The Influence of Henry David Thoreau's Philosophy in Jon Krakauer's Novel 'Into the Wild'

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 3,0, , language: English, abstract: The aim of this essay is to critically investigate Jon Krakauer's use of the philosopher Henry David Thoreau's ideas, principles, notions and beliefs with the purpose of characterizing 'Alexander Supertramp' in the book 'Into the Wild'. The thesis of this paper is that Jon Krakauer uses Thoreau´s perceptions and views on society, nature and wilderness to interpret Christopher McCandless's actions and to illustrate his motives. Krakauer thereby characterizes McCandless as a late 'Thoreauvian' transcendentalist. This essay will critically analyze Krakauer´s book and point out perceptions and ideas of Henry David Thoreau that Krakauer uses to illustrate and explain the protagonist`s actions according to his own perception. Differences and similarities between Thoreau and McCandless will also be discussed. The works cited by Thoreau will be his essay 'Civil Disobedience' (1849) and his book 'Walden' (1854).