Robert Frost Poem

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Close ties to people hinders those who romanticize nature and want to fully immerse in it. In the celebrated poem by Robert frost, "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening", the narrator stops while traveling through a secluded, forest far away from civilization and hears "easy wind and downy flakes", and notices that "the woods are lovely dark and deep, but [he has] promises to keep". The narrator wants to stay in woods even though he can clearly hear the "easy wind." That statement becomes questionable because one cannot hear winds that blow easily or softly. A wind along with “downy flakes” proclaims there a blizzard, something most shelter themselves from. Yet this harsh weather is not a deterrent for the narrator, for he calls the woods “lovely, dark and deep”. He secludes himself in the nature for he stops travels through it alone. There is no backup if there is a mistake and he freezes or hurts himself. In that creates part of the appeal. The lone stop in freezing wood shows the narrator’s ideology to be centered about harmony with nature. To be immersed without the pollution of society. The fact he obviously praises while he is in the middle of the worst of nature, shows that he has a romanticizes view of it. The reason of departure from this personal yet seemingly odd haven credits itself to “promises” to other people, not for concern for his own well being or any desire to leave nature. If those people were not there, he would have obviously continued to mull over the supposed beauty of nature untamed and wild.

In Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, there is a young adventurer named Ruess Everett who abandons all human contact, including his loving family, for long stretches of times and does dangerous activities such once when an on looker is “appalled by the seemingly reckless manner in which Everett moved around dangerous cliffs” (92). When someone does a potentially lethal activity such as “moving around dangerous cliffs” without a suicidal or deranged state of mind, it usually means that they are not truly considering the danger. Reckless means utterly unconcerned about the consequences of some action. This shows Ruess Everett had done so many dangerous activities and survived that he believes now that the percentages do not apply to him. He romanticizes the cliff side until no apparent danger remains, only the adventure. He does this alone as well, for he left his family behind. Family would have stopped reckless behavior such as this because they do not want to see their loved one hurt. Without them in tow Ruess is able to be with nature organically, without a safety device. Protection would make the interaction between him and the cliff face feel false to him. He wants the full experience of that cliff face, nothing in between him and it, not even people of safety have room. Thus people disrupt true connections with nature.

Posted by Abby Chernin

The Harbor

Some of the ideas in The Harbor, by Carl Sandburg closely mirror Chris's ideas.

The poem opens by saying, "Passing through huddled and ugly walls By doorways where women ..." One thing that struck me was the huddled and ugly walls. Both Chris and the author both agree that society restricts people from being an individual because these "ugly walls" prevent them reaching out and expanding themselves. Chris shows this using his stubborness. In one instance, Chris does not listen to his teacher on how to write a lab report because he thought it was a "stupid rule" (108). Although it most likely would not have taken more time to write a lab report using the correct format, Chris feels like he is being too restricted by his teacher and quite purposely does the opposite of what is expected. Most people would not mind following the teacher's directions because they see it as common sense, but Chris believes that by agreeing to little things like this, it slowly amounts to being oppressed by society's "huddled and ugly walls".
I also believe that Chris is similar, but also very different to the women in doorways. These women are unhappy about where they are in society because they do not fit in. Hence, they are not inside or outside, they are stuck in the doorway. Chris is also similar because he "didn't quite fit into society" (108). But the difference between the women and Chris is that Chris enjoys being different because he is an individual. And even though he does not fit in, he does not want to stay stuck in the doorway. He instead tries to break free from the ugly walls and get into nature, unlike the women. Chris takes pride in the fact that he is in the outside of society while the women are ashamed of it. I think many of us would also be ashamed of not fitting into society, and that is part of the reason that it is so difficult for us to understand Chris.
The last part of the poem describes nature as "masses of great gray wings And flying white bellies Veering and wheeling free in the open". I believe that Chris would be happier in a society that functions more like nature does. Nature is able to live together in "masses", but still is able to be "veering and wheeling free in the open". Chris would enjoy this type of society because he does have friends and enjoys their company, but he also likes to be able to do his own thing. Also, Chris's personality has been described as "generous and caring to a fault" (120). Chris would be able to help many people in a society that functions like nature because people would accept him more and be willing to recieve his help. By living in "masses", it proves that nature is able to live peacefully and therefore they do not unfairly judge eachother. When describing nature, Sandburg does not mention anything about authority, which is the main reason that Chris hates society. Hence, Chris would prosper in a society where there is no one telling him what to do. All in all, Chris would definately agree with most of the ideas Sandburg presents in his poem.

McCandless' and Tolstoy's alter egos

Chris McCandless and the famous Russian author, Leo Tolstoy share many similarities, not only through their real lives, but through their alter egos. Both Tolstoy and McCandless were born into financially sound, and in Tolstoy’s case, quite wealthy, households. They also had prominent father figures. Chris’ father, Walt, is described as being “accustomed to calling the shots. Taking control is something he does unconsciously, reflexively....when Walt talks, people listen” (105). In addition, “despite the casual attire he projects an air of authority” (104). He is even described by colleagues as brilliant. Tolstoy’s father was a respected Count of Russia, who had earned himself a military honor. For both men, these would be quite big shoes to fill. I think that they were both uncomfortable with being so financially well off and having to live up to their fathers’ reputations. They were born into a lifestyle they had no choice over, and when it wasn’t what they wanted, they created alter egos.

Chris’ alter ego, Alex Supertramp, has little to his name, but is perfectly happy that way. This is probably what Chris always wanted, but because his family had money, he felt he had to create someone else in order have the life he wanted. Chris also probably felt he had to live up to his father’s reputation, and when he instead wanted to wander through nature, he created his alter ego, where there were no expectations of him.

