Phillips 1 Madison Phillips Dr. Vayo College Writing 101-078 2/10/16 Changes.. Begin with topic sentence and analysis/interpretation of ideas of each passage Need to clearly organize ideas. Feel free to delete and add and make my thesis statement clearer · argument- chris applied transcendentalist principles in his life… · Literal transcendentalism is used in his life · establish premise of trans example · Then specific example of chris that directly correlates with trans example “demonstrate” · Establish how and why Ideas jump around too much · hide the process · bring the bottom of paragraph sentences to the top so it can be the topic From the Rational to the Spiritual Essence of Life An idealistic and social movement that developed in New England around 1836 during the industrial revolution, transcendentalism reveals the nature of reality through examining and analyzing the reasoning process that governs the nature of experience. In other words, transcendentalism subscribes to the idea that individuals must resist societal rules and norms in order to find ones spiritual self. First to start the transcendental movement was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who sought for “an original relationship to the universe”cite cource in solitude amidst nature and in his writing. Unfortunately, this (assuming transcendentalism is responsible) has indirectly resulted in the tragic death of Chris McCandless, whose actions mirrors Emerson’s philosophy. Through director, Sean Penn and author, Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild captures Chris’s life leading up to his final moments, which has stipulated strong criticism and controversy over whether or not his actions were justified. Instead, the audience should focus on how transcendentalism principles led to the reveal of Chris’s identity through venturing into the unknown by analyzing his views on materialism and societal norms. Although Chris had been raised in a comfortable upper-middle-class home, he viewed his upbringing as gross amount of “material excess, a world in which he felt grievously cut off the raw throb of existence.” (Krakauer 22) As transcendentalists would view this, material excess results in a life without “suffering spiritual principle” and “depth of thought”. (Emerson) How can individuals aspire to understand the nature of existence if they are indulged by false ideas of happiness? This is apparent in the beginning of the film, Into The Wild, when Chris and his parents are sitting together for dinner. The audience can feel the tension in the air. (I’m assuming this, I need to analyze) Yet, the parents continue to appear as though they are thrilled to be together and try to offset these feelings by proposing the idea of buying Chris a new car. Chris, on the other hand, expresses through disappointment and frustration. “They think they have bought my respect.” (Krakauer 21) By saying this, he is implying that his parents believe that material excess can “mend wounds”, when in reality, this creates a.

1. Phillips 1
Madison Phillips
Dr. Vayo
College Writing 101-078
2/10/16
Changes..
Begin with topic sentence and analysis/interpretation of ideas of
each passage
Need to clearly organize ideas.
Feel free to delete and add and make my thesis statement clearer
· argument- chris applied transcendentalist principles in his
life…
· Literal transcendentalism is used in his life
· establish premise of trans example
· Then specific example of chris that directly correlates with
trans example “demonstrate”
· Establish how and why
Ideas jump around too much
· hide the process
· bring the bottom of paragraph sentences to the top so it can be
the topic
From the Rational to the Spiritual Essence of Life
An idealistic and social movement that developed in New
England around 1836 during the industrial revolution,
transcendentalism reveals the nature of reality through
examining and analyzing the reasoning process that governs the
nature of experience. In other words, transcendentalism
subscribes to the idea that individuals must resist societal rules
and norms in order to find ones spiritual self. First to start the
transcendental movement was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who
sought for “an original relationship to the universe”cite cource
in solitude amidst nature and in his writing. Unfortunately, this
(assuming transcendentalism is responsible) has indirectly

