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Recommended: Everest
Jon Krakauer’s personal account of the 1996 Mount Everest tragedy in which eight climbers perished, Into Thin Air, addresses the tenacious nature of climbers and their unrelenting desire to reach their goal – the summit. This strong ambition ultimately tests the climbers’ concerns with other elements of life such as family, environmental responsibility and moral judgement, all of which are endangered by their individual desire to reach the summit. Whilst the climbers are undeniably selfishly driven to the summit, Krakauer’s retrospective account of the expedition suggests that the climbers were concerned and aware of the damaging consequences of their pursuits but acting on this concern was over-shadowed by a compulsion to explore the mystique of Everest.
Krakauer admits that he didn’t accept his invitation to Hall’s Adventure Consultants expedition for the magazine article, but rather to fulfil his own “burning ambition”. Personal drive and ambition resonates with all of the climbers featured in Krakauer’s personal account, as they pay $65,000 each for a shot at the summit and give up work and family for the following months.
Jon Krakauer agrees to climb Mount Everest despite his wife pleading otherwise because he is “in the grip of the Everest mystique”, highlighting a climber’s ability to shirk his family responsibilities for mountaineering purposes. When discussing the possibility of death on Everest his wife, Linda, states that “it’s not just you who’ll pay the price...Doesn’t that matter to you?” Krakauer’s response, “don’t be melodramatic” certainly indicates that at the time of his obsession with Everest, he was casting aside the impact his climbing had on others. Scott Fischer also demonstrates unbalanced priorities, ...
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...he results of commercialisation and increased tourism. Grotesque images of toilets “overflowing with excrement” and the lodge being “an open sewer” communicate the awful implications of overwhelming tourism and bountiful expeditions. Also, Krakauer makes a note of the rubbish accumulated on Everest but he points out how Scott Fischer “removed 5,000 pounds of trash from the mountain”. Fischer’s awareness of the pollution on the mountain further suggests that the climbers do hold themselves accountable for environmental damage. Whilst they may selfishly continue to contribute to commercialisation in spite of the obvious environmental implications, they seem meticulously aware of the harm they are causing and, in Fischer’s case, attempt to reduce the impact of their need to climb (as it’s impossible for them to stop climbing, they do what they can to fit around this).
In the memoir Within Reach: My Everest Story by Mark Pfetzer and Jack Galvin, the author Mark Pfetzer is faced with an extremely amazing yet scary challenge of climbing Mount Everest. Each event is the story has something to do with the nature that is around them at that moment but Pfetzer shows the readers that nature can be a way of life.
The novel "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer, he writes about an experience that changes his life when Outside magazine asks him to write an article about the commercialism of Mount Everest, he knew from that moment that he needed to climb the mountain. But of course his expedition does not go as expected. On May 10th Krakauer reaches the summit after a extremely stressful and treacherous trek up, but only to have to scale down the mountain with his team in one of the most dangerous seasons in the history of Everest. Many things went wrong when they came down the mountain and throughout this book, Jon attempts to evaluate what exactly happened and how things went wrong. He researches and figures out every person actions on that mountain. He has speculations about the failures of the expedition, and blames the catastrophe due to a series of little
...increasingly anxious “because “[he] had no radio nor any other means of communicating with the outside world “(140). Krakauer’s dire need of assistance helps him recognize that he needs contact with the outside world to not only survive but to relive his innate desire of belonging. Likewise, Krakauer states “ at such moments [climbing the mountain ] something resembling happiness actually stirs in your chest, but it isn’t the sort of emotion you want to lean on very hard”(143) he implies the rush he gets from climbing mountains is not fully fulfilling and reliable; he needs part of the happiness to come from friendships and relationships.
