ipl-logo

Research Paper On Chris Mccandless

639 Words3 Pages

The transcendental movement, which reached the height of its popularity in the 1830’s and 1840’s, inspired many people to live essentially, without unnecessary material possessions, and to practice civil disobedience by breaking laws that one feels are unjust. Chris McCandless, Alexander Supertramp, is one of the most well known people in recent history inspired by transcendentalism because he, just like Henry David Thoreau, took the ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson and put them into action. When Chris fully applies the principles of transcendentalism, he enhances his life by giving him the opportunity to stop pretending to be someone that he is not and pursue a more authentic Chris McCandless.
Chris McCandless grew up in a wealthy family and received …show more content…

Henry David Thoreau wrote the essay “Civil Disobedience” to inspire people, just like Chris, to challenge laws that they feel are unjust. Chris is faced with the choice of rafting down a river without a permit and breaking the law, or complying with regulations he feels are limiting his freedom. The act of rafting down the river without a permit demonstrates how the new, more authentic Chris does what he wants, not what society wants him to do because the “government is best which governs least” (Thoreau, Civil Disobedience, 388). Chris continues to break the laws he feels are unjust and quits his job because it requires him to wear socks, a policy he believes does not affect his productivity.The act of not wearing socks is not just about defying one rule, it is about how Chris shows that society cannot make him do anything he does not want to do. The rules of the restaurant are like “the obstacles which legislators are continually putting in [the way of the people]”(Thoreau, Civil Disobedience, 389). The restaurant itself is like the “trade and commerce” that Thoreau discusses and would be more productive without these unnecessary rules. The act of rafting without a permit and the act of not abiding by the rules of the restaurant are ultimately acts of civil

Show More
Related

  • Chris Mccandless Thesis

    840 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are many people in the world who deserve to be commended for efforts or accomplishments, and I do not deny that Chris McCandless could be seen as one of them. He did try something new and I commend him for that, however, I do not believe that the manner in which he did so deserves attention and or praise. Chris was not a very considerate person in the way that he left without letting his family know what he would be doing, giving his parents and sister a lifetime of guilt and wondering. He was also not the first, nor the last person to do something like this, and there were many who were much more successful than him in trying to live a life in extreme wilderness conditions.

    Read More

  • Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild By Jon Krakauer

    496 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer the main character Chris McCandless is not a role model and no one should be following what he did. After Graduating from college Chris thought it would be best for him to leave everything behind including his family and all the money his very successful father had left for him. Chris wanted to become homeless so he could figure out who he is as a person. One of the many reasons Chris left was because his father had two families and Chris's mother knew about his fathers double life but they both hid this from Chris and this made him furious. Chris went to the Alaskan bush in the winter and brought little supplies with him because he wanted to live off the land and survive with nothing, which is a horrible idea because Chris has no prior knowledge

    Read More

  • Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild By Jon Krakauer

    697 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chris McCandless was a man who made his own destiny, who seeked the challenges and thrill of adventure life had to offer. He was morally driven, and was not tied down by the dogma of society. McCandless’s hubris, his ultimate downfall in his quest to shake off the clashing ideals of materialistic culture, allowed him to live a life without regrets. Brought up in a home where his parents pushed their ideals onto their children, McCandless developed morals quite differently than that of his parents. His ideals clashed between that of a libertarian and a transcendentalist.

    Read More

  • Chris Mccandless Transcendentalism

    988 Words  | 4 Pages

    "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”- Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalism is an American philosophy that revolves around self-reliance and independence, commonly in nature, a Transcendentalist wants to find the true meaning in life. I believe that Chris McCandless was a Transcendentalist because he was able to leave his whole life behind and take on a minimalist lifestyle while having a strong relationship with god. However, I believe that I am not a Transcendentalist, but simply an adventurer.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Civil Disobedience

    897 Words  | 4 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience heavily criticizes the government for being too corrupt and also argues that the people have the right to refuse allegiance to the State. Because the government is unjust and corrupt, Thoreau calls for a change in how the government operates rather than abolishing the government entirely. Thoreau’s idea of a better government is a government that governs the least. This claim is elaborated as Thoreau states in his essay that the individuals with consciences should rule instead of the government officials that lack said consciences. For example, in part 1 paragraph 4, he mocks individuals such as soldiers and privates for showing respect to the government through marching admirably because they are going

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience: Martin Luther King Jr.

    1153 Words  | 5 Pages

    Civil disobedience can mean many things to many people. To some people it could mean a non-violent means of protesting or attempting to achieve political goals; however, in the eyes of people like Martin Luther King Jr it could be different. He stated that “one has the moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws”. Martin Luther King Jr prove this by doing many non-violent protest during his time, to fight against segregation. The meaning of civil disobedience is a bit different in Henry Thoreau’s eyes.

