Similarities Between Chandless And Chris Mccandless

Henry David Thoreau once said, “Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.” It almost seems as Thoreau said this just to inspire Chris McCandless himself. Chris and Henry both lived off the land and loved to read books. Chris and Henry also lived in different places in the woods. Henry was a transcendentalist, whereas Chris was not. Chris McCandless and Henry David Thoreau were two very similar, yet very different men. Thoreau and McCandless both went into nature to experience what living off the land would be like. Chris McCandless once wrote in a letter to Ron Franz, “The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun” (Krakauer 57). Chris believed that in order for someone to be truly happy, they

For example, Henry built himself a cabin to live in while in the woods (“Walden”). However, McCandless lived in a bus he found while he was in Alaska (Krakauer 12). McCandless and Thoreau’s place of shelter and place of living were different. Chris lived in Alaska during his adventure, whereas Henry lived in Walden Pond. It is also believed that Chris was very unprepared when he went into the wilderness, whereas Henry was so prepared he had supplies to build a cabin (“Henry David Thoreau”). Henry was also a transcendentalist (“Henry David Thoreau). A transcendentalist is a person who believes in individuality and self-reliance. Henry’s adventure in the woods can also be related to his transcendentalistic views. However, it was never stated that Chris was a transcendentalist, so one must believe he chose to live in the wilderness due to his lust for adventure. Although the differences between the two were not very significant, the differences did separate the