Analysis Of The Devil's Thumb By John Krakauer

Approximately four-thousand people have attempted to climb the tallest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. Erik Weihenmayer was one of the 660 people who successfully did so and he accomplished it blind! John Krakauer is another one of the 660. Krakauer also pioneered a new route for a notorious mountain in Southeast Alaska called The Devil’s Thumb. These men have both written memoirs about their experiences. “The Devil’s Thumb” by John Krakauer and “Everest” by Erik Weihenmayer tell two different perspectives of the mountain climbing experience. This leads to the memoirs having different central ideas, a similar organizational structure, and different tones.

“The Devil’s Thumb” is part of a collection in the book Eiger Dreams by

John Krakauer. The story is told from Krakauer’s point of view,in flashback form, as he makes a difficult solo journey up an uncharted path of a dangerous mountain. Krakauer’s purpose is to teach the lesson to his readers of having realistic dreams and that accomplishing a dream won’t solve everything. The Devil’s mountain ends with “It taught me about what mountains can…do, about the limit of dreams…I’m grateful for it now.” Krakauer learned the power of a mountain during his “dream” climb. He wants people who read his memoir to realize their dreams can be can be hard to accomplish and maybe to reach a little lower. In the story, he says “It’s no longer clear how I thought soloing the Devil’s Thumb would change my life.” The climb didn’t change his life — he just went through a hardship and in the end he came out with nothing.

Similarly to “The Devil’s Thumb”, “Everest” by Erik Weihenmayer is told in first person point of view and he wants to teach a lesson. Erik Weihenmayer has been blind since his teenage years but he doesn’t let that stop him from climbing Mount Everest. He wants people to learn that one can overcome any obstacle to fulfill their dream, to always have a positive outlook, and accomplishing a dream can require help. His outlook or perspective on climbing the tallest mountain in the world was pretty positive for someone who couldn’t see what he was doing. He always looked on the bright side. For example, “…brief moments when eyes are exposed to the elements, corneas will freeze, and the intense rays of the sun… not once did I worry about these complications.” Wenenmayer focuses a lot on his other team members and what they do to help accomplish the goal of getting to the top.