Section Three

 

Savanna Young

Heart Roll

March 20, 2014

 

The last third of Into Thin Air is tragic and full to the brim with adventure and obvious pain; yet it has a sense of calm. Krakauer tells about his journey down, he mistakes one man for another, the snow blurs his vision and the lack of oxygen clouds up his mind. When he was traveling up to and down from the summit he had his mind set on one thing; getting there and getting back. I think this section has two very different tones, one is oblivion and delirium and the other is anguish. These tones are seen at different times in the last couple chapters. Delirium as well as oblivion wash over every person climbing on that mountain. The lack of oxygen and the high altitude physically effect them but from the perspective of those climbing they had no idea they had lost their stable mental status at the time. Just at the beginning of the descent Krakauer already is losing stability. "Negotiating the puzzling, infirm terrain demanded unceasing concentration, an all-but-impossible feat in my punch-drunk state" (p199.) The way he explains how he feels at that point is worrisome, its hard to imagine how out of his body he must have been by the end of that night. Krakauer was able to find more oxygen after his ran out, even than his mind was in a state that would not be changed till he got back down to base camp. "I pulled the mask from my face, left it hanging around my neck, and pressed onward, surprisingly unconcerned" (p200.) After the trek was over, a different heavy regret and anguish fell over those on the trip. Family members feel ill with depression from losing loved ones, Krakauer explains the trip like a horror story. "Everest seems to have poisoned many lives" (p199.) He says it was the worst time of his life but he tried to focus on the positive aspects of the trip. The deep pain the effected all those on the trip is something that can never go away. The lack of mental stability may have lead to some of the mistakes that happened that day, however without the numbness that came along with the altitude saved those descending from feeling and understanding more; which may have made them do reckless things in order to save their colleagues.

 

Into Thin Air is a adventure with a twist, the twist is the sense of unknowing. Because of the circumstances the whole descent was a jumbled up mess with a huge amount of ignorance. Krakauer is able to put what he experienced into the perfect words. I understood what was happening, how he was being effected, how the others where being effected, how his family and the other loved ones of climbers felt. He took the images he couldn't get out of his mind and wrote them down so precisely I felt like I could have been there. There were many characters in the book, sometimes it would be hard to follow because of all the names but by the end of the book not only did I know who Krakauer was talking about; I knew that persons personality. The many adventures that led to the summit of Everest included, death, injury, new friends, conflict and a frenzy of preparation for what was ahead. I enjoyed reading this book because every page was full of information, I learned about Tibetan territory, the Sherpa culture, altitude illness and much more. Krakauer was able to be completely honest, it is nearly impossible to read this book and not be moved or effected in some way.