Chris McCandless and Ted Kaczynski

The rapid industrialization of the Earth has been one of the greatest changes the earth has undergone, surpassing in magnitude the numerous ice ages or massive extinctions. This industrialization prompted a large chunk of the Earth's population to dwell in cities. As a result, much of the wide open spaces of "nature" were transformed into an environment dominated by buildings and congested with roads and people. It is then no surprise that humans separate themselves from nature and expect nature to be "pristine." Imagine for a moment that you are at a place where you feel like you are "away from it all." It's a special place where you are surrounded by sceneries not usually commonplace. You are surrounded by rows of, swarms of bugs and the

Through removal and technology, humans have started to become isolated from the wilderness and the nature around them. This view distinctly contrasts with Thoreau’s perspective. “Though he [Thoreau] never put humans on the same moral level as animals or trees, for example, he does see them all linked as the expression of Spirit, which may only be described in terms of natural laws and unified fluid processes. The self is both humbled and empowered in its cosmic perspective,” states Ann Woodlief. The technologies that distract and consume us, and separate us from the natural world are apparent. Many people and children ins cities have seen little to no natural-grown things such as grass and trees. Even these things are often domesticated and tamed. Many people who have never been to a National Park or gone hiking through the wilderness do not understand its unruly, unforgiving, wild nature. These aspects, thought terrifying to many, are much of why the wilderness is so beautiful and striking to the human heart. “Thoreau builds a critique of American culture upon his conviction that ‘the mind can be permanently profaned by the habit of attending to trivial things, so that all our thoughts shall be tinged with triviality,’” pronounces Rick Furtak, quoting Thoreau’s Life

In The Boonies, the ideology of Idealism or Individualism in Transcendentalism is used. Idealism/Individualism is making sure to live simply and for only self-needs. These families and individuals are living in the wild and off the grid for themselves and to live only enough to get by. Doc Leverett and his wife explain that they do all of the hard work by choice, “...they don’t understand that we do all this by choice”(Doc Leverett). Doc and his wife moved out into the forests of Washington to live a simplistic life and to leave all the waste and stress that comes with the city life behind. They chose to live this lifestyle to limit waste and to live only by the basic necessities. Joe Ray, another individual that lives off the grid also chose to live his life this way because he loves it, “I can be in this place for awhile. It’s just the greatest place to live… I am always looking to find a cave bigger and better than the next. I’m always looking to find the best cave to live in” (Joe Ray). Joe Ray moved to the caves

Understanding oneself is one of the most important factors in living a free life, and living on the road can be a big part of this process. In the novel, Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer writes about a boy who ventures into the wilderness and inevitably learns more about himself on a journey right before he dies. In order to avoid his problematic family, Chris McCandless journeys into danger where he meets people who help him learn more about the world. Although he does eventually meet his end in Alaska, he leaves the world without worries or regrets. By living on the road and in nature, Mccandless is able to live the life that he wants and be free from the clutches of society. While living on the road can prove fatal, it allows a person to find themselves and avoid the problems of society; therefore, people should look to nature in order to better understand themselves.

From the 1830’s to the 1860’s, a group of idealistic philosophers known as the American Transcendentalists spread their new and unique beliefs across the nation. Some well-known influential thinkers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and many others introduced the philosophical social movement that established due to rationalist thoughts. These thinkers focused on being one with nature and the divine. After these ideas flourished in the mid-1800’s, individuals from the 20th and 21st century such as Christopher Smith and Christopher McCandless have also taken part of the Transcendentalist ideas. However, transcendentalist ideas seem to backfire than succeed in these modern day cases.

is alive and well. International, national, and domestic terrorism runs rampant amongst political policy fallouts, religious superiority, and scorned U.S. Citizens. Kaczynski, also known as The Unabomber was a lone wolf terrorist. He never spoke of his actions to anyone, nor did he garner help from others (FBI, n.d., para. 4). The search for Kaczynski proved difficult. There was speculation about gender, places lived, and even what he did for a living. This was all in the effort to identify the suspect. The investigation was accurate in most areas, however, it brought them no closer to identifying the terrorist. His demise came when his brother, David Kaczynski, identify a 35,000 word essay that The Unabomber sent to authorities, claiming to explain his motives and views of the ills of modern society (FBI, n.d., para.

