Existentialism in Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer - 1866 Words

The existentialist is one who is concerned only with that intense moment of awareness with only his senses at his disposal, never looking to the future – the most living awareness. McCandles, the protagonist, in Into the Wild has come to the realization that existence is already being dead and accepting the fact that life is absurd and marvelous. He embraced the sublime absurdity of existence by renouncing the language games society plays. What is so enticing about the existentialist is that he is not concerned with the pressure of appearances and small talk which society employs to lie about what they think and feel. Existentialism is accepting the inevitability of death and living life for the moment without entertaining hope or falsities that distract one from living and accepting truth. The existentialist sees the simplicity in life and the absurdity of complicating it with pretences and lies, the existentialist is a naked man, he is one who becomes one with the rest of creation in accepting his fate on this earth and not hoping for anything more – he simply exists. After graduating from college McCandless, the protagonist in Penn’s Into the Wild, donates all his savings to charity, burns all of the money he has and goes on a journey into the wilderness, removing himself from society. He suggests that the wild will kill the disciplines that have been instilled within him, what he refers to as: â€Å"the false being within† and being ‘poisoned by civilization’. He feelsShow MoreRelatedThe Search For Truth in Into the Wild by John Krakauer1983 Words   |  8 PagesMcCandless was born February 12, 1968 in El Segundi, California. Later on, due to Walt McCandless, Christophers father, success as an aerospace engineer [Christopher] was raised in the comfortable upper middle class environs of Annandale, Virginia(Krakauer 14). Similarly to many people today, Walt McCandless made injurious decisions; during the birth of Christopher and his sister, Carine, Walt was still married. In turn, this leaves them to be bastard children . Christopher was an intellectual that