Analysis Of ' Into The Wild '

Both Henry David Thoreau and Christopher McCandless ventured out into the woods to get away from the dreariness of everyday society and to find themselves. Only one lived to tell the tale. What was the fatal flaw of the man who didn’t continue on? The only way to find this is to analyze the differences and similarities between the two. McCandless, while embracing some of the same values as Thoreau, was ultimately a different man. While they led very contrasting lives in very distant times, both McCandless and Thoreau sought a type of freedom that can only be achieved when immersed in nature. Thoreau’s entitlement and cozy cabin in the woods is a far cry from McCandless’s constant struggle during his expedition, however, certain parallels

Author, Henry David Thoreau and Mary Oliver are both very passionate about nature and what it has to offer in life, as well as the symbolism behind nature and its creatures in their works of literature, in “Walden”, and “The House of Light”, Both authors discuss their views of nature and the beauty of the world that they want to make familiar to their audience. In this essay, I’ll provide my reasoning behind this statement.

Throughout life, many people take big chances and do things that are a little out of their comfort zone. But would you, or anyone else in the world, ever truly throw away your life and do something that no other person would truly do? Would you leave everything in your life behind, and start a new life that you don't know what the outcome will be? Not everyone is meant to take risks and chances. With this world, no one ever truly knows what will happen. Some people don't always have the right capabilities that are needed to fulfill a full life in the wild.

We can’t live without nature. It’s our home and way of life. Henry David Thoreau wrote a piece about Walden Pond in the springtime. Thoreau discusses how nature has so much to offer. His use of anaphora, diction, and imagery helps to show not only his love for nature, but the impact it has on us.

Is it worth to give up your lifestyle and force yourself to live a different one? Some people are willing to quit their own lifestyles to live a whole new different life. In the story “Into the Wild” Chris McCandless was running from his family because of all the drama that he had to face growing up. He even left Washington D.C to move to Alaska, he did this because he was very fond of nature. In the book “Into the Wild” the Author Jon Krakauer explains how Chris McCandless was able to sacrifice his life in order to live a life in the wilderness. A lot of people wouldn’t want to do this because people wouldn’t to want to be willing to give up their own lifestyle in order to start a new one from scratch. It’s not worth it to lose your own lifestyle because it could also result into you losing your life as well.

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

Conversely, naturalists consider the wild to be one of our most precious resources. Naturalists hold the belief that there is no desire and obsession in nature but a life of singular purity . There are some similarities between McCandless’s philosophy and naturalism. In particular, some forms of authority irritated McCandless. He said of himself, “Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking bring him to the great white north. No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild ” (Krakauer 163). McCandless was excited and ready to go into the wild. His decision to risk jumping trains and hitchhike showed his eagerness to escape from civilization. To McCandless, society as a whole essentially constrained human beings’ freedom. McCandless’s definition of freedom, which differed from that of civilized society, was the ability to get in touch with nature, indicating the naturalist concept in his philosophy. Naturalists admire the beauty of nature. American recluse Henry David Thoreau also shared a love of naturalism , as explained in his work Walden, Or, Life in the Woods, in which he said, “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” (59). Thoreau removed himself from civilization to achieve his inner fulfillment. He claimed that he would not want to live a lifestyle that was not spiritual. Similarly, McCandless’s choice to live as a recluse was to pursue his own human values. He perceived that human beings have an overlooked the real value of life, that there is much more to life than what a civilized society can offer. As American author Annie Dillard notes in her book Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters, “[Humans] might

The aspiring philosopher selected a passage in Henry David Thoreau’s book, “Walden, or Life in the Woods.” It was an exceptionally suitable piece of literature for McCandless’s situation, and even more so during his time in the Alaskan Bush. “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where rich food and wine in abundance, an obsequious attendance, were but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board. The hospitality was as cold as the ices.” Based on McCandless’s focus on that part of the publication, we can determine what he perceived as important in life. At the time, it was truth; one can only assume that this notion stemmed from the lies his father told. These deceptions primarily involved his first marriage, and the circumstances surrounding his second marriage. Chris McCandless uncovered the elaborate falsehood sometime before his odyssey, which means he had a long while to absorb the information and give some thought to it. Once McCandless began reading the books about the wilderness, family, and society, he would have been able to make connections between the literatures and his experiences. Furthermore, he could have correlated the primary ideas between the books to bring himself to new

In the excerpt of “Walden”, by Henry D. Thoreau, the narrator explains how a person can find the essence of life. In the story, it talks about a person seeking treasures in the forest. The central theme of the story is that to let go of life’s pleasures and seek life’s treasures. The author uses first person point of view to portray his theme.

After reading chapters 8-9 of the book Into the Wild, There were other discussed adventurers. Such as Rosellini, Waterman, McCunn and Russ. Who did similar things that McCandless did. The book takes a turn here sharing there stories as well. Which I found was a delightful and entertaining turn of events. To read and learn about others ordeals and learn from their mistakes. Choosing one to write about it would be Rosellini. His ideas, beliefs and mistakes were definitely interesting to read about. The fact that he was a well educated man who had also been a Mayor. The experimenting with differant eras such as the Roman times and the Iron, Bronze Ages and also, the interest of if it was possible to live without technology and simply live off the land.

My name is Daud, I am a 12 grader who right now goes to High school in Minnesota. I am keeping in touch with you about your outstanding book Into The Wild. In my English class a couple weeks ago, my class and I read this story and it truly made me look at what I do in my life and how much this book truly influenced me, all things considered. This book demonstrated to me that on the planet, there is a lot more out there than the little towns we as a whole experienced childhood in and were raised. It made me additionally truly consider that not everybody needs the convention life that we as a whole grow up anticipating. What I mean, is that there is such a variety of various choices on the planet though numerous things on

Unhappy with his life and the path that it is on, Chris McCandless decides it is time to stray from the societal path in a pretty life changing way. Not even a month out of college he donates his life savings, sold his apartment, and packed his remaining possessions to live on the road, travelling across the United States. The young 24 year old man was found dead in the wilderness of Alaska in September of 1992 after his long journey. Into The Wild, written by John Krakauer, is the story of a man’s journey soley based on pursuing a life of non conformity. There are many who believe that McCandless was crazy for what he did and that it was his ignorance that killed him. Throughout the whole book he shuts many people out and just be

In “Walden”, Henry David Thoreau creates connections between man, nature and society. Thoreau connects nature with man when he says “I went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately, to front the only essentials of life.” Thoreau goes out into the wilderness in order to be satisfied with his life as he learns a new way to live that everyone should experience for themselves. In modern life, people are distracted with many obstacles in society that gets in the way and doesn't allow them to live meaningfully. However, in order to live life the way people should, people should live through nature and

Everyday, all around the world, people are engaging in high-risk activities. The real question is, is it fair to the loved ones of the individuals who participate in high-risk activities. In my opinion it can be both okay and not. I don’t think it is fair if they are not aware of you doing these activities or if you participate in them if they don’t support it. If they were supportive or aware that you were going to interact in these activities it would be okay. I think people just really need to think before they do these kinds of activities, because their lives aren’t the only ones at stake.

The movie Into The Wild is based on a true story that took place in the 90’s, where a top college graduate who runs away from home by donating all of his money in the bank account to charity in order to explore the world, and to experience world far away from the human civilization, where he decides to go to Alaska.