Comparison of Huckleberry Finn and Chris McCandless
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain creates a story about a boy named Huckleberry Finn that tries to help a slave named Jim escape slavery. Huck fakes his death and runs away in fear of his abusive father. While hiding in nature, he stumbles upon a slave named Jim. Huck tries to help Jim escape slavery. Huck and Jim go through many adventures together developing many relationships along the way. This novel is considered one of the best American novels ever. In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer shares a story about a young man named Chris McCandless that comes from a wealthy family and hitchhiked around the West and eventually to Alaska. He walked alone into the wilderness. He donated all his money to charity and abandoned all his possessions, so that he could invent a new life for himself. Although Huck Finn and Chris McCandless have similarities, they are more different. Their main differences include loneliness, family background, and relationships.
Loneliness is a strong feeling that people either enjoy or hate. Loneliness is a recurring theme in both novels. Both Chris and Huck are put in numerous situations where they are alone. Mark Twain portrays Huck in many solitary situations where Huck’s conscious constantly bothers him. Huck obviously hates to be in solitude where his own thoughts are in control. For example, as Huck is sitting in his room trying to go to sleep, Twain writers, “Then I set down in a chair by the window and tried to think of something cheerful, but it warn’t no use. I felt so lonesome I most wished I was dead” (Twain 15). This quote shows how Huck Finn hates solitude so much that he would rather be dead. McCandless is the exact opposite to Huck when it comes to loneliness. Krakauer portrays McCandless as a type of person that enjoys being alone. Chris spent numerous hours alone especially in nature. He enjoyed living a solitary life where he could just think to himself. For example, Chris McCandless entered the Alaskan wilderness and found an abandoned bus. McCandless scrawled on a piece of plywood, “And now after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure. The climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution” (Krakauer 163). He is obviously thrilled to walk alone in the wilderness where he will be in solitude for a long time. The characters have two opposite reactions to loneliness.
Family shapes people into who they are. Family is always there for the happiest and darkest times. Huck and Chris come from two different family backgrounds. Huck is born into poverty and is brought up by an abusive father. Pap, Huck’s father, is an alcoholic that abuses Huck constantly when he is intoxicated. Twain never mentions anything about Huck having a mother. In the novel, Huck goes to his room in Miss Watson’s house when he finds his Pap in his room and he thinks, “Then I turned around, and there he was. I used to be scared of him all the time, he tanned me so much” (Twain 31). This quote explains how Huck is to the point where he is scared when he is in his father’s presence because he abuses him so much. The lack of having loving parents and good role models shapes Huck by him not having any morals and not knowing what is right from wrong. This aspect also leads to Huck developing relationships with strangers like the “King” and the “Duke”. McCandless comes from a very different family background. Chris was born into a well-to-do family. Walt, Chris’s father, was a successful antenna specialist that worked for NASA. Eventually, Walt created his own business that he ran from home. Billie, Chris’s mother, helped Walt out with the business at home. Walt and Billie fought frequently and contemplated divorce at times. This fighting may have contributed to him abandoning his family. Also, McCandless had a sister named Carine who he loved dearly. Carine consoled Chris when he became frustrated with his parents. During his childhood, McCandless was able to have support and a caring family. Although, the parents had their problems they still had compassion for their son. Chris and Huck come from different family backgrounds by one coming from riches and the other poverty.
Developing relationships is a part of life. People are forming, improving, or ruining relationships every day. There are different kinds of relationships like love, friendships, family, etc. Huck and Chris view the value of relationships differently. Huck develops many relationships with strangers throughout the novel. For example, he makes friends with the Grangerfords, the “Duke”, and the “King”. Huck seems to value companionship throughout the novel. Huck and Jim, the slave, have a strong friendship. In many situations throughout the novel, Huck has a choice whether to turn Jim in or not because he is a runaway slave. The sympathy and compassion that Huck has for Jim is strong considering the circumstances he is in. Huck comes back to the wigwam from the village when he notices that Jim is gone. He realizes that the “King” sold Jim back to slavery when Huck thinks, “...because they could have the heart to serve Jim such a trick as that, and make him a slave again all his life, and amongst strangers, too, for forty dirty dollars” (Twain 203). Huck obviously cared for Jim a lot even though Jim was black or even a slave. Chris had a very different view on the value of relationships. When Chris left home he was nomadic. He did not stay in the same spot for very long. Traveling around the West frequently, he avoided developing relationships with people. When Chris was living near Oh-My-God Hot Springs, he became friends with an old man named Ronald Franz. Franz became emotionally attached to McCandless. He liked Chris so much that he offered to adopt him. Chris decided to leave soon because he didn’t want to become close with this man. Krakauer writes, “"McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well—relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it” (Krakauer 55). McCandless feared human intimacy and disliked relationships with other people. Their views are on relationships could not be more different.
These characters may be similar, but their differences are more important. Their main differences include loneliness, family background, and relationships. They differ in loneliness because Chris enjoys solitude while Huck hates it so much that he considers suicide. Family background is another one of their differences because Huck comes from poverty while Chris comes from a wealthy family. Finally their views on relationships are different. Huck enjoys companionship and develops relationships with random people while Chris avoids relationships altogether. Twain and Krakauer wrote about two characters that differ a lot.