck their stupid rules." (page 6) This shows him going against rules because you are supposed to have one to hunt and he doesn't have one. Obviously he's going to shoot anything to survive and get food, but he doesn't care about the rule that he's supposed to have a license. Even hitchhiking goes against traditional ways and authority. It is illegal and you're not suposed to do it. He also goes against traditional ways of thinking because he throws that away. He could have gone to law school but he gave that away. He wanted to be a 'leather tramp' and travel the world to find his home. This goes against the traditional ways because not a lot of people do this when they have been accepted to college.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the first several chapters of the book walks into the woods of Alaska to live in there away from society and rejecting the materialistic means of living and purely living in simple manner. “ Alex insisted on giving Gallien his watch, his comb, and what he said was all his money: eighty-five cents in loose change.” chapter 1, page 7. He doesn’t like having anything he doesn’t need, anything that doesn’t help him, he has no use for. He wants to live in the simplest of means as possible, this connects to transcendentalism values.
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ReplyDeleteInto The Wild, by Jon Krakauer, shows connections between transcendentalism and the main charracter, Chris McCandless. Chris McCandless shows connections to transcendentalism when a man named Jim Gallien picks his up when he was hitch hiking to Denali National Park. Jon Krakauer says, “Gallien asked whether he had a hunting license, (6)” when Jim Gallien picked Chris up. Chris replies saying, "Hell no, (6)" "How I feed myself is none of the government's buisness. Fuck their stupid rules, (6)" meaning that Chris does not care about the government's rule that he needs to have a hunting license, he is more concerned of surviving in the woods trying to kill animals to eat them, and not about the law. Chris McCandless's unwilliingness to obey the government's laws shows transcendentalistic value self conscience vs. society’s law. He wantsto be able to live the way he wants to live by his own rules, stanima and structure. He does not want to listen to anyone who criticizes; he wants to just live the way he wants and be left alone.
Matt McDermott
ReplyDeleteChapters 1-3
Chris McCandless' rebellious and borderline crazy tendencies are exemplified in the first chapter when he is questioned as to why he does not own a hunting license and he responds, "How I feed myself is none of the governments business. Fuck their stupid rules!" It is already abundantly clear that he dislikes the burdens of modern society, but by responding in such a way, it is almost as if he is afraid of what will happen to him if he is found. Throughout his conversation with the truck driver, "Alex" (Chris) repeatedly makes every attempt to hide his real identity and make sure he is never found again. Its almost as if he is afraid that other people knowing about his new identity will not only risk him being discovered, but will also ruin the point of his journey- to start anew in the wilderness as a self made man.
chapters 4-7:
ReplyDeleteIn chapter four you definitely see the huge connection between the transcendentalists ideas and Into the Wild, during the chapter he travels from about Colorado down into Mexico to the Pacific Ocean all by canoe, he talks about “ the freedom and simple beauty” as I wrote in another blog, he talked about this trip giving him a sense of freedom that only the nature seemed to offer him, this time gave him time also for a further quest for self- knowledge that is a known value amongst transcendentalists. Towards the end of time he is back in the US living in Las Vegas, in his journal he wrote “ It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found.” page 37 this can also be connected to the transdelist value of the importance of living in the moment, keeping the senses aware of the present moment. He believes that the happiness and joy he experiences in the everyday life , living in the now and off of what we think is best the moment is how to live. It seems that living in the now, to find happiness in the moment, is one way to live life to it’s fullest.
