Into The Wild Chris Mccandless Comparison

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Henry David Thoreau and Chris McCandless shared many of the same conservative 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 followed their own teaching; in turn, making it hard for other people to take the statements they were making seriously. 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 had the right ideas, he took many of them to the extreme. Both Thoreau and McCandless talk about how the world should live simply. Thoreau says “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on a thumbnail.” (Thoreau, 579) In the movie Into the Wild, Chris makes it his duty to let everyone know that he is okay with the bare minimum. His parents offer to buy him a car for graduation and Chris makes a big deal about how he does not need nice things in the middle of the restaurant. He makes it seem as though he almost feels superior to his family because he does not rely on the fancier things in life. Chris keeps the car to make his parents mad because he knows they think it reflects badly on …show more content…
One is enough. If you are acquainted with the principle, what do you need care for myriad instances and applications? (Thoreau,