Compare And Contrast Thoreau And Chris Mccandless

Continuously, Thoreau also wanted to flee society, but for different reasons than McCandless. Thoreau wanted to flee society because he believed that life moved too quickly and he wanted to try and find the true meaning of life. To begin, nature was the best setting for him to do this because he did not have to follow society's fast-paced life, which he believed allowed for no time to appreciate and find the meaning of life. Detached from society and in nature, he can set his own, slower pace and therefore spend more time pondering and appreciating life. To begin, Moreover, Thoreau believes that society moves too quickly, and while part of civilization he could not appreciate life. This is shown when Thoreau explains we are forced to keep up with the pace of a society that has telegraphs and cars that move at 30 miles an hour (which was very fast for the time), that doesn’t allow us time to slow down (Thoreau 60). Attempting to keep up with the fast-paced society is so preoccupying that we end each day with no time to truly understand and appreciate life. Leading into my next claim, Thoreau wanted to flee society to find the true meaning of life. This is shown in the quote, “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). Something that living in the woods taught Thoreau is how similar some animals are to humans. An example of this is when Thoreau observes the red and black ants during their battle. Thoreau compares the ants and the humans when he says that there is no war in American history that had the number of soldiers as the red and black ants, and also no war where the troops were as patriotic and courageous (Thoreau 149). Thoreau didn’t want to be dying and have not figured out the meaning of life, and by going into the woods, he felt as though he learned some things without being bogged down by distractions, such as the materialistic items and the company of others.

Ultimately, this point was never fully proven, for he didn’t make it out alive. McCandless seemed to think he could never ask for help, that he had to do everything all on his own. He established his independence all throughout his life, but his voyage to Alaska was what did him in. Despite his tragic end and the extremist standpoint of his view on self-rule, McCandless’s views of self-reliance and independence from others were additionally shared by Thoreau.

In “Walden”, Thoreau talks about his experience living at Walden pond for what he said was two years, two months and two days where he for the most part, isolated himself from civilization and supported himself with the help of no one else.

Gordon Orains states that, “Throughout human history, people have pondered their relationship to the living and nonliving components of the environments in which they have lived” (2). Both Henry Thoreau and Chris McCandless, took a deep dive into the way they both prosper throughout the nature they choose to live in. Disconnecting from the modern world and reuniting

In Ticknor 2). Some people are too afraid to change how they’re living, even when they don’t like it, they don’t like being confined. Especially, for a man or boy, they’re the ones that generally are more adventurous and bold, keeping people confined or secured doesn’t bring out their inner self and who they are. He even says in his journal he was keeping: “He was right in saying that the only certain happiness in life is to live for others…I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet, secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them” (Qtd. In Ticknor 3). Which is him saying that leaving his home and going into the wild to be independent, he did find himself along with finding happiness. It also says: “Thoreau’s teaches us about the importance of having a vision, of believing in truth, whatever we call that truth, and of seeing our existence as the exploration of multiple possibilities” (Qtd. In Thoreau 4) which is probably where McCandless acquired his idea of going into the wild to find himself, arise from. McCandless knew there were multiple possibilities as well as different things to do in life, he was

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.

“Wilderness appealed to those bored or disgusted with man and his works” (Roderick Nash). Chris McCandless, a modern transcendentalist, sent out on an adventure to find his true self in the wilderness of the North American continent. In the two years he was away, he met many individuals he called his friends and explored the extent of the American West. However, Chris was found dead in an abandoned bus on the Stampede Trail in the deep wilderness of Alaska in early September 1992. Chris believed he could live his life without the disruption of others. Henry David Thoreau believed that individuals can strive for themselves without government interruption. Chris McCandless, in Jon Krakauer’s documentary Into the Wild, believes that living off the land and life to its fullest without help from others compares to Henry David Thoreau’s beliefs in his writing “Civil Disobedience.”

Chris McCandless had heartily believed in Emerson and Thoreau’s opinions on the corruption of society, and was inspired

“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” – Henry David Thoreau. This sentiment expressed by Thoreau back in the 19th century was echoed 150 years later by Chris McCandless as he starved to death in the remoteness of Alaska. Chris McCandless plunged headfirst and alone into the wilderness of Alaska pursuing this ideal. McCandless’s journey was inspired heavily by Henry David Thoreau, who is a counterculture icon. Despite McCandless’s hubris and recklessness, he remains a transcendentalist hero, worthy of admiration, because of his unrelenting devotion to the transcendental values of honesty with one’s self, originality, and self-sufficiency.

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson. This is an example transcendentalism and shows how Chris McCandless and Henry David Thoreau may have thought. Despite their similarities, Thoreau’s transcendentalist view is different from Chris McCandless from Jon Krakauer Into the Wild. Chris McCandless from ITW viewed the wilderness as an escape from society and family whereas Thoreau in “CD” believed government should not get too involved and keep away from people lives.

The authors Lydia Huntley Sigourney, and Henry David Thoreau, both demonstrate similarities and differences in their works. While comparing both essays, it is evident that both authors share similar views on environmental issues, and at the same time demonstrate great emotional journeys in their works. The extraordinary beauty of nature appears frequently in both pieces. Both authors focus their personal experiences, however, within different subject matters. The way in which the authors express their beliefs and feelings is demonstrated through personal life endeavors. It is apparent that the authors are expressing their perception of the atrocities committed to the environment by humans.

In mesmerism, Franz Anton Mesmer, a doctor creates this new way of medicine to make people becomes well again physically and spiritually. Drawing from the doctor, Henry Thoreau creates his own way of helping people out with their own ways of feeling well again through fulling a purpose, which is living a good life. In both doctrines, they both used certain tools to help people. Mesmer used magnets at first to cure people with magnets. Then, he used animal magnetism (himself) to heal people from any illnesses that they have.

Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement that occurred in America after the Enlightenment and before the Civil War. Transcendental authors support closeness with nature while at the same time reject dominant society. This is true in comparing literary works of the two authors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Many Transcendental authors use literature to express personal feelings towards nature. This is clear in both Emerson’s and Thoreau’s work, whereas both authors express positivity towards nature.

Hira Baig Mr. Beal English III AP 5 5 February 2010 Thoreau’s Influence on Modern Social Movements Henry David Thoreau’s concept of civil disobedience had a noteworthy amount of impact on Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. and therefore motivated the work they did in their respective social movements. Before analysis can be done to determine Thoreau’s importance to Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., an adequate understanding of Thoreau’s concept of civil disobedience is necessary. According to Thoreau, civil disobedience or passive resistance is, in essence, the practice of deliberately disobeying a law a person believes is unjust. The catch is, however, that the person who practices civil disobedience must oblige

Thoreau was a die hard individualist who consciously strove to stand apart from the crowd. Thoreau’s individualism was a way of life more than it was a political outlook. His ideas on individualism have had a lasting influence on humanity, but as for Thoreau himself the way he lived his own life was more important than the manner in which he influenced the world. Thoreau developed a philosophy around his own way of living. It was in pursuit of this philosophy of life that he went to live in a secluded cabin for two years, and to make a stand in defence of individual conscience by refusing to pay taxes. He believed that if he paid his tax he would be actively supporting negro slavery and the conduct of the Mexican war. The quote by Thoreau,