In Chapter five we surprising learn that Chris/ Alex has actually began to settle down in a place called Bullhead City, he got a job, opened a bank account and was getting a paycheck. This seemed odd for someone who was very content on trapping all across western America. He stayed to our knowledge for more than two months, which is saying something for Mccandless who didn’t usually last very long (to my own observation) in society, and following societal norms. Though while he was working at Mcdonalds in Bullhead, he did run into some problems. As we all know there is usually a dress code when working in certain places including around food. Chris did not usually wear socks but the dress code stated that you did, so he did but interestingly enough the assistant manager recalled “ .. soon as his shift was over, bang! I mean the very first thing. Kind of like a statement , to let us know we didn’t own him, I guess.” and then there was the whole bathing thing, where several of the employees to him politely that he needed to bathe more often, which made Chris very upset and ultimately according to Zarza the second assistant manager told the author of this book, led to him quitting. I believe this links to the transcendentalist value of non-conformity- questioning authority and traditional ways of thinking. Chris would not outright get angry and go off on people especially his employers telling him what to do but you can tell it bothers him, and that after while he gets sick of being told what to do and that he has to follow societal norms, that he quits and he couldn’t take “plastic people” as he told Jan Burres and her boyfriend Bob on page 43.
Chapters 1-3
ReplyDeleteOne of the values of a transcendentalist is the rejection of the materialism and traditional measures of success. Chris McCandless could be considered a transcendentalist because when he was dropped off into the wilderness he offered the man that gave him a ride his watch, comb, and the rest of his money and Chris said that “If you don’t take it, I’m going to throw it away.” He doesn’t need any physical materials to please him or make him happy. He shows us that he wants to have no part of the materialism from the world he is trying to leave behind when he says, “I don’t want to know what time it is. I don’t want to what day it is or where I am. None of that matters.” Chris is determined to leave behind the materials that he had before because he does not see any value in them. Chris tries to give away his money because he no longer needs to feel the success of making and saving money that everyone else feels and values. In normal life money is one of the biggest measures of success and Chris throws it away like it has no value to him. These actions that Chris makes further tie him closer to transcendentalism.
1-3
ReplyDeleteWhen Chris offers Gallien his watch in the beginning of the book, Gallien refuses them. Chris replies, " 'If you don't take it, I'm going to throw it away...I don't want to know what time it is' "(Krakauer 7). This connects with the idea of living fully in the moment and getting rid of distractions. If he has a watch, he will naturally check it once in a while, even without meaning to. That way he would always be aware of what time it was, and he would measure time and feel it pass. He doesn’t want to feel it pass; he wants to live entirely in the present and be free of the burden of time. Time will never be a distraction, and he can always be at peace and alone with nature.
4-7
ReplyDeleteI noticed a connection immediately with a quote and one part of the book as I read it. Around pages 32-35, Chris goes out on the ocean with his second-hand canoe and he almost drowns when a storm comes. It reminded me of a quote from Walden: “I wanted...to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it”(Thoreau). He did not necessarily want to experience life because he thought that it would be fantastic and easy; he wanted to experience it for what it was. He sought answers, and not just nice ones, he sought the truth. When he started his journey, he had no misconceptions that it wouldn’t be difficult, but he wanted to do it anyway because he wanted to be close to life and nature and himself.
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ReplyDeleteChapters 4-7
ReplyDeleteChris McCandless’s way of connecting to transcendentalism is showing the importance of living as close to nature as possible. Chris is the type of person that wants to accomplish or do things for himself, not with anyone helping him out. Chris burns his money that his parents gave him in the beginning of the book because he did not want to accept the money that his parents gave him. In the book, Chris looks for food on his own, without anyone serving him. When two people, Jan and Bob, are driving in a van on a road, they see Chris picking berries and putting them in a gallon milk jug behind a bush along the side of the road. They pull over and give him a ride. Jan and Bob say, “He’d been surviving on edible plants he identified from the book (30).” The fact that Chris was picking berries along the side of the road means that he is trying to survive and live his life as close to nature as possible.
Chelsea Snide
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Chris McCandless connects with transcendentalist views by rejecting material things and rejecting written law. The first example in these chapters was when Chris took his yellow Datsun off road into a "forbidden" area that was marked with regulations so he could camp there. By doing this he was trespassing and disobeying/disregarding the signs that said not to go there, but he does so anyways. While camping there, there was a flash flood that didn't inflict any damage on the car but wet the engine enough to a point where the car would simply not start. Chris simply leaves the car there with a note and continues his travel on foot. The note Chris wrote that was left on the car said "This piece of shit has been abandoned. Whoever can get it out of here can have it." pg 26. This shows that Chris didn't really care about the car or didn't have any desire to have it.
