In my life, I have yet to experience a tragic loss. I have never felt the agonizing feeling one gets when they lose an essential person in their life. I have people in my life that play that crucial role of bringing happiness, but none of them have I ever lost. Before reading Into Thin Air I could only imagine the journey of losing a loved one. Now, after reading the book and being able to create a connection with the characters, through Jon Krakauer’s writing style, I was able to truly experience some feeling of loss. Into Thin Air took me through the journey of creating and having an interpersonal relationship with someone, but then completely losing that person and how factors of life can make copping with that loss, even more difficult. …show more content…
On assignment for Outside Magazine to report the growing commercialization on the mountain, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas as a client of Rob Hall, the most respected high altitude guide on the mountain. The book details the author's expedition up Mount Everest on May 10, 1996, which turned catastrophic when eight climbers were killed on one day by a rogue storm. Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people, including himself, to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns’ of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense. Krakauer, throughout the story shows the reader what it truly means to depend on someone else and to have others depending on you. Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauers eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular …show more content…
Through imagery and extent explanation of the geography of the mountain and placement of climbers, the reader feels as if they are part of the expedition as well. The description Krakauer gives of the climber’s paths and the camps they stay at, the reader is able to picture the journey in a realistic mindset. Krakauer is constantly using imagery to give the reader a picture of the actual situations through the Khumba Icefall, Hillary Step and the camps, as Krakauer writes, “The ink-black wedge of the summit pyramid stood out in the stark relief, towering over the surrounding ridges. Thrust high into the jet stream, the mountain ripped a visible gash in the 120-knot hurricane, sending forth a plume of ice crystals that trailed the east like along silk scarf”(30). Krakauer continues to use figurative language as he continues to write, “The blowing spindrift felt like a sandblaster or something” (209). Using a simile, Krakauer is able to relate what he was feeling to something more familiar so the reader would be able to understand the feeling he is having. Through this writing style, Krakauer is able to engage the reader into the book further and further as the journey goes
Additionally, Krakauer describes the glacier as a “three dimensional phantasmal beauty” which emphasizes how attractive this glacier can be even though the crevasses caused problems with the ladder earlier. Krakauer gave us a better insight on the mountain by employing visual imagery as he incorporated descriptive details to describe the characteristics of the mountain such as: “meandered through a vertical maze of crystalline blue stalagmites”. Instead of just saying I passed blue stalagmites, Krakauer expanded his description to give us a better understanding of the stalagmites and our viewpoint on his description changes. Just saying “blue stalagmites” portrays how dull the situation is whereas “vertical maze of crystalline blue stalagmites” fully describes the scenario well as we can really imagine Krakauer admiring the scenery. Furthermore, Krakauer chose to structure his writing this way so that, he’s reminded of how beautiful the mountain can be even though it’s dangerous.
Processing grief is a highly personal and complex experience that can take many different forms, requiring patience, compassion, and support from oneself and others to navigate it. This theme of grief is shown through the book “Clap When You Land,” by Elizabeth Acevedo. Two different teenage girls, Camino and Yahaira come from very different backgrounds but must both deal with the death of their same father in a sudden plane crash. In “Clap When You Land,” author Elizabeth Acevedo portrays the theme of grief as a transformative process that challenges the characters’ identities and relationships, highlighting the complexities of mourning and the importance of communal support in healing. Grief is dealt with in many different ways as shown
For as long as anyone can remember, people have dreamed of reaching the summit of Mt. Everest. During May of 1996, an expedition set out to Nepal to attempt a climb up Mt. Everest. By the end of this expedition to the top of Everest, many climbers lost their lives due to the brutal weather. In Jon Krakauer’s novel Into Thin Air, he takes readers through the story of the expedition, and he talks about the climbers who died. Among the list of the dead was a man named Doug Hansen.
15 people met their doom, Some frostbitten, causing them to lose limbs. Guides risking their lives for their clients, some people making selfish and selfless choices. Some people live with the fact they could’ve saved someone. Others mourn over loss. This was the Everest disaster of 1996.
Later I unrolled my sleeping bag on her floor. Long after she fell asleep, I lay awake in the next room, listening to her peaceful exhalations. I had convinced myself for many months that I didn’t really mind the absence of intimacy in my life, the lack of real human connection, but the pleasure i’d felt in this woman’s company-the ring of her laughter, the innocent touch of a hand on my arm-exposed my self-deceit and left me hollow and aching. (Krakauer 137). This led to the connection that McCandless, just like Krakauer, had some days of sorrow and loneliness.
