Analysis Of Chris Mccandless And Henry Thoreau

Henry Thoreau loved the simplicity of living in the wilderness, just as much as McCandless did, however he loved just to stay put. Thoreau wanted to uncage himself from the outside world and the interferences it had with him living a “full” life. Thoreau thought

Christopher McCandless also appreciated Henry David Thoreau, Chris followed many of his ideas in his own lifestyle. He placed it in his own life and tried to live without all materialistic necessities, such as his car and all his money. Chris took his lifestyle

The similarities between Thoreau’s excerpt of “Why I went to the Woods”, in his book the “Walden”, and White’s essay “Once more to the Lake”, is that both authors are undergoing something similar to an identity crisis. Thoreau in his quest to find the main importances in his

On the other hand, Thoreau went to the woods because he wanted to commune with nature and find peace. Thoreau wasn’t hiding from something in the outside world, he just wanted to enjoy the simplicity of nature. For example, Thoreau enjoys simple work, and talks about how he can have an abundance of peaceful time to contemplate while he farms for himself. Thoreau loves being alone with nature because he can be in solitude with his thoughts, not because he needs to be protected from the outside. He even found entertainment in watching the battle between the red ants and the black ants. He was fascinated by how similar they were to humans in battle. They fought with the same passion and pride that humans fight with, and this proved to Thoreau that there is a lot more to the woods than meets the eye. Thoreau says, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” (Thoreau 59). In summary, Thoreau went to the woods because he wanted to go somewhere, as opposed to wanting to leave society.

Unlike the caricature of the wilderness recluse, Thoreau’s views on nature and civilization were more complex. Thoreau’s retreat to the woods was for both spiritual and intellectual inspiration. Even though he spent two years in the woods, he preferred to only be there occasionally: “The poet must, from time to time, travel the loggers path and the Indian’s trail, to drink at some new and more bracing fountain of the Muses, in the far recesses of the wilderness” (Thoreau, The Maine Woods). Thoreau purposefully used the phrase “time to time,” to show he preferred his time in the wilderness in mild doses. In The Maine Woods he expresses his preference for “partially cultivated country,” which explains his time traveling around Concord. Thoreau found a middle ground: permanent residence in the “partially cultivated land,” with occasional trips into the city and wilderness for inspiration. Schulz belittles Walden as simply “cabin porn,” comparing Thoreau’s time in the woods to Laura Ingalls Wilder time spent in the woods. She believes that Wilder lived what Thoreau “merely played at,” and that Wilder’s stories were more harrowing. However, Thoreau did not live, nor did he recommend, a life fully detached from society. In fairness to Schultz, most people

Chris McCandless went out into the wild with different intention’s then Thoreau. One of Thoreau’s intentions was to get away from the government because of his disagreements with slavery. He left because he didn’t want to support the government by paying his taxes. Chris McCandless never showed any reasons for leaving that helped anyone else. He left in his own selfish manner. McCandless was running away from his own problems that could have been worked out with his family. When reading Thoreau’s Experiment at Walden Pond it states that Thoreau spent his time at the house writing, reading, taking long walks, observing nature and entertaining visitors. This quote explains that Thoreau used his time alone to focus on his writing and observing nature. McCandless’s main focus was surviving. He didn’t have time for anything else.

Thoreau lived as a minimalist to strip away the distractions of life. He wanted to live in the woods,

To Henry David Thoreau, nature serves as a reminder to take a break from the fast paced style of life. Thoreau is a transcendentalist writer who isolated himself from society to live a life at his own pace. The title of his work, Where I Lived and What I Lived For, presents the purpose of his writing. Thoreau expresses where he resided and his reasoning for living there. He successfully achieves his purpose through the use of aphorisms and paradox. He begins his essay with direct and simple vocabulary that clearly states his purpose. He “went to the woods” in order “to front only the essential facts of life”. His destination and intentions are clear. His diction represent his way of thought where details are not needed. His use of aphorisms

Before moving to Walden Pond, Thoreau was surrounded by a civilization that had an obsession with money and political power, things he greatly despised. So, to march to the beat of his own drum, he went on a mission to live a purposeful life instead of a hastened one. Thoreau lived with the notion that if you don’t like the life society gave you, then you should go off and create your own. And that’s what McCandless decided to do with his own life. McCandless was practically disgusted with the life his parents were living; they had no purpose or passion and were only “happy” because of their wealthy and comfortable lifestyle. This was the opposite of what he believed in. To McCandless and Thoreau, material things and status

Both Chris McCandless and Henry David Thoreau explore the idea of authentic living and simplicity, throughout both texts they portray their ideas to the audience. The film Into the WIld largely encaptures the ideas of Henry David Thoreau, sometimes by quoting him, especially his extremely famous piece Where I Lived and What I Lived For. It is very obvious to the audience that Chris is a fan of Thoreau’s writing and he connects to it greatly. Chris is able to portray to the audience that he has the same ideas as Thoreau by talking about his writing occasionally. He explains simplicity to the people he is close with in order to help them understand why he believes that simplistic living is so important and beneficial. The ideas that

Henry David Thoreau was born on July 12th, in Concord Massachusetts. Thoreau was many things, not simply just a writer; but he was one of the most influential writers America knows today. Early on in his life he grew up in a simple home with hard-working parents, and an abundance of siblings. His father and mother both had worked as teachers as well as investing in many other trades to get by. Henry started developing his talent for writing early on, by age ten he had written his first piece of writing, “The Seasons,” as well as many other academic achievements for somebody his age. He was articulate and mature beyond his years, these things developed into key traits that brought him to, instead of listening in on lectures at the Concord Lyceum- being the one leading the lectures in the later years of his life. He came back to Concord after graduating from Harvard University, starting to work at a public school he’d attended as a child. He was a man with morals; known to look at things in a more progressive way than many in his life. After being asked to conduct corporal punishment on a student he left the school he was teaching at to expand his studies and find further employment. His talents broadened further than essays and poetry, he gave himself away to a life of helping others, sheltering runaway slaves on their journey to freedom. He was a man of nature, not as much an adventurer, but he took two years to emerge himself into the depths of nature and not

In many ways Chris McCandless and Henry Thoreau are different and similar. And contrasting Chris McCandless and Henry Thoreau Life in the wilderness. Chris McCandless wanted to escape from society. Because his was tired of money, tired of rules, and tired of his family because he had found out that his father was with another family, and his parents were always worried about him which made Him irritated. Like the

McCandless and Henry David Thoreau concerns the need to become among nature in order to seek self-wisdom.

Henry David Thoreau, Chris McCandless, and Jon Krakauer embrace the ideals of a transcendentalism lifestyle. After reading Krakauer’s, Into the Wild, and Thoreau’s, Walden, it shows that McCandless and Thoreau have similar beliefs. Both men express the beliefs of living simply, rejecting regular lifestyles, and minding your own business. Jon Krakauers, Into the Wild, shows that Chris did not like the normal way of life, he wanted it simplified, simplicity, and he hated regular lifestyles, and wanted people to mind their own business, and all this can also be found in Thoreau’s, Walden.

Thoreau and McCandless had similar overall reasons to go into the wild but McCandless’ reasoning went deeper, involving family and childhood issues. McCandless still managed to live out the points that Thoreau made in Walden. “It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves” (377). Both men had a hatred for materialism and how it changes people. McCandless was eager to get away from the materialistic world. He donated his money to charity and burned anything remaining. These two men wanted to get away from the materialistic world because society easily falls into a trend. McCandless and Thoreau shared a love for nature. When McCandless was a child, he went on camping trips