Mortality In Into Thin Air

Before the reader even begins to dive into the story itself, he or she encounters an “in memory of” dedication page, dropping the names of several characters that died on the mountain. Initially, one may overlook the true meaning of this, but after becoming acquainted with those characters further in the story, the reader comes to terms with the fact that many climbers will die prior to the end of the book. Krakauer also incorporates many quotations from characters regarding potential disaster far before the climax reaches. Before the first chapter, Krakauer asserts, "The plain truth is that I knew better but went to Everest anyway. And in doing so I was a party to the death of good people, which is something that is apt to remain on my conscience for a very long time" (XVII). At this point, Krakauer has hardly exposed the reader to any pertinent plot information, and by using this quotation, Krakauer uncovers—before the first chapter—his feelings of remorse upon the conclusion of the story. Contrary to an ordinary book, the reader will absorb the entire story already knowing the ending. Various foreshadowing quotes, consistently placed throughout Into Thin Air, forbode the climax; Rob Hall indicates, “With enough determination, any bloody idiot can get up this hill. The trick is to get back down alive" (Krakauer 153). As the reader initially digests this quotation, he or she may find it difficult to notice any direct foreshadowing. However, Krakauer’s methodical placement of foreshadowing quotes throughout the book all serve a purpose by the end of the

The main character and protagonist, Jon Krakauer, is a United States client and journalist who is on an expedition to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest. He takes the reader through his horrifying experiences on the mountain, including the death of his team, lack of oxygen, and horrible weather. The conflict in this novel is an internal and external conflict. It is an internal conflict of man vs. himself. Jon Krakauer, had to go through mental states of giving up and dying on the mountain

In order to continue climbing Everest, many aspects of climbing need to be improved before more people endanger their lives to try and reach the roof of the world. The guides have some areas that need the most reform. During the ascension of Everest the guides made a plethora mistakes that seemed insignificant but only aided in disaster. The guides first mistake is allowing “any bloody idiot [with enough determination] up” Everest (Krakauer 153). By allowing “any bloody idiot” with no climbing experience to try and climb the most challenging mountain in the world, the guides are almost inviting trouble. Having inexperienced climbers decreases the trust a climbing team has in one another, causing an individual approach to climbing the mountain and more reliance on the guides. While this approach appears fine, this fault is seen in addition to another in Scott Fischer’s expedition Mountain Madness. Due to the carefree manner in which the expedition was run, “clients [moved] up and down the mountain independently during the acclimation period, [Fischer] had to make a number of hurried, unplanned excursions between Base Camp and the upper camps when several clients experienced problems and needed to be escorted down,” (154). Two problems present in the Mountain Madness expedition were seen before the summit push: the allowance of inexperienced climbers and an unplanned climbing regime. A third problem that aided disaster was the difference in opinion in regards to the responsibilities of a guide on Everest. One guide “went down alone many hours ahead of the clients” and went “without supplemental oxygen” (318). These three major issues: allowing anyone up the mountain, not having a plan to climb Everest and differences in opinion. All contributed to the disaster on Everest in

Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air is an autobiographical book that does more than tell a story; it voices out the true definition of pain, strife, and hopelessness, exemplifying the all known rule of survival of the fittest.

In this passage from Jon Krauaker's Into Thin Air, Jon Krauaker does not display the sense of accomplishment that one would expect from achieving such a difficult endeavor. He really displays a sense of grief and dissatisfaction from what he had accomplished. For taking a risk as life threatening as this, in Krauaker's eyes, he couldn't possibly be proud of what he had done when so many men had lost their lives during the same excursion that he journeyed on. Throughout this novel, Jon Krauaker uses immense amounts of rhetorical devices to display his emotion to convey his attitude toward the dangers of climbing Mt. Everest.

Jon Krakauer stated in his book, “I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain” (136). At this point in the book, Jon was unaware of the events that would soon transpire. Even the

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

Before reading this book, I had already been aware of the countless dangers of Mt. Everest. Last summer I read a book about Mt. Everest much like this one in the state that both were spoken through personal accounts, and both used constant detail to express the horrible and painful experiences that both authors had to go through. This prior knowledge helped better my understanding of this book because I was aware of the common occurrences that can take place while climbing Mt. Everest, and the gruesome circumstances that go with it. During the eighth chapter, readers become aware of a horrible condition that a character is dealing with. “By the time he arrived at the tents late that afternoon Ngawang was delirious, stumbling like a drunk, and coughing up pink, blood-laced froth” (Krakauer 113).

Krakauer starts the beginning of Into Thin Air by telling the reader about Everest’s first climbers and expeditions. Everest was a mountain that no man could conquer and over time it was the goal of many to become the first person on top of the world. After this occurred the commercialization of Everest sky rocketed, which leads thousands of people climbing Everest every year. In order for clients on expeditions to climb, sherpas fix ropes, carry equipment, and set ladders in place for the trips to run smoothly. Krakauer describes the characters with great descriptions to make the reader attach to them and care when their fate is sealed. Eight climbers were stranded at the top of the world, all at different mental and physical abilities. Saving, abandoning, and dying will occur all at once on the night of May 10th. Death grasps many of climbers and takes them away, but a few manage to escape from death’s

Throughout the book, Krakauer utilizes facts and information through logos to portray the expedition in the most accurate way possible. Firstly, Krakauer identifies the time that events, no matter how small, are happening, giving the reader a sense of the pace of the excursion. Without the timeline he creates in the story, the reader would not have as thorough an understanding of the events. In addition, Krakauer enumerates all the statistics of events on Everest comparing 1996 to other years, to conclude that “1996 was actually a safer-than-average year” (page 287); without these statistics within the epilogue of the memoir it would be hard to believe that claim that Krakauer has

Andrew Alfonso 10/10/14 English 2 Honors Section 1 Into Thin Air Essay Leadership and teamwork are essential in success. In the Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into Thin Air, the protagonists of the story try to live out the ambitious dream of climbing Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. However, tragedy strikes when an unexpected storm hits, causing the protagonists to face the unforgiving forces of nature. Krakauer suggests that great leadership and teamwork are better than individual achievement. Krakauer wishes for partners with experience for protection and help on the expedition.

In the editorial, Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer discusses the topic of the disaster that occurred that day at Mount Everest. He states many of the events that happened in detail and how it changed his life completely. Throughout that day, Jon Krakauer joined a team in which their goal was to reach the summit of Mount Everest with several different guides. They were leaded by guides to help along the way to help reach the summit successfully. As the day went on , many of the team members were left behind in which it gave a bad sign.

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

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

On May 10, 1996 six people died trying to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. These people were parts of two expeditions that were in the Himalayas, preparing to ascend the summit for six weeks. The first group was under the direction of Rob Hall, who had put 39 paying clients on the summit in five years. Hall was considered the leader of the mountain and the man to see no matter what the discrepancy. Group two, headed by Fisher, who like Hall, was trying to start a profitable business in providing the experience of climbing Mt. Everest to all for the price of 60 to 70 thousand dollars. Unfortunatly, neither man would live to tell the tale of this expedition.