Throughout their whole lives people strive to stand out, to get noticed or to be different than others in hopes to find fame, fortune or success. However, it’s questionable whether its worth knowingly risking their lives. In Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, people are willing to risk their lives to feel a sense of accomplishment. Every person, whether it is an average person, a skilled guide journalist or producer, strives for their own definition of success.
Into Thin Air has many characters easily classifiable as average people . As it is rare for someone to attempt Everest without experience, these characters have various climbing experience though not as extensive as guides or professional mountaineers. One that comes to mind is Doug Hansen,
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Instead of risking their lives for their own glory, they do it to help others reach the summit and for the benefits that follow. Besides a natural love for climbing mountains, finances push them to attempt these expeditions over and over. There are reasons guides like Andy Hall feel high pressure to succeed and as Krakauer explains,, “he was savvy enough to understand that the more attention he got from the news media, the easier it would be to coax corporations to open their checkbooks” (32). Hall uses his media attention to fund trips to Mt. Everest and would do whatever it took to help an important climber reach the top and which is essentially where he finds his sense of accomplishment and media attention. Guides like Scott Fischer have to make a name for themselves first, and initially might do so unsafely. Don Peterson speaks of Fischer with awe, proclaiming, “It didn’t matter how much pain he was in- he would ignore it and keep going,” referring to Scott Fischers six months of traveling with “an open suppurating wound” (63). It is possible that with such desperation to succeed and be well known as a climber, guides would risk their lives by ignoring injuries and health. Its evident that even the most skilled still face challenges but continue to pursue a dangerous lifestyle for
One of the most important qualities that an elite climber must have is leadership. The elite climbers and guides must be able to meet a number of new people that are strangers to each other and build some sense of a team. Krakauer does not have a strong background in leading groups or building comradery, which is key for a climb like Everest. Krakauer says himself, “In climbing, having confidence in your partners is no small concern” (40). He also mentions how the actions of one climber can “affect the welfare of the entire team” (40). The type of group he climbed with on
Mount Everest is 29,092 feet tall. Imagine climbing this mountain with little to no experience. Would you survive? In the nonfiction novel Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer and his recruited crews try climbing this mountain. With many deaths along the way to the top, readers are quick to blame characters in the book. However, character stands out from the rest: Krakauer. In the book Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer is the most responsible for the other character’s deaths because he recruited and dragged along inexperienced mountain climbers, pushed them harder than they should’ve been pushed, and watched them suffer.
The book Into Thin Air written by Jon Krakauer, is about a man climbing the highest mountain, Everest. This is the first person view of the deadly Everest disaster. This non-fiction book shows the condition of how bad the conditions are in Everest and how hard it is to climb and survive. Jon Krakauer shows the amazing and dark side of Everest and how it swallows human life. He shows how hard it is to climb Everest and shows that it’s no walk in the park.
Have you ever wanted to climb Mount Everest and be able to say you accomplished a task that many others do not even get an opportunity to attempt? Well you could be guided up the mountain by some very experienced people for the small price of only around seventy thousand dollars. Although if I were you I would make sure I am in the right shape and condition to attempt to climb the mountain. In the book Into Thin Air written by Jon Krakauer were Jon Krakauer is the main character and narrator, a few groups of people attempt to scale the mountain and make it back alive. Many people in the groups end up dying because the greed the group leaders and Nepal had, they would let anyone attempt to scale the mountain despite any physical restrictions a person might have and some individuals would attempt to continue on the journey although they might have an injury or sickness
“Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices”~Alfred A. Montapert. The choices made throughout Into Thin Air, were decisions that affected Jon Krakauer’s and others lives.
Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air has many people making life-or-death decisions in a matter of minutes. In the midst of a disaster, many people will make decisions that are illogical.
