Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Jon Krakauer’s Into The...

Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Jon Krakauer’s Into The Wild, and Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man all tell the stories of a real-life character that makes the decision to venture out into the wilderness on his own. On one hand, Chris McCandless (Into The Wild), Timothy Treadwell (Grizzly Man), and Thoreau are similar in several ways. All three men record some kind of documentation about their journey; McCandless and Thoreau keep journals while Treadwell keeps a video log. Also, all three forced themselves to really live off the land using only the bare minimum of essentials. On the other hand, the men had several differences. In two of the stories, Into The Wild and Grizzly Man, the main character perishes as a result of his choice to live this†¦show more content†¦Having graduated high school and college, McCandless viewed the world as too materialistic and gave no importance to titles and honors. In addition to this, he felt quite distanced from his parents, especially his father. He wanted to prove to his family and to himself that he could be someone and do something significant; taking a trip into the wild was the best way he knew how. McCandless made a choice that ultimately led to his death in Alaska. Unlike Treadwell, he was not forced into the woods by his wants and needs. Had he chosen one of his many other options, he would almost certainly be better off. Because he was unhappy with society and its culture, McCandless might have tried moving abroad. Other continents have vastly different cultures than the United States and he may have appreciated a change in culture and scenery. Moving and succeeding in a new place would also demonstrate to everyone his ability to do something significant on his own. Instead of going on a reckless trip into Alaska fatally unprepared, McCandless could have saved his own life by considering and choosing another option. He could have accomplished everything he wanted to by just slightly altering a traditional life and avoiding drastic measures. Henry David Thoreau had more options than Timothy Treadwell, but not quite as many as Chris McCandless. Also, Thoreau’s reasons for going into the wild had less support than both Treadwell’s and McCandless’s. At some point, Thoreau