Sunday, March 7, 2010
Living without any material possessions is alot harder than it seems. In the book, the author says that McCandless "changed his name, gave the entire balance of twenty-four-thousand-dollar savings account to charity, abandoned his car, and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet."(1) A few summers ago, my parents thought it would be a fun idea to go to the grand canyon for a week. Our hotel was located in Las Vegas, but we were only there during the nights. During the days, we would be walking all around the grand canyon, taking tours, and just being outside. Of course, cell phones do not work up there, and there are no computers or internet connection. I felt completely lost not being able to use any of these things, and this was for less than a week. My brother and I were getting very bored and constantly asking to go back to the hotel with the pool, and tv, and internet connection. We toughed it out in the end and got through it, but it was very hard. I cant even imagine getting rid of your material possessions to make a lifestyle choice, the way McCandless did. He must have really wanted a different life than he had. He also must be very strong, and not reliant on society or media, to be able to be happy with his new life. He wants to be secluded from everyone, which is the opposite of me. Throughout the beginning of the book, it is all about how he is living with nature in these horrendous conditions, which brings me to another point, the heat. It was VERY hot in July at the grand canyon. Shorts and tank tops did not cut it, it was still burning hot."In extreme July temperatures becomes delirious"(29) I can relate to the heat because i have experienced it, but i cannot relate to the cold he talks about in Alaska, which must have been even worse than the heat.
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Your trip to the Grand Canyon reminds me of when I took a cruise last April vacation. Not to say the cruise was less than luxurious, but I had that similar feeling of being lost because we were out of cellphone range and there was internet, but I wasn't going to spend the money for it. I was with a friend, but the rest of the kids were really weird so we had to find fun things to do on our own the entire trip, which can get hard after five days. Not being able to talk to the outside world started to stress me out. I also don't understand how Chris could ditch his materials for a life of simplicity and solitude in the woods, especially when I could barely handle being on a cruise ship without my phone. That was a very bold decision made by him and I don't know if I would ever have the courage to be able to make a choice like that.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me a lot of times when I'm in Vermont. No internet connection, no cell phone service, nothing at all but the company of the people in the same town and a few games for the whole summer. It gets kind of boring at times but if you think of it through transcendentalists like Chris McCandless, you start to notice things that they would have liked and why they live the way that they do. I noticed that I end up getting more excercise because theres not much else to do and I can release all stress I had prior to the vacation because I'm pretty much completely isolated from a lot of society. Although it is nice to live without any interferrences from people or technology, I don't think I'd be able to live my whole life like that.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to your trip to the grand canyon where you where without cell service, I have a simple and secluded cabin in Maine where every summer my family spends the month of August. Up there we have no televison, no internet connection, or cell service. Living without these things that we're so acustomed to now, forces you to really appreciate the other things like all the nature that surounds our cabin and enjoy the simplicity of it. Well this is nice for a short while after abouttwo weeks I'm sick of seeing only my family and itching to go into town where there's cell service and internet. So while at times I can see the draw that Chris feels for wanting to be soley with nature, away from all the stress of normal life, I'd never be able to live without my material things, as Chris does.
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ReplyDeleteWhile your expiriance in the Grand Canyon sounds nothing less then exruciating, it did proably have unintended benefits that you might have overlooked. Being solitary, as Chris was and as you largly were, teaches one to be more self depenant and ALSO teaches one about themselves that might get drowned out by the noise of cell-phones and other electronic devices. Also, uncomfortable conditions such as sweltering heat and unbearable cold, until actually hurting the body, show human limits and stregth that one may not have known they had. Being cut off teaches one to appreciate what they left behind all the more however, as you describe, something Chris might have died without having time to realizing. This while obviously uncomfortable, trials and soldarity have a big part in growing valuable character which is more important then communicating with the outside world for a while. I have had a postitive expirance being cut off from the world in a summer inthe Cape when I was younger, about 13. It taught be everything a had written above and to depend on myself more then I thought would ever be necessary. I, of course, was dying to go back but it worthwhile expirance that forged a lot of my personality.
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ReplyDeleteI think it's really hard to imagine why Chris would want to leave his material possessions behind. But your post reminds me of a time last summer when I went to visit an orphanage with a group of people. We went to give them different toys and stuffed animals and to talk to them. Every single child went to play with the toys and they seemed like they were having the time of their life. But this one child (I think she was 6-7 years old) did not seem to be interested in any of the new toys. She just sat alone observing. I think the toys correspond to your cell phone because they are both material possessions that we want, but don't need. You-and most teenagers-reminded me of the kids who wanted the toys. But there are very few teenagers who are like the young girl who didn't want the toys.
ReplyDeleteAnyways,when I went over to talk to her, I asked her why she didn't want to play with any of the toys or any of the other kids. She said she just wasn't really interested. But then we began to talk and I realized that she was a really sweet child with so many ideas. Although I think that it is really hard for most people(like us) to understand why Chris gave up his possessions, I think that child would be able to easily understand him because she turned down all of they toys. I think some people just enjoy being secluded from society. I think all of us have times when we just want to be alone, and maybe people like that child and Chris just want to be alone longer than we do.
Also, I agree with Abby in that sometimes we get caught up with stuff like cell phones and internet that maybe it's good to take a break from that. But it is really hard to do what you did because we are so accustommed to having these things around us. It's almost like an addiction.