There are similarities between Chris McCandless and Henry David Thoreau, but there is also many differences. Chris and David’s thoughts on the following ideas are just some of the many similarities they have: transcendentalism, materialism, individualism, and nature. One difference between McCandless and Thoreau is that Thoreau studied and enjoyed technology, while McCandless did not. The two characters may have extensive similarities, but their differences characterize their personalities.
During the Transcendentalist movement, Henry David Thoreau was a leading transcendentalist whose work focused mainly on nature and adventure. Walden, or Life in the Woods is an exceptional example of a story based on adventure. In Thoreau’s account of his life at Walden pond, he first states, “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.” Through this quote Thoreau explains that he was tired of the complexity of normal life and desired to go on an adventure to live simply. Additionally, Thoreau states, “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…,” which again reveals his motivation for new life by adventure and simplicity.
First he says “we are determined to be starved before we are hungry.” This shows how people are focused on the future that they forget about the present. Then Thoreau mentions how a farmer has an ear out for the fire alarm to save as much of his farm in case of a fire instead of enjoying his farm. Another man is mentioned on how he takes 30 minute naps and when he wakes up or is awoken, he either sees the news or ask for the news after being awake. The news usually had something violet that happened.
Aside from writing, transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau spent a good amount of his life observing the environment around him. In the text, “Where I Lived and What I Lived For,” Thoreau describes the luxury of living isolated from obligations and responsibilities. He discusses his enjoyment of being able to live in peace without the disturbances of society and materialistic things. Thoreau’s use of pathos most effectively influences the audience through his extensive use of similes, imagery, and metaphors. Similes were a regular occurrence in “Where I Lived and What I Lived For.”
Kaitlyn Rodriguez Mr. Cedeño U.S. History F Block 12/7/14 Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau was an america author and naturalist and is considered to be one of the most influential figures in American history and literature.
Thoreau asserts slavery is a ¨gross¨ and immoral practice. His fear of not being divine and immortal allows him to dislike slavery. Therefore, Thoreau would support abolition as he believed owning slaves would compromise a man 's divinity, a great fear of his. Slavery also limits the spiritual growth of the enslaved individuals, thus opposing Thoreau 's belief all people should be exposed to spiritual advancements. It was also deemed frivolous by Thoreau.
By being in contact with the nature there is an ethereal feeling of knowing everything. The air you breathe is the purest of all; the sights you see are the goodness and freshness of the universe. In that moment the whole universe transpires to make that moment yours and you seem to move into a transcended stage of utter joy and serenity. Thoreau held deeply felt political views, opposing slavery and the Mexican-American War.
Walden is not only a critique of the past but also a reflection on what happens in the future, since nowadays, we live in an even more capitalist and materialist society than Thoreau did. The society we are living in today only cares about money, profit, goods… and the one who supposedly has the best life is the one that has got everything, from a big house with garden to the newest car. Thoreau is encouraging us readers to be satisfied with the simple things, to value every little detail that nature offers us, and to make the most out of every new day; as he himself perfectly stated in Walden, “Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour.” ; only we ourselves can judge how our life has gone by, if we have lived it at its fullest or if we have failed at
Two partakers, Henry David Thoreau and Chris McCandless sought out peace and calm, but in doing so exposed themselves to cruel elements and lonely isolation. Like McCandless, Thoreau longed to “live deliberately” and yearned for something more from life (Thoreau, line 24). Both Thoreau and McCandless were in search of serenity; desperate for enlightenment and an escape from modern society. After years in the wilderness, Thoreau decided to return to society, a decision similar to one made by McCandless. Embracing the wilderness and seclusion seemed to answer McCandless’s philosophical questions and he decided to conclude his odyssey.
Thoreau explains that the state and societies prison “never intentionally confronts a man’s sense, intellectual or moral, but only his body, his senses. It is not armed with superior wit or honesty, but with superior physical strength” and furthermore that he “was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion” (1990). Therefore, Resistance to Civil Government is validating that prison is confinement and conformity, however, Thoreau will not be conforming to any such conformist state and neither should the reader. Thoreau finally reinforces that he is “not responsible for the successful working of the machinery of society” and that “if a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so man” (1990), Thoreau is explicating that society needs to be responsible for its self and become self-reliant, just as an individual should be, because it is the nature of the world and society and if it cannot live as such then it will not continue
The Big Picture: Thoreau's Step Back From Society Viewed Alongside Society Today The proximity in which someone is from civilization can have a great influence on their thoughts and ideas about civilization and the nature that they live in. Henry David Thoreau spent a lot of his life moving around from the likes of New York City to Walden Pond; while squatting, as he referred to his stays in these places, he wrote some of his most interesting and notable works such as Civil Disobedience (1849) and Walden (1854). Noted as a transcendentalist, Thoreau was quite thoughtful of his surroundings as they gave great meaning to his life; the most meaningful of which was Walden Pond, an escape that overlooks Concord, Massachusetts, where he spent
After Thoreau’s graduation from Harvard College, David Henry Thoreau changed his name to Henry David Thoreau. The young man returned to his hometown of Concord, Massachusetts. In the year of 1837, America was in the midst of an economic depression. Many people did not have a job and the people with a job were scared of losing it. Being a Harvard graduate, as Thoreau was, opening the door to many opportunities and vast job titles.
It is easy to see how Thoreau was encapsulated by the simple mystique of the wilderness. Nevertheless, I sit motionless in a tree, a sleeping monster in my arms, waiting to tear through the soft spoken forest surrounding me. I am not saddened by the idea of disturbing the sanctuary because the thoughts filling the silence enshrouding me are instead
Thoreau used was analogies. These analogies helped him to create pictures in his audience's brains. One analogy he uses is "If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go... "(Civil 18) There are a few analogies in this sentence alone.
Through Walden, Thoreau’s introduced his ideas in relation to transcendentalism to public thought and discussion, leaving a continuous impression. He constantly challenged accepted norms and philosophical ideas within society. Many of Thoreau’s works, such as Walden and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, have been regarded as classic pieces
