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Into The Wild Chris Mccandless Selfish Quotes

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While Chris McCandless does make mistakes, I would not agree with Shaun Callarman that he was “plain crazy”. The plans and mistakes made may seem idiotic, but are actually the mistakes that are found in the youth. I would say Chris was searching for his own self. The search to find oneself can lead to you to strange places, such as the grand canyon and this search leads him to the wilds of Alaska. Mandy Hale in her book The Single Woman explains finding oneself means going, “ against the grain, refuse to conform, take the road less traveled instead of the well beaten path.” Hale speaks of finding oneself means doing things that people may disapprove of. This is seen in the relationships between him and his parents. Chris cuts off contact …show more content…

Callarman takes these quotes as Romantic Silliness. I believe that quotes give us a sense of the world and brings us an understanding of our existence. A passage that was highlighted in Doctor Zhivago by Chris was, “You needed to surrender to some such ultimate purpose more fully, more unreservedly than you had ever done in the old familiar, peaceful days, in the old life that was now abolished and gone for good.” “Need for a Purpose” was written in Chris's hand in the margin above this passage. This quote helped guide him to his trek as he sought the unfamiliar as a purpose to find himself. Chris highlighted a passage in the book Walden, or Life in the Woods, “Through the results were bodily weakness, yet perhaps no one can say that the consequences were to be regretted, for these were a life in conformity to higher principle.” This passage gives credence to Callarman's view that Chris has a view of Romantic Silliness, but while this passage is flowery it has a more grounded meaning of living life for your own satisfaction and not regretting it. In a letter written to Ron Chris states, “You are wrong if you think Joy emanates only or principally from human relationships. God has placed it all around us. It is in everything and anything we might experience.”(Into the Wild pg57) This passage does seem to be romantic, but I see only a truth that was hard earned through

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