Peak As A Hero In Roland Smith's Peak

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In the book Peak by Roland Smith, the main character, Peak, changes from becoming selfish to selfless as a result of his journey towards being a hero. His adventure started at the top of a skyscraper when he got arrested. From there, he traveled across the world to Mount Everest, where his father told him he had to climb the ginormous mountain. When he finally got to the top, he sacrificed his chance for fame so his friend, Sun-Jo, could become known as the youngest freed Tibetan to reach the summit and get the rewards and fame.
At the beginning of the novel, Peak was guilty of vandalizing a skyscraper in his city. As it states in the book, “‘You’re under arrest!’ an amplified voice shouted above the deafening rotors.” (Smith page 5). When asked why he did it, he had no good reason, instead of coming off as unknowing and bored. Peak was seen as bored because he had no hobbies outside of school; therefore, he had nothing else to do in his free time. This lack of interest made him want to take risks. In …show more content…

As promised, his father took him to Mount Everest. As a result, Peak is given the opportunity to bury his past and emerge as an innocent boy. Though, when his father revealed why they were in South Asia, Peak embraced his father’s decision by wanting to climb Mount Everest, no matter what the cost. This lead one to believe that he was intrigued by this new opportunity. Peak’s journey was not easy and he faced opposition from his father’s group who did not want Peak to be first at the top of Everest. As a result, Peak’s selfishness had grown by him being kicked out of the group, as it states in the text, “This was when I realized Sun-Jo wasn’t with us. I was so mad he didn’t also get booted out of camp.” (Smith page 194). However, it was all just a hoax to please the entire group, which resulted in Peak and Sun-Jo trying to reach the summit

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