“Into the Wild”, a novel written by Jon Krakauer, focuses on the adventures of Chris McCandless, a young man who set out on a journey to be far as possible away from civilization. Many individuals have multiple contemplations on McCandless’s lifestyle and behavioral actions. Although numerous of people criticized McCandless as a “nutcase,” a “sociopath,” or an “outcast,” Krakauer saw something more in McCandless. Krakauer identified McCandless as an adventurous soul who, in my opinion, should be admired for his passion for nature and pursuit to find the truth.

Escape from civilization is quite a common theme throughout American literature and cinematography. Among numerous examples, one should pay particular attention to Jon Krauker’s writing Into the Wild that is based on the real life of Christopher McCandless, who was an energetic life explorer. The reasons for the human conscious choice to leave the habitual environment and society can differ. According to a Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, such choice is predetermined by the deeply underlying set of needs and convictions that can let one distinguish between various archetypes. Although McCandless obviously had everything to live a great life in the civilized world, happiness meant something different for

Theodore John Kaczynski, Ted Kaczynski, was a man who kept to himself in his home in a cabin in the wilderness. Kaczynski became anti-government and anti-technology while living in his cabin. Kaczynski’s first attack was in 1978 and was directed towards a Professor at University of Chicago using the return address from Northwestern University, but the mail bomb was opened by a campus security officer, who was mildly injured. The next year, 1979, Ted Kaczynski had started to target American Airlines as well. Ted Kaczynski hasn’t killed anybody up until December 1985, a computer shop owner was killed from a bomb outside of his shop. On every mail bomb, Kaczynski signed as FC. Over the course of seventeen years, Kaczynski has injured twenty-three

People all around the world are looking for an escape from this technology driven world we live in, this place is called nature. Chris McCandles had that exact idea when he went into nature. He wanted to become a transcendentalist, which is a person who lives in nature without the reliance of technology or religion. In the movie, Into the Wild Chris McCandles’s life style is compared to two standards of being a transcendentalist; self reliance and civil disobedience.

Henry David Thoreau wanted to get most of out of life and did so in the woods. He built a cabin in the woods and a lived a simplistic life. In “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For,” Thoreau asserts that “I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life… to put to rout all that was not life: and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” (Thoreau, 8). Conformity creates an uninspiring life full of thoughts of the mass.

Kaczynski was born on May 22, 1942 to Wanda and Theodore Kaczynski of Evergreen Park Ill, a tidy and middle class suburb of Chicago. The second son Ted’s brother, David was born in 1950. As children, both kids were very reclusive, not playing with any neighbor children and rarely seen outside of the house. At a young age Ted started to show signs of being a gifted learner, he skipped a year in elementary school and his junior year in high school. Ted spent most of his early life studying math and science alone instead of being social in any kind of way. Ted had a different side to him though, he had a love of explosives which he homemade with his know how in the fields that he studied. Kaczynski was accepted into Harvard at 16

Society provides a person with comfort and clarification, however it is nature that allows a person to escape the boundaries created and truly be theirself in a free experience, which causes a person to live a life with their own will.

Another problem I find living in the woods and having a simple live is boredom. After Thoreau worked on his house, he had to work for two months planting and caring for his beans plants. He had ten months of leisure. Most people find that doing nothing in woods for 10 months in the woods with limited social interaction would be extremely boring. Instead of finding there spirituality, they would complain of boredom.

There are 180,00 families in America living a sustainable lifestyle and roughly around 1.7 billion people worldwide living without depending on the grid. (Palameri 1; Perez qtd. in Wood 1). The number of Eco villages, sustainable and intentional communities are rising across the nation as more people are discovering that they possess a strong inclination to live in the same manner as the Amish. This phenomenon is becoming a progressively popular choice for people from all walks of life. Not only are environmentalists and survivalists escaping the city life in efforts to live off the grid, but single families and people who are seeking to explore a simplified lifestyle are also joining the trend.