Essick 1

Emily Paige Essick

UWRT 1103
Intawiwat
21 October 2014
Extended Inquiry: Was McCandless Escaping from Utopianism?
The American dream was based on utopianism (Kaku). Utopianism means reaching
the impossibility of an ideal, social perfection (Utopian Societies). Utopian communities have
existed for thousands of years, created by man in order to form an ideal society. During the mid
1800s, the great European migration began, bringing thousands to America in search of relief
from economic downfall, crop failure, and racial and religious prejudice. German immigrants
formed a utopian society in Amona, Iowa in 1835 and transcendentalists from all around the
world traveled to America in pursuit of embracing higher moral law (Utopian Communities).
However, over the years, the idea of this new-world utopianism has disappeared and a more
modern-day utopian ideal has begun to take form. The idea of the American dream has
evolved overtime into what is now an almost ludicrous ambition. According to the famous
philosopher Plato there are five areas in our lives that can be considered utopian pressure. Those
five areas are economical, ecological, technological, political, and religious (Utopian Societies).
If you look at the example set from the famous novel, Utopia by Sir Thomas Moore,
you can see that the idea that America as a whole could be considered a utopianism is not as
crazy as it seems because we actually meet a lot of the common utopian standards. We have a
standard currency and laws, we have a common core education system in place, we have a
strong, organized, and powerful government and military, and we have no set religion and our

Essick 2
technology advancements over the past decade have been remarkable. America fits the basic idea
of what a utopianism is and we also fit into all five areas of Platos ideal utopian society.
Todays American culture tells us that we need to graduate high school, go to college, fit
in with society, get a good job, earn lots of money, fall into consumerism standards, take part in
politics, and overall, achieve the American dream. But what is the American dream? Does this
standard really exist? Couldnt we all have own definition of the American dream? Is it possible
that the American dream is just a nice way of saying we need to conform to their utopian ideals
in the hopes of creating a perfect country? A quote from Bruce Springsteen put the idea of the
American dream into perspective, I have spent my life judging the distance between American
reality and the American dream.
After reading Into the Wild, watching the movie, and learning more about the history of
Chris McCandless and his fake identity Alex Supertramp, it is obvious that Chris had hopes and
dreams that stretched far beyond what his family and friends had imagined for him. Chris had an
adventurous nature inside of him, an intellectual being who realized he wanted more. He wanted
more than just a college education, a nice job, and a family. He didnt want a new car, or fancy
clothes, or a corporate day job. Something deep inside Chris was motivating his decision to leave
everything behind and explore, but what was it? Did Chris want to escape American culture,
escape from society? Was he running away from family or politics? Maybe Chris could see
foresee the government control becoming too powerful and was afraid of a utopianism being
created.
After a while of tramping around the west coast, McCandless, now under the name Alex
Suoertramp, decides he doesnt enjoy having money nor does he want it. On page ____ of Into
the Wild, McCandless says, Tramping is too easy with all this money. My days were more

Essick 3
exciting when I was penniless and had to forage around for my next meal... I've decided that I'm
going to live this life for some time to come. The freedom and simple beauty of it is just too
good to pass up. Through this quote, we can see that McCandless enjoys adventure, freedom,
simplicity, and a good challenge. McCandless does not value his money and does not see the
point in having it. At another point in the book, McCandless talks about time and how irrelevant
it is when you are living apart from society. I don't want to know what time it is. I don't want to
know what day it is or where I am. None of that matters (McCandless). Society puts too much
pressure on time. For many people, time is of the essence and we must always be in a hurry. In
utopian communities time is a virtue. Everything runs like clockwork in utopian communities
and no time is ever wasted. While tramping, McCandless can escape time and never worry about
what day it is or where he has to be and when. This is just one more example that supports my
theory that McCandless was trying to escape utopianism.
Throughout the novel, Utopia, Moore is trying to distinguish a line between the desire
of perfection, the understanding of perfection, and the inevitable fatality of humans. In Into the
Wild, I have a feel that McCandless is almost trying to do the same thing. He wants to figure
out what the purpose of human existence is, why are we here doing what we do. Why is being a
part of society important? Chris spends a lot of time thinking and experiencing on his tramping
adventure and during this time he starts to realize what is actually important to him. For example
on page _____, he says:
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

Essick 4
man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion
for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences
and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for
each day to have a new and different sun.

Essick 5
Works Cited
Kaku, Michio. Can Nanotechnology Create Utopia? 6 November 2012. Web.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzgVWpa4fzU
Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997. Print.
More, Thomas, and Ralph Robinson. Utopia. London: Printed by Bernard Alsop, Dwelling in
Distaffe Lane at the Signe of the Dolphin, 1624. Print.
Utopian Communities. Encyclopedia. Web. 25 February 2013.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Utopian_Communities.aspx
Utopian Societies identifying the problems of today. 18 April 2011. Pg 1. Web. 26
February 2013. http://www.rabareview.com/2011/04/18/utopian-societies-identifyingthe-problems-of-today