Devan Wilson
Espirit
March 20th, 2014
Final Posting
For the remaining of the book there is one common theme and tone. Unfortunately this would be anxiety and sorrow, with a splash of relief. Reaching the summit is very exciting, and is all of the climber's common goal, although after completing this, only bad things began to happen. As the narrator explains in chapter 14, "Not only during the ascent but also during the descent my willpower is dulled. The longer I climb the less important the goal seems to me, the more indifferent I become to myself." This quote was said by Reinhold Messner, in an interview. Not only does the narrator express his fear for descent, but he doesn't celebrate for reaching the top, the goal that he had been trying to accomplish since he was just a boy, "...stayed on top of the world just long enough to fire off four quick shots of Andy Harris and Anatoli Boukreev posing in front the summit survey marker. Then I turned to descend". As a reader, this comes across as anxious event, and scary! As soon as you think that all of the hard work is over, and they have had success, it is just the opposite. This introduces the sorrow and melancholy tone. Oxygen begins to run out, illnesses begin developing, loss of direction due to poor weather, nothing is worth celebrating. Relief comes in small packages, for example when the narrator is back at camp, reflecting his time at the top. This pattern of emotions tends to repeat as the story comes to a close.
My favorite part of the book would be when the main character, Jon Krakauer, reached camp after he reached the summit. This was moving to me, because at the start of the novel, he talked about how that had been his goal for the longest time, and I can't imagine how amazing that would feel to reach that long-lived goal. Also, that moment escaped the craziness that surrounded him, and captured the main reason why people climb the crazy and horrifying mountains. Learning all about climbing and the dangers it can have on a person, it was mind blowing to me that people were so determined to risk their lives to be on top of the world for a couple minutes. This may be a negative way of looking at it, but if I worked my entire life to reach a certain height and then died on the way down, seems crazy. But the thought that people have survived and can share their story is magical, and that is what Jon Krakauer did.
My favorite part of the book would be when the main character, Jon Krakauer, reached camp after he reached the summit. This was moving to me, because at the start of the novel, he talked about how that had been his goal for the longest time, and I can't imagine how amazing that would feel to reach that long-lived goal. Also, that moment escaped the craziness that surrounded him, and captured the main reason why people climb the crazy and horrifying mountains. Learning all about climbing and the dangers it can have on a person, it was mind blowing to me that people were so determined to risk their lives to be on top of the world for a couple minutes. This may be a negative way of looking at it, but if I worked my entire life to reach a certain height and then died on the way down, seems crazy. But the thought that people have survived and can share their story is magical, and that is what Jon Krakauer did.
I agree with what Devan said about the tone mainly being sorrow and relief. The relief wasn't seen on where you would expect, I noticed it when Jon got to his tent. You would think that the relief would be when you got the the top of the world, but like Devan said that was the last thing they were thinking about. Running out of oxygen and worrying about the incoming storm was what was on everyone's mind. In chapter fifteen Krakauer states, " We'd fucking done it. We'd climbed Everest. It had been a little sketchy there for a while, but in the end everything had turned out great" (p203.) This quote shows the relief that came to Jon when he got to his tent. However the very next sentence shows the sorrow that came to Jon when he found out everything wasn't ok, "It would be many hours before I learned the everthing had not in fact turned out great-that nineteen men and women were stranded up on the mountain by the storm, caught in a desperate struggle for their lives" (p203.) Even though Krakauer doesn't know about half the tragic incidents at the time the sorrow he feels sets in and moves him like nothing ever had. He made it, he climbed Everest; he sadly could not say that for many of his fellow climbers.
ReplyDeleteDev-Dog is totally spot on with her views on how the tone is sorrowful and relieved. The last part of the book was kind of a relief sandwich. At the beginning of the last part, Krakauer was relieved that he had reached the summit, and at the end of the book, he was relieved that he had made it out alive. But, most of the time, the tone was very sorrowful. I mean when your best friends are dying and you can't do anything to help them, it's impossible hard to sound upbeat. For example a few days before flying back to the U.S. Krakauer found himself overwhelmed with loss. "As I turned my head to the side, my ear brushed against a wet spot; tears, I realized, were running down my face and soaking the sheets. I felt a gurgling, swelling bubble of hurt and shame roll up my spine from somewhere deep inside. Erupting out of my nose and mouth in a flood of snot, the first sob was followed by another, then another and another," (282). While there is a faint hint of relief, the tone of the last part of "Into Thin Air" it is all but overwhelmed by the sorrow and guilt of the author, Jon Krakauer.
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