Chris Mccandless Influence On Society

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The meaning of life has been contemplated for millenniums and still is. Consequently transcendentalism is a way some find meaning to life as it is a philosophical movement that defined humans as being born good and easily corrupted by society. Nevertheless the main leaders of transcendentalism are Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau which have influenced society today in many ways. Moreover, Chris McCandless is an example of that influence by taking transcendental tenets and applying them to his life. McCandless acted on his influence from the books he read that lead him to go on a journey hitch hiking through nature. On his graduation day McCandless left his family and studies behind for an adventure to Alaska to live alone off the Earth. He did get to Alaska and survived for …show more content…
The transcendental tenets that McCandless followed were non-conformity, dislike of materialism, and self-reliance.
Transcendentalists hated the idea of conforming to society and not being able to express themselves and this idea grew on McCandless for many years. Growing up McCandless did not have a good relationship with his parents and therefore wanted to get away from their ideals of education and titles. Although his parents wanted the best for their son like a college education, McCandless did not see life like they did. McCandless wanted to be free of his parents because he had learned he was a bastard child. When McCandless found out his father lived a secret life married and seeing another woman who was not Chris McCandless’s mother and kept that secret from him. Ordinarily, this revelation made McCandless’s relationship