[his] sights” (152). In his crestfallen tone of “lower”, the narrator illuminates a churning sea of internal conflict: the pull between realism and his dreams for the expedition. That same pull forced Krakauer to face his failure and concede his loss to not disappoint himself further. Similarly, the narrator crafts a feeling of situational irony for his audience, since they know he always expected the best from himself but did not succeed at meeting his expectations. In creating unattainable goals, he
As we read about what unfolded at Everest on May 9 and 10, 1996, there was a tragic disaster that struck every mountaineer on the Earth, a storm that killed 12 climbers and left many more wounded. Today readers seeaw the argument between Jon Krakauer, the author of Into Thin Air, and Anatoli Boukreev, a Russian climber who co-wrote The Climb where they disagreed on events that occured during the disaster. These two books by two survivors of Everest saw and experienced different viewpoints of what transpired in the storm above Camp Four. When we look at who is more persuasive in their books and we tend to observe three key points: their knowledge and expertise in climbing, their character, and their goodwill. But the most credibility of what actually happened on Everest goes to Jon Krakauer who was more convincing in his arguments over Anatoli Boukreev.
After informing the reader that while dying, people occasionally experience a sense of calmness, Krakauer states, “It would be nice to think McCandless experienced a similar rapture”(198). As the story concludes, he establishes a sympathetic tone in his writing. The tone reveals Krakauer’s compassionate attitude toward McCandless and his unfortunate demise. The author uses imagery when he writes, “Vast and labyrinthine, the ice cap rides the spine of the Boundary Ranges like a carapace, from which the long blue tongues of numerous glaciers inch down toward the sea under the weight of the ages”(137). By using imagery it makes it easier for the audience to picture the situation in his or her mind.
The title “Into Thin Air” is quite suitable for Jon Krakauer’s novel about his dangerous ascent and descent of Mount Everest because it is an iconic and well written quote in the book; it reminds the reader of the idiom “disappear into thin air”, and because of Everest’s extreme altitude. The title is suitable because of it is part of an iconic quote in the book. One of the guides, Groom, says to Krakauer, “Beck was so hopelessly blind that every ten meters he’d take a step into thin air and I’d have to catch him with rope” (Krakauer 214). This quote alone represents the immediate danger everyone was in, the trust that the climbers had to put in one another, and the effects that the cold and altitude that they had to deal with.
Into Thin Air, written by Jon Krakauer, details the author’s expedition to Mt. Everest along with his teammates and many fellow climbers, in 1996. Through straightforward and in-depth details described by Krakauer, readers are able to imagine what it’s like being on Mt. Everest, which is further enhanced by Krakauer through his selection of details. Krakauer also uses diction and syntax to emphasize the major theme of the book, which is teamwork. As for Krakauer, he also lets out parts of himself that reveal who he is and what kind of person he is like in real life, a kind and hardworking person.
I have chosen Into Thin Air for my project because the main theme of this novel is Danger and Morality. I feel as there’s danger and morality in my city and around the world, with the natural events occurring. Into Thin Air is a great work of literature because of Krakauer’s use of imagery and symbolism to describe the situation of the mountain. Also, the plot is exciting, and it leaves the reader in shock on each page. The writer tells it as it is.
Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close demonstrates how the motif of loss and closure significantly impacts people. The story focuses on a boy named Oskar Schell with Asperger’s Syndrome, who ventures around New York, searching for the lock his Father’s key opens in an attempt to comprehend death. The novel illustrates the personal, social, and global impacts that events related to demise can have through Oskar’s journey in dealing with the loss of his father and searching for closure. The loss of a loved one is an inevitable, life-altering experience composed of bereavement and various types of emotional and physical effects. Loss and closure are apparent in the September 11 attacks, through Dad’s death, Oskar’s constant
Into Thin Air is a narrative written by Jon Krakauer recounting the spring climbing season of 1996. Krakauer presents
The idea of loss can scare most people. Whether we lose our phones, our minds, or loved ones, we can all relate to a certain idea of loss that can appear frightening for most. When loss becomes something almost normal for the world, most people find something to hold onto for those last few moments before it finally disappears. For author Alexandra Kleeman, even though her character becomes accustomed to the Earth disappearing around her, she still chooses to hold onto the idea of her lover for as long as she can before they both vanish with the rest of the world. In the short story, “You.
Many people assume that Jon Krakauer’s novel, “Into Thin Air”, is an extremely suspenseful novel of events that played out on top of Mount. Everest. “Into Thin Air” is a novel, describing an expedition involving Krakauer that turned terrifyingly fatal as casualties of fellow expeditioners grew in number. His novel contains numerous examples of mainly two literary devices. Tension, the first device, is a strained relationship between individuals, groups, nations, etc.