Henry David Thoreau And Chris Mccandless Comparison

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Henry David Thoreau and Chris McCandless shared many of the same minimalistic ideals in life. They both preach about how people should live simply, about how society is horrible, and how technology is ruining people. They both try and make good points, but they just appear as hypocritical. Thoreau and McCandless both preached their ideas religiously but never follow their own teaching; in turn, making it hard for other people to take them seriously in what they were saying. Chris McCandless ignored society’s unkind attributes and he tried to find happiness within himself and nature. He turned to the ideas that Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal Walden but more specifically the section called Why I Went to the Woods. Although Chris …show more content…
Chris says, “No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild.” (Into the wild) Although Chris did leave and live in the woods for six months, he still used society throughout most of his time as Alexander Supertramp. He used society to his advantage and saying that society is horrible is hypocritical. If Mr. Franz did not give him the hunting gear and the gear to help him in the woods, Chris would have been dead before he made it halfway into the Alaskan terrain. Wayne helped Chris by giving him a job and having his buddy help Chris learn how to hunt. Chris goes on multiple rants about how society is horrible because it uses people. “I do not understand why every fucking person is so bad to each other so fucking often. It does not make sense to me. Judgment, control, all that, the whole spectrum.” (Into the Wild) Every person he met on his journey, he used them to his advantage in some way. Mr. Franz even offered to adopt him, as a grandson. He wanted carry Chris to carry on the family name and all Chris said was “We can talk about it when we get back.” (Into the Wild) He used Mr. Franz, in the same way, he said he hated the way society used people. Mr. Franz had no one besides Chris and he could not guarantee that Chris would come back alive. Thoreau goes along with idea when he
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