Chris Mccandless Naturalism

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McCandless was courageous in a way he tried to explore a new and an unusual life by living into the wild. He did this by leaving his family and giving up some of his possessions. In the end of chapter 3 it says, “By the beginning of August 1990, Chris’s parents had heard nothing from their son…” (22). McCandless did not even try to inform his parents about where he was going and why he left. In chapter 4 it says that McCandless, “concealed the car as best he could beneath a brown tarp, stripped it of its Virginia plates and hid them. He buried his Winchester deer-hunting rifle and a few other possessions… We know all of this because McCandless documented the burning of his money…” (29). Living a life without any money and possessions is a very …show more content…
Jack London was one of the writers that inspired Chris McCandless. This writer admired the concept of naturalism which suggests that the environment determines the destiny of the human being. This was one of the reasons that influenced McCandless to give up his money and possessions. In chapter 3 it says that, “-what nobody knew-was that he would shortly donate all the money in his college fund to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger” (20). This shows that McCandless was really an anti-materialistic man. Chris McCandless was also influenced by Henry David Thoreau’s transcendentalism which is a philosophy of life that a person follows his or her own intuition and being a self-reliant. In chapter 6, McCandless refused the help his friend, Franz, offered him which was giving him money for his Alaska trip and offering him a ride to San Diego. Chris’s refusal of help from Franz shows that he was a transcendentalist. Another writer that influenced McCandless was Leo Tolstoy who opposed romantic relationships and rejected worldly pleasures in life. In chapter 4, McCandless met a girl named Tracy who fell in love with him but he did not take her seriously. This shows that Chris was an independent person who does not believe on romantic relationships. These famous writers really impacted Chris McCandless way of