2. resulted in the tragic death of Chris McCandless, whose actions
mirrors Emerson’s philosophy. Through director, Sean Penn and
author, Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild captures Chris’s life leading
up to his final moments, which has stipulated strong criticism
and controversy over whether or not his actions were justified.
Instead, the audience should focus on how transcendentalism
principles led to the reveal of Chris’s identity through venturing
into the unknown by analyzing his views on materialism and
societal norms.
Although Chris had been raised in a comfortable upper-middle-
class home, he viewed his upbringing as gross amount of
“material excess, a world in which he felt grievously cut off the
raw throb of existence.” (Krakauer 22) As transcendentalists
would view this, material excess results in a life without
“suffering spiritual principle” and “depth of thought”.
(Emerson) How can individuals aspire to understand the nature
of existence if they are indulged by false ideas of happiness?
This is apparent in the beginning of the film, Into The Wild,
when Chris and his parents are sitting together for dinner. The
audience can feel the tension in the air. (I’m assuming this, I
need to analyze) Yet, the parents continue to appear as though
they are thrilled to be together and try to offset these feelings
by proposing the idea of buying Chris a new car. Chris, on the
other hand, expresses through disappointment and frustration.
“They think they have bought my respect.” (Krakauer 21) By
saying this, he is implying that his parents believe that material
excess can “mend wounds”, when in reality, this creates a
greater void. Again, this ties back to the idea that it is through
suffering and honesty with ones soul that we truly find
ourselves. Comment by Madison Phillips: How? Also this
specific sentence needs to be placed in the beginning, each body
paragraph needs a clear topic sentence
Need to explain more
This is partially what Chris means when he reinvents himself
and heads out west in order to live “an utterly new life for

3. himself, one in which he would be free to wallow in unfiltered
experience.” (Krakauer 22) Not only does material excess
further societies detachment from the truth, it pervades our
ideas of purpose and appreciation for the world. By drawing
parallels to the Industrial Revolution, it is apparent that the
expansion of the Internet has changed society significantly.
Although the Internet provides means for education,
communication and entertainment, to a degree, the Internet has
promoted a superficial idea of purpose and appreciation because
of social media. Social media displays the finest aspects of
individuals and perpetuates competition amongst one another.
Chris on the other hand, chooses to indulge himself with goals
intended to explore, challenge and question his sense of self.
One could say that he is trying to escape reality, however, this
is not likely because solidarity forces individuals to ponder
even the most sensitive subjects. For Chris, this meant coming
to terms with the idea that he was negligent in bringing the
necessary items for survival, however, his moment of “nirvana”
shows that his quest for identity succeeded. Comment by
Madison Phillips: Need more relation to the passage, jumping
around too much
In addition, it is understandable why Chris would attribute
nature to finding his own sense of self because of the symbolic
forces of the wild. As we see through one of Chris’s quoted
authors, Paul Shepard, nature is in essence the truth. “In an
unobstructed sky the clouds seem more massive, sometimes
grandly reflecting the earth’s curvature on their concave
undersides.” Where an unobstructed sky is the soul without
temptation to materialistic needs and the seemingly larger
clouds is truth being revealed in order to find ones identity.
However, the idea of detachment from everything that is
familiar is unnerving because it easier to have a sense of
identity through association. As for Chris’s parents, this meant
association through status. This isn’t to say that every
association is innately bad, however, goals like wealth and
power will never satisfy someone such as Chris because he

4. understands how to attain it and views it as a game that is
simply too easy to win. What did challenge him was his
inability to follow orders and to live, what people would
consider, an average lifestyle. Comment by Madison Phillips:
Not sure if this is easy to follow, need to develop analyzsis
Comment by Madison Phillips: I need to move this
sentence to the top and explain
By analyzing Chris’s views, it is clear that he defies the idea of
normal in every sense of the word. Should we be critical of such
behavior? Chris writes, “to the desert go prophets and hermits;
through deserts go pilgrims and exiles. Here the leaders of the
great religions have sought the therapeutic and spiritual values
of retreat, not to escape but to find reality.” (Krakauer 25) Here,
Chris is suggesting that it is individuality from which
opportunity breeds growth. In this case, it is during the
expansion of the west that individual thinkers sought the chance
to find contempt. Although Chris lives in an entirely different
era, it is no different because of the pressures placed on him by
his friends and family to lead a certain life. Even though Chris
had just graduated from an exceptional school, with above
average grades, the approval of others wasn’t enough for Chris
to feel as though his purpose was fulfilled if it is not his own.
Comment by Madison Phillips: organize
Therefore, his comparison to those who headed out west is
significant to the rejection of popular opinion because, they too,
sought to find the truth that existing societies could not provide
for them. His journey out west can be understood as a symbolic
“rebirth” of experience and knowledge. In contrast, many
people don’t understand why they have particular beliefs and
simply accept their existence as it is without questioning the
external factors that may be clouding their judgment. Ralph
Waldo Emerson demonstrates this when he states, “He wishes
that the spiritual principle should be suffered to demonstrate
itself to the end, in all possible applications to the state of
man…Thus, the spiritual measure of inspiration is the depth of
thought, and never who said it? And so he resists all attempts to

