Conformity In Mccandless And Thoreau's Into The Wild

Improved Essays
Register to read the introduction… The idea of conformity presented in Into the Wild and Where I Lived and What I Lived For is one of complete denial, and that the only way to live is to escape from “corrupt” and “materialistic” society. Although the idea of non-conformity is presented similarly in both texts, they also vary in the level of extremity. In Into the Wild, McCandless, the main character in Into the Wild didn’t live a life of complete seclusion from society, unlike Thoreau. McCandless was accustomed to small societies that opposed the larger American society such as the several small towns he visited on his journey, such as the Carthage community, and “Oh-My-God Hot Springs”. A similar belief between McCandless and Thoreau was one of non-conformity, expressed in one of Thoreau’s metaphors, “Still we live meanly, like ants; though the fable tells us that we were long ago changed into men;”(Thoreau 1) McCandless deeply related to that belief as shown in one of his letters that he wrote to Ron Franz. In that letter, he writes, “Ron, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will first appear to you crazy, but once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty,” (Krakauer 57) showing his belief that American society is full of ants/followers and you need to live by your own standards, not society’s, parallel to Thoreau’s …show more content…
A similar belief between Thoreau and McCandless and Krakauer is the idea of looking at the bigger picture of life, and not living on the small, little details of it. Quotes between Into The Wild and Where I Lived And What I Lived For that show similar ideas are “If we do not get our sleepers, and forge rails, and devote days and nights to the work, but go to tinkering upon our lives to improve them, who will build railroads? And if railroads are not built, how shall we get to heaven in season?”(Thoreau 2) and another quote from McCandless’ “I fear that you will follow this same inclination [bolting back to his house to live the same repetitive life] in the future and thus fail to discover all the wonderful things that God has placed around us to discover.”(Krakauer 57) Overall, Krakauer, McCandless and Thoreau share the same ideas of non-conformity, opposition of materialism and elitism, and living life in the big

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Mccandless Journey

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In John Krakauer’s “Into the Wild,” Chris McCandless set out on an odyssey into the American wilderness, and eventually the Alaskan bush, in the 1990s. Throughout McCandless’s journey, he reflected on himself and on society through books. Much of this literature he read is centered towards the lifestyle that comes with living in the wild. In some of the books he read, McCandless highlighted passages he believed to be noteworthy. Most, if not all, of these passages reflected his life, specifically his adventure, in its many aspects.…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Some people notice that their lives are more than a chain of actions and reactions, “but only one in a hundred million” (73) can understand that life is not complicated, it’s really simple. Thoreau decides to live life better. This doesn’t require the business and bustle everyone else has grown accustomed to, in fact Thoreau doesn’t even want any of the fancier things in life; a huge house, the most delicious delicacies, or anything of that rich nature. But that doesn’t prohibit others from not following his example, in fact he would rather they pursue this, if it is a better life for them. He says, “If there is any to whom it is no interruption to acquire [expensive things], and who know how to use them when acquired, I relinquish them to the pursuit.”…

    • 1360 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He recognizes that he almost was tainted by the luxuriousness that the town’s life had to offer, but just escaped the stifling grasp of society: “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” (Thoreau 59). Too often, people are caught in society’s idea of success, which entails money and greed. Showing disdain for these unredeeming motives, Thoreau questions and critiques these societal pressures and challenges readers to rid themselves of cupidity and selfishness. Instead, replacing these qualities with morality will be beneficial for the mental and physical health of a person. In order to achieve this kind of satisfaction, “...…

    • 1035 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the case of Chris McCandless, he valued nature, the Earth, and surviving off of the land as nature intended. When he had reached the Alaskan wilderness, as a part of declaring his independence, he wrote: “Two years he walks the Earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom.” (Krakauer 163).…

    • 1373 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the story Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, the protagonist Chris McCandless can relate to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s perspective in that nature is the key to success, and that nature is the heart of human life. Nature is a powerful, and flawless, everlasting beauty. In the eyes of Chris McCandless, transcendentalism is how you perceive your surroundings. This is shown by, “The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun”(Krakauer 57).…

