Ralph Waldo Emerson was a Unitarian Minister that left his home to find an entirely new meaning to life, which is exactly what Chris McCandless did as well. Emerson’s belief was that you should do what you thought was right, and not follow anyone else’s opinion but your own. In the biography Into the Wild, Chris demonstrates qualities that convey transcendentalism. He left his whole life behind to go into the wilderness and find a better meaning of life that didn’t involve any materialistic items. He wanted to travel on his own without the help of other people, which demonstrates that he relied on only himself to get through the dangers of the wild. Ralph Waldo Emerson would agree that Chris McCandless was a transcendentalist, because he followed most of what Emerson believed to individualize …show more content…
He was different than other people who tried to do what he did, because he was a very intelligent person who was coherent in the many dangerous possibilities that could happen when going into the wild. He didn’t enjoy life when he was going to college, so he decided to change that, because he believed it would lead him to happiness. When Chris is talking to Ron he explains why he believes people aren’t happy in society, “not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future”(57). Emerson believes that in order to be a transcendentalist you cannot disobey God, by lying to yourself. In his essay “Self Reliance” he wrote “We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents” (line 5). The meaning of this is if you hide behind of what society believes is normal you will never achieve happiness within