5. palm other rules and measures on the spirit than its own.”
(Emerson) Therefore, it is reasonable to say that Chris was right
to believe that he would find clarity in leaving behind all that
he knew in order to ensure that the realizes his spirit in the
purest way because the wild had stripped him of all previous
external influences. Furthermore, it is reasonable to believe that
nature represents the rawness of existence. Whether it may be
the symbolism behind predator versus prey, geographic
formations, or the changing of the seasons, these all reflect
extremes that are undoubtedly found in life. Comment by
Madison Phillips: from which of his quotes? Comment by
Madison Phillips: I need to clarify or delete etc
Although nature brought the eventual end to Chris’s life, which
could have been prevented if he had not ventured out west alone
and ill prepared, he found his identity in the process. Not only
did he fulfill his purpose, he fulfilled it being fully aware of the
dangers of his journey. As Chris notes in his postcard to
Westerberg, “please return all mail I receive to the sender. It
might be a very long time before I return south. If this
adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again, I
want you to know you’re a great man. I now walk into the
wild.” (Krakauer 69) Therefore, it is not for others to say his
life was wasted, rather, whether or not Chris succeeded in
reaching his purpose for leaving. Even still, many believe his
actions to be selfish and immature. Conversely, suppose he left
to fight in the military, aware of the dangers of combat? Or,
suppose he left in order to learn about various tribal cultures in
the Amazon, aware of the threat of disease? However risky his
actions were, it is the motives behind the actions that are
important. Yes, there are theories that he left because of his
parents. However, this is unlikely because Chris graduated from
college and would have the means necessary to support himself
so that he would not have to stay in contact with his parents any
further for financial support. Although it is mentioned
throughout Into the Wild that Chris did not have a close
relationship with his parents, the idea seems far-fetched because

6. of the consistent emphasis Chris places on transcendentalist
ideals.
Secondly, some argue that Chris’s neglectfulness is a sign that
he wanted to die in the forest. While this may be true because of
his refusal to receive help throughout his journey, this is simply
not the case because he tells Westerberg “it may be a very long
time before I return south.” (Krakauer 69) This implies that
Chris did not intend to endanger himself to the point of
starvation and that he eventually wanted to return home after he
achieved his purpose. Not only does this quote imply that Chris
could imagine a future back home, this also reinforces the idea
that he wanted to be enlightened from his experience with
nature and was not trying to escape his parents Comment by
Madison Phillips: How does each idea connect to
transcendentalism
If it weren’t for materialism and societal norms, Chris
McCandless would have never chosen to lead a life through
transcendentalist ideals and ultimate discovery of his identity.
Therefore, the audience should be aware of Chris fundamental
views on transcendentalism and how his actions reflect his
passion for the truth, which he would have found back home.
For everything that Chris posses, it is his views on materialism
and societal norms that shaped his very being and identity
throughout his journey. Although it is difficult to fathom why
Chris would go to such extremes in order to find the truth, we
should not be critical simply because we don’t understand.
Going forward, it is important that we look at the reasons
behind individuals’ motives.
Works Cited
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Nature; Addresses, and Lectures.
Boston: J.
Munroe, 1849. Print.

7. Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997. Print.
Lewis, Jone J. "Transcendentalism - Definitions."
Transcendentalism - Definitions. N.p., 2002. Web. 12 Feb.
2016.
Into the Wild. Dir. Sean Penn. Per. Emile Hersch. 2007. Film.