This also rings true for Tolstoy. His alter ego, Pierre, is an illegitimate child, who lacks a real father. This leads to his quest for self definition. This is probably what Tolstoy would have been happier with, a life where he could completely choose who he wanted to be, instead of being born into a noble Russian family that had certain expectations of him. The creation of both McCandelss’ and Tolstoy’s alter egos was probably due to their wanting something different than the lives they were born into.

CHRIS AND MUSIC

Kayla Chalmers

As I was reading Into the Wild I kept wondering why McCandless was doing what he was doing. Why would he leave everything he had for the adventures of traveling? Even knowing he had a college education and enough money to start him off successfully, thing didn’t make sense.  Soon realizing that he was inspired by Thoreau and his transcendentalism ways seemed to be an excuse for his actions. He was a modern transcendentalist at the time. He loved the simple life, even when he was at college as quoted “[He] lived off campus in a monkish room furnished with little more than a thing mattress on the floor, milk crates, and a table…and he didn’t have a phone” (22).  We can see the similarities between Thoreau himself and McCandless. They both loved the beauties of nature, getting away from the conformities in society, and being self-reliant. At one point in the book McCandless describes conformity and being in society as,

“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future” (57).

                  We can tell McCandless wants to be nothing like these people. So at this point I wondered I McCandless was still alive today and if he had the luxury of owing an iPod (which he probably would not have even if he had the money) what type of music he would he would have and listen too. So I went through my iPod and looked up some lyrics.  I found that many of the Beatle song and John Lennon songs had ideas of transcendentalism that McCandless would most likely agree upon.  How a more modern song, “gone going” by the Black eye peas ft. Jack Johnson really described how I think McCandless thought of the world.  The lyrics talk about materialistic things, and how conforming will get you nowhere in life.  And that all these materialistic things cover you soul and you can’t really find who you really are as person. Basically saying conforming to society is bad and that ”You need to go out to life and look Cause... what happens when they take your material You already sold your soul and its...”.  This song sums up the feeling I believed McCandless had about society.

Here is a link to a YouTube video of the song, “Gone going” by black eyed peas with the lyrics.

"Gone Going" lyrics

Johnny wanna be a big star
Get on stage and play the guitar
Make a little money, buy a fancy car
Big old house and an alligator
Just to match with them alligator shoes
He's a rich man so he's no longer singing the blues
He's singing songs about material things
And platinum rings and watches that go bling
But, diamonds don't bling in the dark
He a star now, but he ain't singing from the heart
Sooner or later he's just gonna fall apart
Cause his fans can't relate to his new found art
He ain't doing what he did from the start
And that's putting in some feeling and thought
He decided to live his life shallow
Cash in his love for material

[Chorus]
And its gone... gone... going...
Gone... everything gone... give a damn...
Gone be the birds when they don't want to sing...
Gone people... all awkward with their things... gone.

You see yourself in the mirror
And you feel safe cause it looks familiar
But you afraid to open up your soul
Cause you don't really know, don't really know
Who he is, the person that's deep within
Cause you are content with just being the name-brand man
And you fail to see that its trivial
Insignificant, you addicted to material
I've seen your kind before
You're the type that thinks souls is sold in a store
Packaged up with incense sticks
With them vegetarian meals
To you that's righteous
You're fiction like books
You need to go out to life and look
Cause... what happens when they take your material
You already sold your soul and its...

[Chorus]

You say that time is money and money is time
So you got mind in your money and your money on your mind
But what about... that crime that you did to get paid
And what about... that bid, you can't take it to your brain
What about those shoes you'll wear today
They'll do no good on the bridges you burnt along the way

All that money that you got gonna be gone
That gear that you rock gonna be gone
The house up on the hill gonna be gone
The gold purse on your grill gonna be gone
The ice on your wrist gonna be gone
That nice little Miss gonna be gone
That whip that you roll gonna be gone
And what's worst is your soul's already gone

[Chorus]

I think Chris McCandless is very similar to the Transcendentalists. His beliefs are very similar to those of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. McCandless writes, in a letter to Ron Franz, "We just have to have the courage to turn against our habitual lifestyle..." (Krakauer 57). Chris is telling Franz to disregard society's principles and to lead a life he can enjoy. Emerson once said, "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Like many Transcendentalists, Emerson urges others to be themselves and make their own path. Similarly, Chris urges people to ignore society's perception of a normal life. It's hard for me to relate to Chris and the Transcendentalists because I'm a conformist and I lead a very conventional life. I've never really been one to question authority, unlike Thoreau, and I've never challanged my family's or society's expectations for me.

In Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, the character, Ken Thompson, comes across a river called the Teklanika Riverright before he spots Chris McCandless. He describes it as a "fast, icy, stream whose waters are opaque with glacial till. The trail comes down to the riverbank just upstream from a narrow groge, through which the Teklanika surges in a boil of white water. The prospect of fording this latte-colored torrent discourages most people from traveling any farter" (11). The first picture is exactly where Jon Krakauer was describing. By looking at this picture and how the author describes the river is very familiar to an area where I have been. The White River in Vermont is very much like the Teklanika River with the description of the "fast, icy, stream," and how the "latte-colored torrent," makes it easy for people to reconsider their plans to go on this river on either a tube or raft. I have gone down this river and it is probably one of the scariest experiences of my life. I wish I reconsidered going any farther than I did because the river got faster, colder, and there were many more rapids than when we decided to stop earlier. I felt like i could picture exactly what the river looked like without seeing a picture of the Teklanika River because of my exerience on the White River.