“Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.” As Ralph Waldo Emerson outlined in this quote, those who wish to be present in society, therefore classified as “a man”, must live by a transcendental way of life. Transcendentalism, a political and social movement, takes root in nonconformity. It alo relies heavily on the reflection of the Divine Soul that can be found in all objects, and on the importance of nature. The journey into nature, taken by Chris McCandless, is a direct representation of the views of Emerson, as reflected in “Nature”, and “Self-Reliance”, put into action.
Emerson wrote both of these essays in order to show the positive impact transcendentalism can have on one’s live, and why more people should live by it, like McCandless. In his essay entitled “Nature”, Emerson wrote, “The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and vulgar things.” By separating oneself from the material world, all the detrimental aspects of life will be eliminated. In this essay, he also references childhood and the importance of childhood curiosity even as an adult. People should think of their childhood, and about …show more content…
The transcendentalists were very intelligent individuals who would never had made the rash decisions that McCandless made. Even though spontaneity is very important to transcendentalism, they also valued the capabilities of the human mind. They would not have burned the last of their money to escape all material possessions; they would have saved it, or gotten rid of it in a way that would not harm nature. The transcendentalists would have admired McCandless for his dedication to both finding himself and, to living a transcendental, spontaneous, way of life, but they would have looked at him as a child who was simply not prepared to fully embody the transcendental