    Read More

  • Thoreau And Chris Mccandless In Jon Krakauer's Into The

    664 Words  | 3 Pages

    Transcendental Connections between Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and Chris McCandless in John Krakauer’s Into the Wild Henry David Thoreau, Jon Krakauer, and Chris McCandless are all strong believers in Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is a 19th century philosophy that values self-wisdom, individualism, and non-conformity. Both Thoreau and McCandless embrace these ideas greatly. Chris’s actions in Into the Wild show that the transcendental beliefs of Thoreau were important to him.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Krakauer And Chris Mccandless

    745 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society’s Creation Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that protests culture and society. Toward the end of Chris McCandless’s life he started to show many signs of a transcendentalist. Unlike Thoreau Chris was not in it for his love of nature, but to free himself from a corrupt world and a bitter society. " So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future." (Krakauer p. 57) McCandless and Thoreau both idealized the American wilderness and shared the same thought that living a less materialistic lifestyle would positively affect ones being.

    Read More

  • Chris Mccandless Biography Essay

    972 Words  | 4 Pages

    Christopher McCandless’s was a young wise man and stubborn guy that was intelligent he knew the right answers to respond which got himself out of things but also got himself into difficult situations that were not processed right. McCandless was raised in a upper middle class family in Annandale Virginia by parents Walt and Billie. He had eight siblings which one he was super close to named Carine and the rest were half siblings from his dads first marriage. Growing up Chris had a rough childhood with his parents problems and the affairs they had. McCandless would question himself why people would treat each other bad he would try to make a sense of the world.

    Read More

  • Chris Mccandless Thesis

    427 Words  | 2 Pages

    What Chris McCandless was a great guy I wish I could meet but he died in Alaskan backcountry on August 18, 1992. I question why he did what he did; I question myself why am I doing what I doing? Why? I still admiring what Chris did and a lot of people do. It amazing he excelled academically although a number of teachers and fellow students observed that he ¨marched to the beat of a different drummer.¨ He was also a captain in cross-country he would urge teammates to treat running as a spiritual exercise in which they were ¨running against the force of darkness …

    Read More

  • Bureaucracy In Civil Disobedience

    1114 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau talks about the importance of virtues and how the virtues of an individual create the very means for a society to thrive. Thoreau explains that these values give individuals a voice and power over their government, which is how a true democracy should function. In a healthy democracy, the government values and respects the individual. Due to this, Thoreau believes that the individuals in society should learn that they must choose to do what is right in order to control their government and be free. Ethics of an individual creates the idea that the people’s morals have influence with the government and brings the truth to correct the wrongs.

    Read More

  • Chris Mccandless A Transcendentalist Analysis

    663 Words  | 3 Pages

    McCandless’s self-reliance is a big part of identifying him as transcendentalist. In the short story, “Death of an Innocent”, Chris says, “I've decided that I'm going to live this life for some time to come. The freedom and simple beauty of it is just too good to pass up.” McCandless feels that life should not be wasted doing what you do not love, and shows this by traveling and living off the land every chance he gets. Transcendentalists take in all of what nature has to give them by becoming one with it; like McCandless does throughout the story.

    Read More

  • Unjust Laws In Civil Disobedience

    1660 Words  | 7 Pages

    Civil disobedience is the deliberate action against an unjust law to invoke a positive change in government and society. Civilians have the right to refute these types of unjust laws to eliminate inequality and government’s unjust nature by following conscience before laws for moral guidance. As demonstrated in Antigone, this is depicted by the daughter of Oedipus, who disobeys Creon’s law for the greater good because of the laws unjust nature. In Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, a naturalist, promotes this concept as well through his philosophical standpoint of the flaws of the government. Lastly, in Dr. King’s letter he qualifies the idea of civilians disobeying their government through non violent campaigns to stand up against

    Read More

  • Thoreau And Civil Disobedience

    1198 Words  | 5 Pages

    What Thoreau means by the Civil Disobedience is that every person should be govern more by his own moral compass that gives him much clearer answer to his deeds, rather than some laws of a government. “Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think we should be men first, and subjects afterward.” (1)

    Read More

  • Henry David Thoreau And Transcendentalism

    783 Words  | 4 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau is one of the primary promoters of the transcendentalist movement and has been inspiring people to take on the transcendentalist lifestyle ever since the mid 1800’s. Mccandless was an admirer of Henry’s philosophy but he wasn’t as fully immersed in his work and ideals as Thoreau was to his own. His intentions were not as closely aligned to the movement as Thoreau’s and the difference between these icons are clearly visible. Self reliance is one of the most significant components of the transcendentalism movement that Henry David Thoreau contributed to in his literary career. “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” - (taken from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden”).

    Read More

More about Research Paper On Chris Mccandless

Open Document