Imagine feeling guilty for making it out alive on a journey. In the nonfiction novel, Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, he documents his journey to the summits of Mount Everest and ultimately accuses himself for holding acquisitiveness responsibility for the disaster on the mountain. After realizing only one-fourth of the people that climbed to the summits on May 10, 1996, made it down back to base camp alive, Krakauer theorizes about why that was so. He attributes most of the reason for the disaster to the erratic weather along with hubris, he wanted for the thought of leading a group to the mountain. Despite those reasons, there is no ultimate reason for the deaths documented in the book, but bottom line the climbers that died didn’t thoroughly comprehend the danger they were going to encounter as a consequence that contributes to the disaster.
Krakauer attempts to figure out exactly what went wrong and what happened to whom. He does extensive research and painstakingly traces the actions of every climber on the mountain. He theorizes about the breakdowns of the expedition, and attributes the disaster to a series of small mistakes. He includes himself, and explicitly blames himself for at least one person's death. The experience affects him profoundly, and in addition to telling the story, the book focuses on how Krakauer is forever changed as a result of what happened. Krakauer has a multi-faceted role in this book. First and foremost, he is a character, the narrator of the story he tells. Secondly, he is the author of this book. Third, he is a mountain climber.
Throughout the novel, the protagonist encounters many difficulties when trying to reach his goal of climbing Mount Everest. He encounters problems, from illnesses to deaths but most affectively the catastrophic weather. When Krakauer’s 5 friends die, including Rob Hall, Krakauer takes responsibility of the other climbers and helps them get through the tough weather safely. When they arrived to the base camps, many of the climbers gave up but Krakauer kept trying, he was motivated by Halls death to reach the top of Mount Everest. Krakauer finds ways to get around
Everest is an unbelievable mountain that has taken the lives of a number of the greatest climbers in history. It was my job to ensure that clients make it up that treacherous mountain safely. My name is Rob Hall. I was the main guide and cofounder of a climbing company called Adventure Consultants. My friend, Gary Ball, and I used to be professional climbers. Together we succeeded in climbing to the highest summit on each of the seven continents in seven months. This was our greatest achievement. After this, we decided to start our own company guiding clients up large mountains. In May 1992, we successfully led six clients to the summit of Everest. Unfortunately, Gary died of cerebral edema in October 1993 during an attempt on the world’s sixth-tallest mountain. He died in my arms and the next day I buried him in a crevasse. Despite the pain that his death had caused me, I continued guiding for our company and eventually led thirty-nine climbers to the summit of Everest.
Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, proved the spring’ 96 expedition to Mountain Everest to be the most tragic in mountain history. I believe the storm, and a series of mistakes and the arrogance of human made the deadly result and which breakdowns of the expedition. Many of climbers died on Homologumena, including the very experienced guides Rob Hall and Scott Fischer. I truly believe the trip was not worth it, because they ended their life, and it was a pain losing their family. The unlimited desires of humans are horrible. Even thought, Rob and Scott had reached the top of Everest, they still wanted to challenge themselves as the water who drinks it will be thirsty again.
In the book “Into Thin Air,” by Jon Krakauer, Jon describes his experience summiting and descending the one and only Mt. Everest. The tallest mountain in the whole world.During his journey he endured many life threatening events such as almost blacking out, getting caught in a storm, and many others. However he was one of the lucky ones, because out of that whole crew, 8 people died. That is the most recorded in one expedition ever.I believe there are two things that contributed to the deaths in this book. The greed of Nepal primarily is a factor, and also the lack of knowledge the people have that seek this rush of climbing Mount Everest. It is not anyone's fault in particular but there is topics to be blamed. A lack of knowledge can mean life or death in many various scenarios.
