Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, and philosopher best known for living a simple life, Similar to Chris McCandless who also wanted to live a simple life off the land. Thoreau goes to Walden to build a cabin and begin his 2 year experiment of isolation. During his 2 years of isolation Thoreau does a lot of reading and writing. Chris McCandless and Thoreau both shared Opinions on materialism, Journey, and what led to Thoreau's fame and Chris's decline.
Both McCandless and Thoreau disliked materialism believing the idea of money changes how people think. McCandless went far enough to burn his money and donate $24,000 to charity so money won’t control how he thought, McCandless said “He saw the flash flood as an opportunity to shed…show more content… Chris took much greater risk than Thoreau, Chris deliberately placed himself in an environment where no one can save him if something horrible occurred while Thoreau was walking distance away from a town. Thoreau states in Walden “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 143) In this line Thoreau talks about how he wants to be taught by nature. Chris McCandless went to Alaska with minimal equipment and was extremely unprepared, no camping equipment, weak rifle, and no map. Thoreau advocated simple living but not foolish into certain death. What was Thoreau and McCandless reasoning behind this journey? Thoreau said in Walden, “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, 143). Chris reasoning was to get a break of reality the idea of living off the land, independence of a simple life and doing something very few people have ever done brought excitement to Chris, the excitement just like a