    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Most transcendentalists feel that nature and the simplicity of the natural world are what helps them discover themselves. In Into the Wild, McCandless chooses to live in nature because he wants to be alone, and he does not want to be sedentary. He likes the excitement in life and the adrenaline that living off the basic necessities gives you (Krakauer 69). Many say that one’s life is wasted if time is not spent in nature. Emerson agrees with these ideas about nature.…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Though they lived centuries apart from one another, Christopher McCandless and Henry David Thoreau both uncovered the importance of living simplistically by retreating to the woods. When Thoreau first arrived at the house that he was to be staying at by Walden Pond, the first thing he noted was that the house was quite dilapidated. The walls were stained by the weather and had quite a few holes in them, causing the nights to be cold. The house also had no plastering nor a chimney, and the entire structure was only defensive against the rain. Despite these relatively unfavorable living conditions, however, Thoreau saw the experience as one to prove that people too lavish of lives to be genuinely happy.…

    • 1524 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In contrast, Thoreau was much more mature, and he was aware of his limitations. He was not impulsive about his journey, and his house and lifestyle were well thought out. First of all, the purpose of Thoreau’s mission is in general different from Chris’s. Chris’s was an extreme test of his survival while Thoreau’s mission was a philosophical journey. All in all, Thoreau did not wish to expose himself to the elements to a severe extent.…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Saron M. Desta Mr. Darling ENG4U 20 October 2014 The “crazy” man with the dream: Chris McCandless’s influence on Ronald Franz Steve Jobs once said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” Those that have a different outlook on life are usually the ones that are ‘bent out of society’ simply because they decide not to conform to the social norms. In Jon Krakauer’s famous non-fiction novel “Into the Wild” Chris McCandles, later known as Alex Supertramp, is a well educated twenty-four-year-old American who dreams of an ‘Alaskan Odyssey’. Alex believes that beauty is found in freedom and nature rather than materialistic possessions such as money.…

    • 1297 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He says, “Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind” (Thoreau 6). There is no need to accept the previously traditional ways of living. In an effort to connect to a spiritually rich life and to show the shortcomings of a common life, Thoreau moves a mile outside of the nearest neighbor and builds his home away from society at Walden Pond in an experiment of self-reliance. However, when digging deeper, the hypocrisy of Thoreau begins to emerge. In his quest to be within nature, he only moves a mile from his nearest neighbor with a connection to society still looming.…

    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essena O’Neill is nineteen years old. People already call her crazy and insane because of decisions that she made. O’Neill joined Instagram a few years back, similar to most teenage girls. She posted photos of herself to the site. She wanted to show off how she was so skinny, how she was so pretty, how she was so “perfect”.…

    • 1576 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Henry David Thoreau, in his essay “Civil Disobedience” argues that American citizens should not be loath to disobey their corrupt and useless government, using metaphor as a rhetorical device to prove his point and provide a call to action for readers. In the essay, Thoreau describes the government as a corrupt, immoral, and often useless agent, and strongly criticizes the American population for following it so blindly. He encourages readers to act in protest of their unjust government, urging them to act with their consciences and not based on what the law dictates; he also insists that they engage in civil disobedience, and refuse to pay certain taxes. By using metaphor in the essay, Thoreau makes the piece more readable and relatable,…

    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Krakauer observes that, “I have not tired of the wilderness; rather I enjoy its beauty… I prefer the saddle to the streetcar and a star-sprinkled sky to a roof” (87). McCandless liked to be in the wilderness rather than be inside, stuck in one place. He liked it better when he was on the move instead of being in one place with the same things everyday, like Reuss. Krakauer points out that, “Wilderness appealed to those who are bored or disgusted with man and his works. It not only offered an escape from society…”…

    • 1474 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The flash flood forced McCandless to commit to this act. Only then could he fully immerse himself in a life free of society’s confines, just as Thoreau…

    • 2371 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In chapter 17 page 182, Krakauer notes that McCandless’ behavior is not that radical. He says that Chris, as well as other teenagers, were driven to taking risks and doing things that many disagree with. For example, we see teenagers doing drugs but why do they do it? They do it because of the danger. But in the case of McCandless, he took the danger to the extreme because he burned his money and abandoned his car.…

    • 151 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays