Comparing The Works Of Chris Mccandless And The Hunger Artist

Hunger artists can be found all throughout history. Many of them sprouted at just the beginning of entertainment. They do disturbing things to create entertainment for others watching. Chris McCandless was a man who thought he was invincible. He wasn’t, he was just young and naive. He traveled many times out into the wilderness to survive with just a few things in the early 1990’s. Eventually his last trip lead to his death. In many ways you can compare McCandless to the Hunger Artist even though his intent wasn’t fame. He starved, influenced others, and had a need to be understood.

Chris McCandless supposedly did some research before he walked into the wilderness. The “research” actually consisted of going to the library and reading over

A large amount of young people will hear McCandless’s story and become inspired. They become inspired to leave their homes, families, jobs, and money to go out and experience the world with just the clothes on their back. They do this to attempt a journey of self discovery. He inspires people to do things just as he did. The results were death and yet his story still encourages people to do as he did. Why do people still try to do what he did when it ended in death? They still see his story as an influence. Maybe when reading parts of his journal they liked his ideas and wanted to do as he did. People see McCandless as a hero in some ways. They believe he taught society many things in discovering yourself. The Hunger Artist, even though he doesn’t always directly influence people, his story was the start to many more hunger artists such as himself. In the 18th and 19th century there were real Hunger Artists who would do exactly as the Hunger Artist in the story did. Not necessarily for entertainment but many of them popped up. Today things like Tightrope Walkers, Magicians, and Dare Devils. People doing disturbing things for show and entertainment. Some people will take videos of them doing dangerous and gross things to post them on the internet. Personally, it just reminds me of snuff films. Sometimes it may seem bizarre but to them, they’re doing what makes them happy. We might

His entire trip was a journey for him to find himself, and I think his bigger journey is when he left home and decided to travel and survive without giving notice to anyone. He felt misunderstood by his parents, and maybe he thought by leaving and surviving on his own that would somehow show them how he thinks and feels. He also had pent up feelings about his parents from the past that maybe he was trying to work through by leaving. Despite the fact that he dies, his ultimate goal was to convey some sort of art in fleeing with no money or job and attempting to survive on your own as a young adult. People hear his story and want to do what he did. Perhaps they want to experience what he did to see his way of thinking, and become closer with themselves. Or they see it as a way of dealing with issues inside themselves. When your only focus is survival it would definitely take your mind off more trivial things at home. The Hunger Artist also felt misunderstood by everyone around him. While everyone watched him sit and starve, he was actually depressed and felt alone in the world. He starved to show people his pain. It wasn’t all just for entertainment. He wanted people to know how he felt on the inside, it was kind of like a cry for help. The Hunger Artist wished for people to understand how he felt. He never got to feel that satisfaction

Therefore, Chris McCandless is similar to the Hunger Artist in many ways despite being so different.