Henry David Thoreau In Comparison To Chris McCandless

Our presentation is about Henry David Thoreau in comparison to Chris McCandless. Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, naturalist, surveyor and many other things. He was born on July 12 1817 in concord Massachusetts, He grew up with his brother whose early death left Thoreau feeling extremely traumatised. Until he was 28 he worked as a surveyor alongside his father making pencils. He was said to be someone who found joy in his daily life. But his real passion was for nature, he enjoyed nature very much and the freedom he felt when he was surrounded by it, much like Chris. He had very strong feelings against slavery. And very much opposed government from waging war. This is just one way of how he showed that he was all for the freedom of people. He lived alone in a cabin he built on his good friend Ralph Waldo Emerson’s land in Walden pond for 2 years. During this time he kept himself busy with lots of reading and writing. These two years in Walden pond were his inspiration for his famous book Named “Walden”. Walden is a book about simple living in natural surroundings. It is partly a declaration of personal independence. A quote from this book says “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” This quote shows a common interest in both Chris McCandless and Henry Thoreau as they are both uninterested in things that create lies in the world. Anything that complicates their simple living lifestyle is not important to them. Much of his work was read by Chris McCandless during the grand journey of personal freedom he took on as you’ve all seen in the movie Into the wild. The difference between the two men is that Henry went on his journey for the book, although he did have negative feeling toward society the real reason for his journey was because he felt the book would be better written if he was experiencing the lifestyle first hand. Rather than writing from research and what he though it was like not what he knew it was like. Chris took this journey as a get away from all the things he hated, society being a main one of them. Chris went to the extreme of burning his money and destroying his car, Henry was more prepared for his journey and survived it because he had it planned out and kept in mind the option of going home to his normal life. Chris decided things on the spot leaving him with many possible outcomes, leading to a horribly sad death.
How this relates to “Into The Wild”
Henry was a Transcendentalist which is basically known as the philosophical movement as a protest to the general state of culture and society. Many would consider Chris as one because of his actions during the end of his life. The way he hated society, burned his money after he ruined his car and went out into the Alaskan nature all by himself show that he is a true Transcendentalist. During Chris McCandless’s adventure, his main goal is to go to Alaska and live out in the wilderness by himself. Many Transcendentalists have done the same and have written about how nature can help teach people and help them gain ideas. In Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden”, there is a quote that 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.” In this quote, Henry talks about how he can learn from nature and how nature helps him truly live. Chris McCandless felt the exact same way for nature and thats why he wanted to go out into the wild, to live and to learn and to experience the feeling of what he believes is true freedom to himself. Chris McCandless was an admirer of Henry David Thoreau, and adopted many of the writers ideals in his own life. He sought simplicity in his own life and tried to live without adhering to material goods and societal norms. He and Henry both rejected the day-to-day world of society in favour of living in the woods alone and both sought the higher world of spirit. They also believed that people were meant to “find themselves” through deliberate solitude, and so took steps to live apart from others, even when they shared their ideas.