Considering the circumstances of the expedition, Jon Krakauer, the author, goes through significant character change. When contacted by Outside Magazine to write a story about Everest, Krakauer shows great enthusiasm toward the endeavor, saying yes “without even pausing to catch my breath” (26). When he reached the summit, Krakauer “just couldn’t summon the energy to care,” (5) showing his lost enthusiasm and eagerness to get off of Everest. At this point forward, Krakauer definitely changes. After going through many near-death experiences, watching nine die, and losing faith in everything, he turns into a “what-if” thinker, pondering all the possible outcomes and why the disaster happened in the first place. Krakauer “felt terrible for having survived while others had died,” (267) exemplifying his guilt toward the whole situation. He copes with his guilt in his hotel room by resorting to drugs; smoking a joint “down to nothing” (269) further epitomizing his emotions and proving the Everest expedition stuck with him and left him a changed man. (166 words)
Climbing Mount Everest is a horrific and thrilling experience that 290 people have died attempting to complete. In the novel “Into Thin Air” written by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer goes through his own journey of climbing Mount Everest and how commercialized the climbing of Everest had really become. In his journey he explains how climbers have paid as much as $65,000 to join a guided group that would lead them to the summit. The author bluntly states that some of the novices were not qualified to climb Mount Everest. With this amateurity it only made the journey twice as much difficult and dangerous. Unfortunately, a terrible blizzard struck Mount Everest within minutes of them reaching the top. For all of the climbers on the mountain, the blizzard turned what was to be a successful climb for all concerned into a nightmare. Because of poor planning, several of the climbers found themselves in a desperate situation that they had no
While Hall was the better guide, both gentlemen held the respect of their peers for their individual climbing skills. Of the climbers on the mountains that day, they were considered the best. Yet despite their skills or their ability to guide, both succumbed to the tragedy on the mountain. Krakauer admired both Hall and Fischer for different reasons, yet he uses them as examples to show us that no matter how good, passionate, or skillful a person might be, the tragedy on the mountain was a cascade effect beyond human control.
May 29, 1953, a day in history that will forever be remembered by mankind, where a challenging dream turned into a reality. Sir Edmund Hillary, a boastful and confident climber from New Zealand conquered the world with Tenzing Norgay, a humble and selfless climber from Nepal. The world was brought closer together at 11:30 AM on May 29, 1953 after a final push to climb resulted in the two men doing the impossible, reaching the peak of Mount Everest in Nepal. “View from the Summit” by Sir Edmund Hillary and “The Dream Comes True” by Tenzing Norgay both tell the story of the first successful journey up Mount Everest, but their different perspectives on the events of that day affect our perception of the “true” narrative. Numerous facts are provided,
Classic literature juxtaposes two ways of life that illustrate the poles of true happiness: a life of adventure, exemplified by Odysseus (The Odyssey), and the life at home, which poets and farmers represent. In The Iliad, Achilleus chooses to live a short, glorious life, even though he could have chosen to live a long life in anonymity. Arguments have been put forth that the life of adventure is a living hell, as Achilleus testifies from Hades after his death - in hindsight, he would have settled for the life of a slave and given up his glory, if only he could have lived longer. Alternately, the life of the (metaphorical) farmer has been despised as simple and ordinary, when true immortality is only attained with great accomplishments, such as sacking Troy or surviving heroic adventures which are then recorded. In a modern day autobiography of the 1996 ascent of Mt. Everest (Sagarmatha to the Nepalis, or “goddess of the sky”), Jon Krakauer reveals the human motivation behind adventure and tells the story of the men and women who lived and died on the expeditions to the summit during that spring (Into Thin Air). With epic literature and a recent epic, I will illuminate the values of a reflective life as well as the life of adventure, and delve into the necessary components of the ‘good life.’
Mount Everest, the world’s highest point at 29,035 feet, is a special trophy among high altitude mountaineers. Standing atop the world’s highest point a hypoxic climber clad in a fluorescent down suit is above everything else on the planet, for a moment that individual can reach farther into the sky than any other. Arms raised in a victorious salute, a climber feels like they have conquered something that few others ever have, and justifiably so. The summit is usually the final fruition of months, sometimes years of planning, weeks of travel and acclimatization, and days of endless plodding at a feeble, learning-to-walk pace.