Finding the Meaning of Life: Thoreau's Walden and Krakauer's Into the Wild
Summary:
Both Henry David Thoreau's Walden and Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild speak of entering a solitary existence in order to find the true meaning of life. Thoreau wrote about his stay at Walden Pond, while Krakauer related the true story of Chris McCandless' journey into the wilds of Alaska. Despite the similarities in purpose shared by both Thoreau and McCandless, their different approaches in pursuit of the solitary life would later determine their very separate fates.
At some point in life, there will come a time where one will feel a sudden urge to get away from the average everyday world. A sudden change in the wind could push one to an extreme: the extreme to leave life behind for a period of time to figure out the meaning behind everything. In Henry David Thoreau's Walden Pond, Thoreau writes about a time where he left his life behind to find further meaning. In Jon Krakauer's Into The Wild, Krakauer writes about Chris McCandless' true story when he left his life behind to find further meaning. The two characters were alike and different in their journeys. This is shown through nature, materialism, independence, simplicity, assistance, approach, preparation, and ultimate fate.
One similarity between Thoreau and McCandless is their love for nature. Both places of solitude were out in nature among the animals. Thoreau lived at Walden Pond while McCandless ventured to Northern Alaska. They enjoyed, cherished, and loved nature so much that they both chose nature for solitude. Another similarity between the two is the hate for materialism. Thoreau comments on the railroad by explaining that some people have the money to ride the trains, while others are misfortunate enough to labor over the railways. By stating this he talks of prosperity being achieved by hurting others. Thoreau hates materialism due to the fact that many people with money believe they must buy everything that is unnecessary. Thoreau did not believe in wasting anything. McCandless despised his parent's way of life due to their materialistic views. McCandless turned down a new, free car that his parents offered him because he already had a perfectly good, running car. Two similarities between Thoreau and McCandless are their love for nature and hatred of materialism.
A third similarity between Thoreau and McCandless is their own personal independence. Thoreau declared his own independence when he moved into Walden Pond on July 4th. After moving in, he fended for himself for everything that he needed for survival. Thoreau strongly believed in accomplishing things for himself. He felt that one should be able to support oneself and survive. McCandless achieved his own independence upon his departure from college. After graduation, he spent two years traveling the west alone. He moved from state to state supporting himself and being independent. In Alaska for over three months he shot and cooked his own food as well as doing other things to ensure survival. Thoreau and McCandless both contained personal independence. A final similarity between Thoreau and McCandless is that they both went on a journey to find truth while living a simple life. Thoreau went to his cabin to live by himself and sort out his life. At the cabin he lived life very simply as per his beliefs. He talks about simplicity and not wasting things life has given to him. McCandless went to Alaska and lived a simple life while he lived off the land. During his time he hunted and picked berries. He kept life very simple and sorted out his life. Two similarities between Thoreau and McCandless are personal independence and simplicity.
One difference between Thoreau and McCandless is their ways of life in the wild. Thoreau built his cabin at Walden Pond. With the helping hands of others, he was able to build a stable place to stay while one his journey. McCandless lived in an old, abandoned bus that he stumbled upon. McCandless spent his time in a very unstable place due to the fact that he did not want any help from anyone. Thoreau accepted the help of other in order to ensure stability while McCandless did not. A second difference between Thoreau and McCandless is their approach. Although both trips were taken for self-discovery, each man had a different way of going about it. Thoreau was open and upfront with everyone about what his intentions were by breaking away from society. He had very limited contact with the outside world. McCandless did not tell anyone what he was really up to and he lied to his family. He spent two years of his life among strangers until he finally broke away from society when he went to Alaska. Thoreau made everyone aware about what he was doing, while McCandless did not. Two differences between Thoreau and McCandless are their ways of life and their approach.
A third difference between Thoreau and McCandless is their preparation. Thoreau was mechanically inclined and made certain that he had in his possession all the necessary items needed to survive alone. McCandless went on to abandon all items that he needed to survive such as his car and articles of clothing that were given to him. He needed these items for his journey, yet he abandoned them anyway, making him unprepared for his journey. A final difference between Thoreau and McCandless is the ultimate fate of their journeys. Along with having a plan, Thoreau contained caution and skill. He came out of his journey with a new outlook on life due to his self-discovery. Most importantly, Thoreau walked out of his journey alive and wrote a book about his experience. McCandless contained immaturity, impatience, and stubbornness. He ended up dieing. He was not able to come out with a new outlook on life or write a book. His new outlook on life was in the grave. Two differences between Thoreau and McCandless were their preparation and their ultimate fate.
Through nature, materialism, independence, simplicity, assistance, approach, preparation, and ultimate fate, Henry David Thoreau and Chris McCandless were alike and different in their journeys. The two were alike in their love for nature, hatred for materialism, personal independence, and simplicity. The two were different in their assistance used, approach, preparation, and ultimate fate. The two went on their own journeys in order to find a deeper meaning in life and to find themselves. Each lived in solitude for an extensive amount of time to sort through each of their individual thoughts. At times solitude is a necessary aspect of life. The goal to this solitude is to come out with a new outlook on life. Once going into solitude, one should always find a way to make it out alive. A different outlook on life should be seen from eyes of a living human, not a dead one.
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