Many people have theories and philosophies about life in general. There have been countless books published by countless people about the ideas of people past and present. Transcendentalism fits into a sector of all these ideas. Transcendentalism has touched many people since the introduction of this philosophy. Henry Thoreau is a name always associated with transcendentalism through one of his famous novels, Walden. John Krakauer is able to explain how transcendentalism affected Chris McCandless in the novel Into The Wild. McCandless's life is comparable to Thoreau's in many ways, especially in terms of his motivations, but the lives of McCandless and Thoreau are very different in ways such as why they traveled and what they did. Both Thoreau and McCandless were against materialism. Thoreau believes that “most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only indispensable, but are rather positive obstacles to the elevation of humanity” (Thoreau, Walden 28). He believes that addiction to material goods hides a chance to find one's true self. McCandless had a similar mentality and acted on that belief. An example of this is when “…he saw the flash flood as an opportunity to shed unnecessary baggage. He hid the car as best he could under a brown tarp, stripped it of its Virginia license plates and hid them” (Krakauer 29). McCandless wasn't tied to his own possessions, he was happy to leave them in the middle of nowhere. Through the reduction of material possessions and materials, the message that McCandless and Thoreau send to readers is to have a simplistic life without the concerns that come from material possessions. These possessions distract us from the true meaning of life. Both Thoreau and McCandless deeply appreciated solitude in nature. In Walden, Thoreau explains how he “would like to see nature so rich in life that myriads could be sacrificed and left to prey upon one another; that tender organizations can be so calmly crushed. » (Thoreau, Walden 238). While being on his “adventure,” Thoreau was able to observe all the little things in nature and appreciate all the little things. In civilization one would not be able to notice such things because there are far too many people around to notice. During his journey, McCandless "is no longer.