2. Thesis
McCandless’s adventure is filled with ambiguity and missing details.
He embarked on his adventure with little warning, his existence proven
only by the his family and the small group of friends he made on his
adventure. Seeming to share a similar personality, Ralph Waldo
Emerson writes about the call of nature and fate. He writes about
braving the elements, and McCandless seems to be the perfect
spokesperson for Emerson’s work. Through his works on the deeper
meanings of life, Emerson reveals McCandless’s reasons for leaving
home, ranging from his views on the world, to his social behavior, to
his intense desire to remain independent from the world.
3. “Snowstorm”
McCandless’ outside relations from his new way of life have
basically shaped the way he lives. He prefers living in solitude
rather than in communities with other people.
“Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm”
This quote can relate to Chris and his experiences with spending time with “hippies.” It shows
overall how they all left lives that they once lived, and being with one another influences each
of their journeys.
“Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he
For number or proportion”
This quote talks about how he has no worries about what he is doing, where he is
going, or who is with. His old life is of no importance to him, and he would rather
live with nothing.
4. “The Day’s Ration”
Although many of the people that knew Chris McCandless believed he was a
very sociable person, Chris himself did not like being around the same people
for long periods of time. Because of this, Chris was inclined to run off on
adventures that risked his life.
“Why need I volumes, if one word suffice?
Why need I galleries, when a pupil’s draught
After the master’s sketch, fills and o’erfills
My apprehension?”
This shows Chris’s views on wealth and how he feels that a person only
needs the bare essentials. Chris gets rid of all of his belongings except the backpack he carries
around the entire country, including Alaska.
“Why see new men
Who have not understood the old?”
Chris reads Emerson, Thoreau, London and learns the ways of their thoughts. He then
decides that he should not associate with those that don’t share the same views as him. Chris
also strongly influences Ron Franz and tries to change his views to match his own.
5. “Self-Reliance”
Based on Emerson’s work, we can see a strong focus on individual strength and
succeeding without the help of others. This relates strong to McCandless’s
immense conviction to achieve his goals without the help of others.
“In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain
alienated majesty”
This relates to McCandless’s college life and how he did not enjoy it. He would rather be off
exploring the wilderness, and he regretted this decision until it came back to haunt him.
After college, he decided to embark on this epic quest, likely fueled by his regret of not
having done it before.
“There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance;
that imitation is suicide.”
I think this is where Emerson really hits it home; with this extreme declaration that copying
someone else is essentially killing your own personality, he establishes the ideal that it is
absolutely necessary for one to have their own path. McCandless follows this path to the end,
solely relying on himself and not attempting to achieve something for recognition. This was a
journey he made for himself, by himself.
6. Fun Facts About Emerson
He was a member of the Transcendentalist movement, which opposed
conventional and limited thinking. This is very similar to McCandless since he
disregards any thoughts about safety or wellbeing and goes on the journey
anyway.
He also did not get along very well with his father, similar to McCandless
He also had a nickname: “the Sage of Concord”, because he was smart
These similarities between Emerson and McCandless can attribute to some of
the similar views that they share
7. Conclusion
When we put together all this information, we can see that McCandless
and Emerson shared a few views together. In his works, Emerson
stresses being yourself and not letting other people control you. In his
other pieces, there are other topics such as how there is no way to
escape fate, which ties into McCandless’s inevitable journey. If he had
not taken this journey, he would have been depriving himself of
something that he truly was destined to do. I figure that Emerson
would approve of Chris’s journey, since he promotes this type of deeper
learning. Emerson often describes Chris’s life through his works by
bringing up natural problems as well as personal ones. This allows the
reader to not only experience Emerson’s work, but also to see
McCandless’s journey with a whole new perspective.
8. Works Cited
Emerson, Ralph W. "Snowstorm." Poems: New and Revised. Print.
Emerson, Ralph W. "The Day's Ration." Early Poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
New York. Print.
Emerson, Ralph W. "Self Reliance." Essays. 1841. Print. First.
Mork, Rachel. "Fun Facts on Ralph Waldo Emerson." - Life123. Web. 06 June
2012. <http://www.life123.com/arts-culture/american-authors/ralph-
waldo-emerson/fun-facts-on-ralph-waldo-emerson.shtml>.
