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.
The extensive similarities include the ideas of transcendentalism, materialism, individualism and nature. “ Thoreau expressed his belief in the power and, indeed, the obligation of the individual to determine right from wrong, independent of the dictates
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“Thoreau was first and foremost an explorer, of both the world around him and the world within him” (The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau). From the evidence in the book, I would say that this statement is also true about Chris McCandless. Chris explores the world around him but
Chris also explores himself, when everyone was telling him to go to law school he knew himself good enough to know that exploring the country was the better option. Their view on individualism is similar, they both think that it is very important. Materialism was also a big thing for both Chris and Henry David. Thoreau believed that ownership of material items is more of an obstacle than an advantage. Chris thought the same thing, for instance, Chris abandoned his
Mikrut 2 car when he could not get it running, this showed that the car did not mean much to him. Chris also burned all this money which separated him from society in many ways. This similarities are only a few that summarize these two men.
These two men have only a few differences. Though it is not much, the difference between the two defines their character. The biggest difference would be tecnology. Thoreau was an inventor and an engineer of all sorts, and he was fascinated by technology (The