Chapter 4-7
ReplyDeleteChris McCandless shows transcendentalist values with his quest for self knowledge. While he was in the wilderness by himself he had plenty of time to find himself but he even tried when he was talking to Borah, a man he met on the road. Borah said, “Alex talked a lot when we got together”, Borah recalls. “Serious stuff, like he was baring his soul, kind of.” (63) The way Chris is described talking to strangers shows that he was constantly searching for deeper meaning in himself. He wants to find out more about himself so my talking to strangers and spending time by himself he is able to understand his true meaning and what he is looking for in life.
Chapters 4-7
ReplyDeleteChris McCandless and his journey across the country embody many ideas of Emerson and Therou, though at the same time often conflict what it means to be a transcendentalist. For example, Chris has no problem ditching his car and burning what little money he had, though when the time comes and he actually needs money for a flight to Alaska, he ends up working at a McDonald's, possibly the most american and materialistic place to be. Furthermore, although he seems to hate all currency and even gets the cheapest possible survival gear for his trip to Alaska, Chris somehow holds on to, "a beautiful Colt Python, to which he was most attached." (36) It would seem counter intuitive to wear as little and as cheap clothing as possible, but to carry around a two thousand dollar revolver when he had no intention of using it. In the end, McCandless tries his hardest to avoid the "greedy" tendencies he had grown up around, though in the end he seems to do many of the same things as the people around him in order to progress his journey.
A main point of transcendentalism is living simply. We all, I think, strive for this but often times the jumble of life we cannot achieve it. Quote 15 in the transcendentalism packet says "I do not wish to be any more busy with my hands than is necessary" and this quote can really be connected to Chris. He wanted to get out of all the complex stuff in his life like college, grades, school and jobs to go live simplistically with very little. He truly was only working with his hands what needed to be do and he didn't want anything else. On page 54, Chris is talking to Mr. Franz. "... you don't need to worry about me. I have a college education. I'm not a destitute. I'm living life this by choice." He doesn't want anything that will make his hands busy. He wants to live simply and not busy up his life.
ReplyDeleteOne of the values of transcendentalism is to reject materialism. Chris rejects materialism many times. For one, when his parents offer to buy him a new car, Chris refuses, saying his car is just fine. (p. 20) Chris hasn't shown any signs during his journey that he is materialistic. To be materialistic you want to have all of the best things. When Chris went on his journey he shows that he doesn't care about what is with him. He is focused on seeing everything that there is to be seen, not on what he takes with him on that journey. He barely ever accepted things people offered to him. He is fully immersed in seeing all the wonders of nature, and could care less about what he carries with him.
ReplyDeleteLexie Guest
ReplyDeleteChapters 1-3
The rejection of the materialism and traditional measures of success.
There were many connections that I found between Transcendentalism and the book Into The Wild. The idea of the rejection of materials and tradition measures in order to have success is displayed throughout the book. An example I found is that showed that Alex was a true transcendentalist was when “Gallien offered to drive Alex all the way to Anchorage, buy him some decent gear; and then drive him back to wherever he wanted to go” (page 6). When Alex denies Gallien’s offer and is happy to keep what he has this displays the rejection of materials. This indicates that Alex has no desire to have the best gear, all he is concerned about is having at least something to protect his body.
Haley Bialobzeski
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When Chris offers Jim his watch in the beginning of the book, Jim refuses them. Chris replies, " 'If you don't take it, I'm going to throw it away...I don't want to know what time it is". This connects with the idea of living fully in the moment and getting rid of distractions. But if he had a watch, he would check it. He doesn’t want to check it, he wants to live entirely in the present and be free. Time will never be a distraction, and he can always be at peace and alone with nature.
