Chris Mccandless Personality

Self-reliance is the freedom of being independent. One only relies on oneself and doesn’t look for help or for anyone to save them. One is perfectly content with being solely reliant. Three people who believed greatly in self-reliance were Chris McCandless, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. They had many different beliefs and along with acting out in civil disobedience, acting in nonconformity, thinking nature was most important, and being a transcendentalist, they was also self reliant. McCandless, Emerson, and Thoreau were all people who believed strongly in self-reliance.

Thoreau's Civil Disobedience talks about politics, government and the issues concerning these areas today. "Government is best which governs least." This motto means that the government should not have complete power over the people. The people's opinion is what matters the most. Individualism is stressed throughout his writing. To stand up for what you believe in and not bend backwards for the government is necessary. He speaks of Slavery and the war in Mexico and how is must be put to a stop. The people are responsible for this happening. Many people opposed these things yet did nothing to change it. Allowing yourself to be a part of injustice makes you a part of the negativity. Paying taxes to a corrupt government makes you

Followers of the Transcendentalist movement stressed the religious, philosophical and ideological importance of life. Henry David Thoreau was a staunch supporter of the movement. Thoreau felt that a person lived a good life by following his conscience and instincts. He also felt that materialism was a sure way to distract a person from leading a good and moral life. Thoreau proposed for the government to be involved in as little of a citizen's life as possible; he felt too much government control just complicated a person's life. Like most Transcendentalists, Thoreau believed there was a direct connection to God through nature. If a person appreciated nature he would gain a higher understanding of God. Finally, Thoreau encouraged

He did not want all of the material things such as trains and other technology. He had said that materialism had a negative effect because he had said it ruined our life experience. He wanted a simpler life and did not remove himself completely from society compared to McCandless. The one thing that's in common with both of these men in the category is that they both went into the woods for self-discovery. But Thoreau stayed for 2 years while McCandless stayed out there for a couple months.

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

Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, central figures of Transcendentalism, expressed their beliefs through works such as “American Scholar” and “Into the Woods” in the nineteenth century. They believed that one must be in simplicity, solitude, and away from technology to appreciate the beauty of nature, which is essential for a better spiritual understanding of oneself. Transcendentalism, which focuses on spiritual interactions with nature, is relevant in today’s hectic life with temptations of materialistic goods and burdens of technology. The retreat that Webb offers every year is a good example of how Transcendentalism shapes students to have spiritual richness and mental strength. On retreats, students go off campus with bare necessities for three days to camp sites in nature to reflect and appreciate the beauty of the outdoors. Viewed through the lens of Transcendentalism, retreats allow students to prepare for a new and busy school year to come by helping them to realize their own goals, to get rid of distractions of technology, to get inspired by nature for a better understanding of themselves, and to enjoy a moment of solitude to truly reflect on the deeper meanings of life.

     Henry David Thoreau was man of simplicity, and if he were to experience life in Cary, he would not only be surprised, but disappointed in humanity itself. Thoreau believed in the necessities of life, nothing more, and the people of Cary live lives exactly the opposite. Cary residents live lives of material possessions, business, and over-complexity. These traits of society are precisely opposite of Thoreau’s

For Thoreau, the escape from society was a way to deeply learn about himself and human nature. He writes, “Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself” (Thoreau 72). This simple way of life allowed Thoreau to analyze himself and tendencies within society. He explains the effects of this solitary life on a person: “In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness” (253). Thoreau was able to discover flaws in society. He states, “... men establish and conform their daily life of routine and habit every where, which still is built on purely illusory foundations” (78). Unlike Hester and Sethe, the societal norms Thoreau experiences are not painful punishments or dehumanizing treatment. However, the “opinion, and prejudice, and tradition, and delusion, and appearance, that alluvion which covers the globe … through poetry, philosophy and religion” (80), can still have a profound and often negative effect on individuals and society as a whole. Thoreau is able to overcome these societal norms because he separates himself from them. Thoreau explains of humankind, “When we are unhurried and wise, we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence,-that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the

Henry David Thoreau was in a movement called Transcendentalism during the 1800’s. They strongly believed in individualism and self-reliance. In Walden he constantly talks about the benefits of having a simpler life. To have a simpler life you would have to get rid of “luxury” goods, which is anything that is

Years after my first encounter with Thoreau, when I was deeply troubled by the course my life was taking, I went back to Walden once more. On the last page I read this passage:

Chris McCandless hated the idea of materialism. He didn’t accept gifts from anyone including his parents. This is shown when his parents wanted to buy him a car and he got mad at them. He wanted to work hard for what he earned. He did not believe that possessions could give him happiness. Even on the way to the woods, he did not accept things like clothing and unnecessary items from other people. Before he left on his journey he donated most of his money to charity and burned the rest. He also threw away his I.D. and credit card.

Henry Thoreau and Chris McCandless seem very similar. At a first glance when you hear their stories they sound pretty much like the same people in different time periods. Both left normal lives to live off the land and both loved that lifestyle to death. Chris even took inspiration from thoreau and took his book, Walden, into the Alaskan bush with him. However, McCandless and Thoreau are very different in their desire to move, social interactions, and their spiritual journeys.

Thoreau galvanizes his reader into living self-dependently and being their own individual. A few ways of living with Thoreau’s virtues are to dabble with your life, and live without

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately…to suck the marrow out of life…and not when I came to die, discover that I have not lived.” Thoreau, Walden. Thoreau was not just a radical yet respected thinker for his time, but now as well. Thoreau has a very important lesson and idea to teach through the workings of a pen. Thoreau’s works have greatly influenced our culture for over a hundred years. Thoreau’s ideas have definitely influenced contemporary ideas, but we have also developed our own separate ideas in the past century and a half.

In Walden, Henry D. Thoreau presented a radical and controversial perspective on society that was far beyond its time. In a period where growth both economically and territorially was seen as necessary for the development of a premature country, Thoreau felt the opposite. Thoreau was a man in search of growth within himself and was not concerned with outward improvements in him or society. In the chapter entitled "economy," he argued that people were too occupied with work to truly appreciate what life has to offer. He felt the root of this obsession with work was created through the misconstrued perception that material needs were a necessity, rather than a hindrance to true happiness and the