Compare And Contrast Thoreau And Mccandless

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

Thoreau and McCandless are people who are very similar and different at the same time. The thing is people can’t be completely the same even if they tried to. You can’t think the same thoughts at the same time, people are bound to have differences. People are always growing and changing even if it is in the smallest way. This makes it impossible to be exactly the same as other people. Of course the same is true for the other side too. You can’t be a completely different person either. People are also bound to have similarities. We are all humans so that’s a similarity. But do similarities and differences matter? In the end we know that Thoreau and McCandless have many similarities and differences, here are three examples of them; Thoreau and McCandless are both determined and hard-working people, McCandless went to the forest to run away from his family problems while Thoreau went to the forest to live by himself, and they both hate materialism.

Thoreau inspired countless people, including Jon Krakauer and Chris McCandless through his novel Walden. His main intent through writing this novel is to display that in modern society, most people, although free, have

It’s the end of the school day. I finally breathe and release myself of the stress and the frustration of a normal school day. I sit on the benches outside and wait for my ride. With technology gone and no people to talk to, I just sit still. The evergreen trees gently move in some of the final gusts of the summer breeze. And as I’m looking at life’s beauty and as thoughts swim through my brain, I become frightened. Because, I have never thought of life, as a whole, so profoundly. It transforms into satisfaction. Without distractions, I sit with my thoughts and world’s alluring nature. As I relive this moment in my mind, I can’t help but think of Henry David Thoreau. How he just sometimes sat and took in everything, and absorbed everything

Found with McCandless’s remains was a copy of Thoreau’s Walden with McCandless’s comments. In particular, McCandless highlighted “rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth” and wrote “TRUTH” on the page (Krakauer 117). Like Thoreau, McCandless was concerned with truthfulness and living on only necessities. Simplicity, was what both looked towards, and Thoreau repeats “simplicity” and “simplify” multiple times in Walden (Thoreau par. 17). Both denounced technology, as it was a distraction from reality. “I never received more than one or two letters in my life…that were worth the postage” expressing that people are occupied with nonessential news (Thoreau par.19). McCandless became embarrassed by his parent’s modest wealth believing that “wealth was shameful, corrupting, inherently evil” (Krakauer 115) and ended up donating his savings to OXFAM America (Krakauer 20).

Thoreau spent two years in the wild living off the land. Chris spent 114 days in the Alaskan wilderness. Each learning different things about themselves and developing different values and beliefs. Both Chris McCandless and Thoreau had many things that they did differently and in common with their treks into the wild. They both had similar reasons for leaving the wild, but they had different views on civilization and reasons for going into the wild.

Chris McCandless and Henry David Thoreau were two men who were willing to give up their entire lives and follow their Transcendentalist ideology. It didn’t matter that they lived in different time periods and had completely different histories, they both would abandon their lives in search of transcendentalist freedom.

Chris McCandless, Jon Krakauer, and Henry David Thoreau all relate to the thought of Transcendentalism. In the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and excerpts from Walden by Thoreau there is a strong relationship between Chris McCandless’s and Thoreau’s beliefs on Transcendentalism. Both McCandless and Thoreau relate to self-wisdom, individualism, and nature. Chris McCandless’s decisions in his life in the story Into the Wild by Krakauer reflect on the transcendental beliefs of Thoreau in Walden.

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

McCandless and Thoreau had no desire for money while growing up, and the way it

hatred of materialism. Both men disliked the idea of money and how it changes people.

To some, adventurers like Chris McCandless are young, idealistic, and resolute people with high moral standards. They want to take everything they can out of life, and they want to experience every facet of it. However, this isn’t a view everyone shares. To others, McCandless was an irrational kid with no experience who couldn’t handle his family issues. On the other hand, Henry David Thoreau is viewed as a calm, steady, and contemplative man with a dedicated love of nature. Chris McCandless and Henry David Thoreau share many similarities, but they also have defining differences. Chris was different from Thoreau because he was running from his past whereas Thoreau wanted to go to the woods, and Chris overestimated himself whereas Thoreau was more level-headed, but they were similar in that they both didn’t believe in material objects.

Henry David Thoreau was an American writer best known for his book “Walden”, this book was a representation of how simple living exists in natural settings and his essay “Civil Disobedience” in which he argued against an unjust state. These writings on the environment and philosophy were only a small contribution to his lasting legacy, his literary flair including much more of nature observations and philosophical severity. While reading more and deeper analyzing Civil Disobedience I couldn’t help but notice the similarities in the essay to what we are facing with today’s government.

Although both authors were unalike in some aspects, Birmingham, by Martin Luther King Jr., is grounded in the same principle philosophies as Henry David Thoreau’s essay civil disobedient. However this does not refute the fact that both are responsible for a vital impact in acquiring the freedom of African Americans. Thoreau, with the fugitive slaves in the 19th century through his strong reproach against slavery; Comparatively, King in leading non-violent demonstrations against the Jim Crows laws that segregated African Americans. Both conveyed a strong stance that there are some occasions in which it is essential to disobey a social law. Martin Luther King, Jr., in addition to Thoreau, articulate that when a civil law be found unjust one has

Where would we be today if our great leaders didn't go out and protest peacefully? Some of our great leaders going from Thoreau, to Martin Luther King Jr., to Gandhi, and many more leaders paving the way of our community, till this day, by there peaceful protesting. With problems in our society starting with Thoreau, and how he didn't believe in paying taxes for something he hated, for example slavery. This peaceful protest inspired future leaders like Gandhi and Luther, who also went out and peacefully protested for things they believed in. All these great leaders believed weren't afraid of getting put in jail for what they believed in because they believed that it would make a change by peacefully protesting.