Haley Bialobzeski
ReplyDeleteChapters 4-7
Chris McCandless shows transcendentalism by the quest for self-knowledge. When he was in the wilderness he had time to think about what he really did and how he is going to live. He had time to think when, he was talking to Borah, a man he met on the road. Borah said, “Alex talked a lot when we got together”, Borah recalls. “Serious stuff, like he was baring his soul, kind of.” The way he is opened with strangers means he is trying to find himself.
Lexie Guest
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The importance of individual conscience vs. society’s laws or expectations.
Another Transcendentalist idea that is shown throughout the chapters is the idea of someone’s conscience thinking differently then what is expected of someone socially. McCandless hasn’t been in society for a while which would make him not be able to think as clearly and recall all the rules and expectations of citizens who are more familiar with life and its changes. Society can change fast so by Alex being gone for even a short amount of time, life and how people interact with each other could be completely different, which he would not be used to. Alex works at McDonalds, its not the nicest place out there, but its a place the Alex can feel at home since to him, it is an enclosed room, which is very different than the outdoors. Even he can’t keep up expectations, “He’d show up to work smelling bad. It wasn’t up to McDonald’s standards to come in smelling the way he did.” (Page 41). This clearly shows that he didn’t care what anyone else thought of im let alone whatever other people were doing were irrelevant to him and his beliefs. He wanted to life the way he wanted, and not be influenced by any laws that were made.
brandon farah
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I think that chris really got close to the philosophy of transcendentalism. I think it shows in chapters 1-3 that his real overall goal was to move somewhere where he could be very close to nature and he could live how he wanted to. It seemed to really bother him when people tried to make it seem like there was a certain way of living. He also didn't believe in the fact of money. It seemed like every time someone tried to give him money he found it to be an insult. It was the same way with clothes and other supplies. He was very stubborn with taking gifts from people. He always seemed to leave most of it behind when he left.
brandon farah
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I think a certain part of this reading connected to Transcendentalism. It was on page 40 when they talked about how he didnt like to wear socks. It is definitly going to connect because it shows he doesnt like to do what people want and living by peoples standards. Even though he wore them to work once he clocked out he took them off. He was letting them know that he didnt like the rules and he would only obey them to keep the job.
Ben VanDeBogart
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There are points in the story especially in chapters 1-3 where connections to transcendentalism are shown. In these chapters Chris McCandless is getting used to the wild, making it feel like his own home. Chris doesn't like the way society runs, which is why he travels out to the wild, to find himself as a person, to find his inner Chris. It bothered Chris that people had a certin way of living in which he had no belief in. He believed that every person can decide how they want to live
Chapters 4-7
ReplyDeleteIn chapters 4-7 transcendentalism is shown in many ways. In chapter 6 Chris becomes a very mobile person but at the same time very smelly. Chris lives the life of a hobbo, jumping on trains and wandering through the wild on a crazy journey. Chris gives up all of his possessions one of these is his money. Chris doesn't believe in it, he believes that every man or women should be living out life without restrictions such as money. Money is what can make a person successful in life. Without this he doesn't have almost any future for himself.
Maeve Gurbey
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Chris McCandless shows the ideas of trancendentalism in chapter six, specifically the importance of living simply and as close to nature as possible. Chris desperately wanted to go to Alaska so he could be away from society, and be closer to nature. He chose to bring the least amount of items with him on his journey as he possibly could, so he could live simply. Being alone in Alaska he would be surrounded by nothing but nature. He also encouraged Ron Franz to go out and explore by visiting the Grand Canyon. In a letter to Franz he writes " there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." Chris was a very likable person, however, he did also love to be alone. When he was alone he could be with nature, this is one of the reasons why he wanted to go to Alaska so badly.
Marcus Chaland
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Transcendentalism is shown by Chris along his journey by the rejection of the material that he had with him like when he burnt all his money and left his car and berried his possessions because he did no need them.
