All 3 Uses of
ascetic
in
Into the Wild
- In college McCandless began emulating Tolstoy's asceticism and moral rigor to a degree that first astonished, and then alarmed, those who were close to him.
p. ii.8 *asceticism = practice of self-denial
- Indeed, one of the books found in the bus with his remains was a collection of stories that included Tolstoy's "The Kreutzer Sonata," in which the nobleman-turned-ascetic denounces "the demands of the flesh."†
p. 65.9ascetic = someone who practices self-denial; or something that is severely plain
- McCandless's contrived asceticism and a pseudoliterary stance compound rather than reduce the fault.†
p. 72.3asceticism = the practice of extreme self-denial (often to encourage spiritual growth)
Definition:
someone who practices self-denial (often to encourage spiritual growth); or relating to such self-denial
or:
severely plain (without decoration)
or:
severely plain (without decoration)