Compare And Contrast Christopher Mccandless Being A Transcendentalist

Transcendentalism was the era of the rebellious and different, it was the age of exploring everything outside of what was considered to be normal, the age of going beyond the physical world. Transcendentalism celebrates simplicity, non-conformity, and nature, emotion is also a significant part of this movement. It was believed that if one was not led to make decisions based on their own emotions, then what would lead them? Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the first transcendentalists lay the foundational beliefs that many transcendentalists would follow. These beliefs were reflected through his writing in pieces like “Self-Reliance” and “Nature”. Christopher McCandless was a twenty-first century transcendentalists following closely in the footsteps of Emerson. He embarked on a journey into the Alaskan wilderness, that

The book “Into the Wild” written by Jon Krakauer, tells McCandless’ story on his jounery. By comparing Christopher McCandless to classic influential transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson, it can be observed that many of their core beliefs and fundamental principles align with each other. These similarities validate that McCandless is in fact a modern day transcendentalist.

Throughout his life Christopher McCandless has always been the individual to defy society’s standards and even loathe them to a point, the same characteristic of nonconformity can be found in influential transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Nonconformity is paramount to transcendentalism, Emerson stressed this idea greatly through his writing and his actions. In many of his works such as, “Self-Reliance”, Emerson directly emphasizes the importance of nonconformity and not following the strict rules of society. He mentions how it is vital for a man to be a nonconformist, “Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but