You need look no further than the way that works by key
transcendental thinkers such as Thoreau and Emerson are used in the book itself. For
example, you will have noticed the way that each chapter begins with one or two quotes
from varioius books. The quotation at the beginning of Chapter Six comes directly from
Thoreau's Walden:
The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as
intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little
star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have
clutched.
This quote of
course captures the importance of the return to nature philosophy that McCandless tried
to embody in his life. During the book, various others who tried to similarly return to
nature are mentioned, especially in Chapter Eight, where the fascination of Alaska's
untrammelled wilderness is explored at length. Throughout the novel, transcendentalism
is refered to in the author's attempt to explore what drove Chris McCandless to act as
he did.
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