Into The Wild Transcendentalism

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It was bacteria that did it. Bacteria killed the young man who had traveled thousands of miles around the United States, paddled from the Grand Canyon to the Gulf of Mexico, and survived months off of the Alaskan wilderness and rice. The book Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, tells the story of a young man who went on the journey of his lifetime. Having fled from his abusive home life after getting honors at a prestigious college, Chris McCandless, or as he was known when he traveled, Alexander Supertramp, journeyed across the United States in search of something greater than he had ever had before: happiness. He may have found it, but at the price of his life. The daring young man died in the Alaskan wilderness on the journey that likely would …show more content…
Chris journeyed out into the wild ultimately to escape the torment of his family, but he truly acquired much more than expected. He met some of the best people in his life on his journey, like Ron Franz, who tried to adopt him as a son, and whom Chris spread the joys of his views to. Originally Ron Franz was greatly saddened over the loss of his wife and only son. He held this close to him and never truly let it go. But, thanks to Chris and his views, he moved on from his loss as best as he could. Certainly, some will disagree with this positive impact of the transcendentalism that McCandless brings with him to others. They will cite the end of Chris’s life where he wrote “Happiness only real if shared” (Krakauer 189) inside of Doctor Zhivago. Chris may have thought this as his dying dream, but he was certainly thinking about sharing his happiness with others. In order to find this happiness, he first had to go on the journey he went on and spread the thoughts and message he carried so dear to himself. If it was not for this journey, he would likely be in law school, despising his parents, wanting to break free. He certainly wouldn’t be happy and wouldn’t have any happiness to be real, so he would not be able to share it with
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