The expedition guides show arrogance and pride while trying to climb Mount Everest. At one point Scott Fischer states that he has "built a yellow brick road to the summit" (Krakauer 86). Fischer has great pride in his ability to climb Everest he developed arrogance towards the mountain. It is foolish to think that someone
den for some fresh air, Berrykit who betrayed him with their help. Breezepelt hisses that he would start with Crowfeather. Brokenstar swishes his tail in the air, fueling Breezepelt fury apprentices of ThunderClan. He is seen stripping a leaf from its stalk when his brother, Dustpaw, attacks him. Alarmed, Ravenpaw jumps into the air. Bluestar away. He notes that the air is hotter than usual for late newleaf. Hearing the murmuring of excited cats gathering for the first patrols, he thinks Bramblestar Longtail: "But your eyes and nose are streaming." Mousefur: "It's just the cold air." —Longtail and Mousefur arguing over Jaypaw when he comes to check will ask him to take in some rogues again, her breath billowing in the cold night air, and Clear Sky answers that he hopes not.
Vulnerability impacts any individual throughout each new and interactive experience. To become vulnerable is to open up to the consequences of frantic outcomes. Individuals will lead to vulnerability to cope with a trauma that has created a solemn change to a lifestyle. Jon Krakauer explains how the trauma of Mt. Everest changed his outlooks on reality, through different coping mechanisms. Krakauer uses his writing in his book, Into Thin Air, to cope with the guilt of surviving the terror that occurred upon Mt. Everest, as well as to understand what actions caused each outcome. Within an excerpt from Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer is reflective towards his audience of how vulnerability shaped the experiences upon Mt. Everest to cope with the
High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) is an illness that could possibly occur after exposure to high altitudes over 2000 meters. This illness appears after exposure to Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) and advances into either HAPE or HACE. This occurs because of weak adjustment with the growing altitudes common with climbing mountains. They “are the immediate result of too much, too fast and a general negligence to the body's subtle or in the end, not so subtle warnings.” (ExplorersWeb, “Medical Problems”) With this illness, excess fluid progresses in the individual’s lungs causing issues in the body’s regulation system. As a result, the body can not push enough oxygen to the brain causing a variety of problems.
You wouldn't believe that two of the best climbing guides on Mount Everest could be so different. Both guides are brilliant men clever in the ways of climbing, but with two personalities both on either end of the spectrum. One guide is logical and organized when planning any climb while the other approaches things haphazardly leaving plans in disarray. The two guides, Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, from Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air, exhibit these two personalities throughout the progression of the book. Rob Hall is the organized guide who always plans ahead while Scott Fischer is rash and spontaneous. One could also claim that because of Rob Hall's expert planning skills, his responsible nature, and his abilities and experience with
In Jon Krakauer’s Memoir Into Thin Air, Krakauer uses a variety of elements to make his story more effective. Prevalent in Into Thin Air, are Krakauer’s uses of both logos and imagery to convey his experience on Everest. The facts and descriptions in the memoir tie the story together and captivate the reader.
With death being an inevitable conclusion to life, it can be said that the true value of a life is not determined by how long it was lived or what was done during its time, but from what it left behind. In a sport of pushing the physical and psychological boundaries, climbers seek recognition in their achievements, whether it is by finding a new climb that will measure its test of time or being the first to climb a daunting line
Everyone has goals in their heads, and believing in something, or trusting someone can increase the chance that we will reach those goals. These climbers all have something that they are relying on in order to make it to the top of Everest, whether that is someone at home, or their guides. Physically the climbers could not survive very long on the mountain without oxygen, constantly needing external help in order to accomplish the previously mentioned
¨He who learns but does not think is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.¨-Confucius, a Chinese teacher. Every day there are many helicopter flights into mountain base camps to rescue the reckless climbers. People ranging from age 13-80 years old set a goal to climb Mount Everest, and unfortunately, some of these people pay for their thoughtless actions with their lives. There have been hundreds of deaths due to bad weather, lack of oxygen, the short time span, and the lack of skill. This is a problem because many of the climbers aren't at the right skill level and sadly end up paying with their lives. Also some of these climbers who challenge themselves and end up calling for rescue services cause the deaths of rescuers too. People should not have the right to rescue services when they put themselves at risk the second they start climbing that mountain.