Essay On Into The Wild: Chris Mccandless Journey

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American culture and society seem to have a natural affinity for progressive thought, ideals, and systems, an affinity whose roots can be seen in our cultural attitudes of industry, expansion, and success. Perhaps it is due to this glorification of originality that the journeys of self-discovery seen in Thoreau’s Walden and Krakauer’s Into the Wild are so wildly popular (for the most part) with the American population. Walden is Thoreau’s account of the two years during which he retreated to nature to “live deliberately,” and the book acts as both a how-to guide and a carefully constructed detailing of Thoreau’s philosophical system (Thoreau 1854, 74). Into the Wild depicts Chris McCandless’s modern-day journey across America and into the…show more content…
Both men not only exhibited intellectual curiosity concerning the meaningful components of life, but they acted upon the principle of discovering, if possible, their individual notions of the spirit of life. For this reason, Thoreau and McCandless represent “the best of liberal individualism, encompassing risk and refusal, optimism and utter confidence” (Watkins 2009, 11). Next, there is Thoreau’s declaration in Walden to his “fellows,” “As long as possible live free and uncommitted” (Thoreau 1854, 69). McCandless absolutely took note of this advice, almost to a fault, ridding himself of all burdensome possessions and actively avoiding emotional attachment with people that he met during his cross-country trek. Material possessions and any excess beyond the bare necessities seem to represent barriers to Thoreau and McCandless’ higher goals of freedom, and intellectual and spiritual

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