Examples Of Transcendentalism In Self Reliance

If there is one principle of classic transcendentalism that could essentially summarize Christopher McCandless, it would be non-conformity. In society, everyone’s opinions are constantly roaming so freely, that conformity becomes a seemingly inevitable fate; however, the transcendentalist writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, shows the dangerous aspect that corresponds with such acts of fitting in. In Self-Reliance, Emerson states that “envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. . . .” (Emerson 370). From this quote, one …show more content…
In his time as a hitchhiker, he worked at a McDonalds to make spare cash. While working here, many of his co-workers noticed his opposition to conformity, and one of them looked back at McCandless and said,“‘McDonald’s has a rule that employees have to wear appropriate footwear at all times. That means shoes and socks. Chris would comply with the rule, but as soon as his shift was over, bang!— the first thing he’d do is peel those socks off… Kind of like a statement, to let us know we didn’t own him, I guess’” (Krakauer 21). Here, Christopher McCandless chooses to abide by the rules, but the moment he doesn’t have to anymore, he makes sure to let everyone know that he does whatever he wants on his own time, making sure that nobody sees themselves as a superior to him. His actions show that he is very much prideful in his own values. McCandless will never change who he is as a person just to appease those around him. As seen in Christopher McCandless’ time working at McDonalds, he strictly follows the non-conformist aspect of transcendentalism shown in the works of Ralph Waldo