Chad
ReplyDeleteChapters 1-3
The most obvious connection to transcendentalism in these chapters is about Chris going on his Alaskan journey. This is directly the importance of living simply and as close to nature as possible. Chris leaves his family, spot in society and Chris behind and invents a new life for himself. One where he has no rules or obligations. Basically I see this as simplifying his life. He becomes entirely independent with his thinking and actions. When he leaves for Alaska, he is throwing himself into nature. Simply living in nature. No other people, no schedule, no sense of time. Just him and the wilderness.
Marcus Charland
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Chris shows Transcentralism by geting rid of everthing because he did not need it to live a meaning full life in the wild, and when he went to Los Angeles to get his ID and a job but he felt realy uncomfortable in society and he felt the need to return to the road immediatly. he lived on the streets with the bums, tramps, and winos and he hit the road again.
4-7
ReplyDeleteChris traveled all over the west coast as a leather tramp. he slowly worked from state to state trying to make it to alaska. he travled by canoe to mexico and was all over cali. Everwhere he went his goal to make it to alaska. he met lots of different people such as the leather and rubber tramps. this relates tot the transcendentalist idea of moving around and being one with nature. Chris was traveling all over the place jsut to experince everything he could.
Austine Bodenstab
ReplyDeleteChapter 4-7
When Chris goes into the wild, he completely accepts all of nature and it's wonders. He realizes, during the course of his journey that nature can cause so much happiness. He writes to a man named Ron, who he met at one point of him journey. He says, "...You are wrong if you thing Joy emanates only or principally from human relationships. God has placed it all around us. It is in everything and anything we might experience." (p.57) Chris realized that happiness can happen anywhere, and can be found in everything. He understood that you don't need to benefits of society to make you happy. Everything around you, such as nature, is beautiful. Chris became extremely close with nature, and understood it's wonders.
Owen McKinney
ReplyDeleteAn example of rejection of the materialism and the traditional measures of success would be on page 6, when Gallien offered to drive “Alex” all the way to Anchorage, buy him some decent gear, and then drive him back to wherever he wanted to go. Alex declined his offer even though he only had 10 pounds of rice and a small hunting rifle that couldn’t stop a moose or bear. This shows a good example of transcendentalism.
the connections that go with just simply living and close to nature goes with chris mccandless because he didnt go to college and went on this hike to different places
ReplyDeleteand meet different people and wants to go to alaska to be with himself and nature.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteChapter 4-7 Owen McK
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 4 Chris’s life of rejection, materialism and traditional measures of success has been rising overtime. For example on page 29 Chris took his only money, which is basically his key to survival. Chris took all of his 123 dollars in cash and burned it right in the sand. Someone that is really into what they believe in and does this, it is a pretty big deal when that was basically the only thing he has to help him. Chris really doesn’t like the society..
1-3
ReplyDeleteRight at the beginning on page 4, Chris/Alex shows one of the core values of a transcendentalist. He is hitchhiking along and gets picked up by some guy. The guy wants to know what Alex is doing and where he is going, to which he responds that he is going to walk into the Alaskan brush and live off the land for a few months. This shows his need to live simply and as close to nature as possible. this is also showed when he denies to take Gallien's money and his watch. Alex wants to live as simply as possible.
4-7
ReplyDeleteEven when Alex goes off and actually gets a legitimate job, he is still following some of his transcendentalist values. The one that we see most in this part is his lack of socks. One might not think too much about a simple thing like not wanting to wear socks but this shows the value of non-conformity. He doesn't want to just go along with things like wearing socks, he questions authority and those traditional ways of thinking.
Transcendentalism connects to chapters 1-3. Chris McCandless is shown to be an Transcendentalist because he is a man of nature and science when traveling into the wild. The wild is the place for Chris to get away from society.
ReplyDeletechad
ReplyDelete4-7
In these chapters Chris shows a transcendentalist quality when he leaves his car behind. First off, he was already questioning authority to be driving the car in the government restricted area. Secondly, there was the fact that it would not work, making it impossible to bring it with him anyway. So I wondered if it really counted as the rejection of materialism. What actually shows this quality at this point is that he left all the rest of his stuff in the car and burned his money. This is a pivotal point for Chris as he must have realized that he did not need these items to be happy.