Comparing The Devil's Thumb, By Jon Krakauer

Beck Weathers, a pathologist from Dallas, is not a likely to be seen as a strong character. In fact, even the author’s first impression of Weathers was that Weathers was only “looking to buy the summit of Everest for his trophy case,” but after a while, the author agreed that Weathers was the strongest member on the expedition (170). Despite his torn mountain boots, Weathers kept climbing up Everest without even talking about his pain (171). This shows his strong character because many other members of the expedition, including the author, frequently complained about their fatigue and pain, and some even stayed back on a few days. In addition to this pain, Weathers should have been hindered by his radial keratotomy, which affected his eyesight

Climbing mountains can be extremely dangerous. Jon Krakaeur and Erik Weihenmayer both wrote stories to tell us all about it. Jon Kraukaeur wrote the story “The Devils Thumb” about climbing a mountain in Alaska all alone. Kraukaeur has climbed mountains all his life and has written many books about it. Erik Weihenmayer wrote the story “Everest” about reaching the summit of Mount Everest as a blind person. Weihenmayer has taken many risks of climbing mountains without one of the most important senses, his eyesight. In these two stories, they talk about the struggles of climbing mountains, but also the triumph of reaching their goals.

Krakauer describes his attempts at climbing the Devil’s Thumb when he was 23 years old and compares it to McCandless. The credibility it provides is the insight and thoughts that McCandless might have had on his odyssey as a young man finishing his own greatest achievement. To Krakauer, “the Devil’s Thumb was the same as medical school, only different” (Krakauer 150). To McCandless, it is likely his adventure in Alaska was the fulfillment he needed after following his parents’ wish of finishing college. Both Krakauer and McCandless had problems with their father’s falsehood and losing the innocence that they once had. Krakauer describes it as “when long-held family secrets came to light, when [he] noticed that…[his father] was not a deity at

Into Thin Air is a non-fiction and adventure book that details the disaster that occurred in 1996 at Mount Everest, and it started as a magazine article. The book is a personal account of the author Jon Krakauer, a professional writer and mountaineering hobbyist, who was sent on the Everest expedition by Outside Magazine with the task of writing an article about his experience. In my opinion, people should read Into Thin Air because it is a story about survival, and it consists of valuable lessons about, perseverance, determination, and character.

Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. Knowing that any person in the world can climb Mount Everest is amazing. In the novel Into Thin Air written by Jon Krakauer, climbers climb to the highest point of the world. Some everyday people like Jon Krakauer, who is an author hired to write an article about Mount Everest for an adventure magazine and Doug Hansen who is a postal worker climbing Mount Everest for the second time. It is unfortunate what happened to the people that died when descending from the summit. However, no one is responsible for those deaths, it was an unexpected storm that killed them. Ultimately a person is not responsible for another person 's action. I believe once a person is near death self-preservation will

The passage in question is taken from Jon Krakauer’s personal account of his endeavour to summit Everest in 1996, and it is a description of Jon Krakauer’s experiences while at approximately 21,000 feet on the mountain itself. The book is called Into Thin Air, and was published a mere year after the tragedy that struck the team headed by Rob Hall, the founder of a mountaineering agency: Adventure Consultants. In this specific extract, Krakauer uses vivid imagery and similes in his description of the surroundings to show the obvious peril that climbing the most formidable peak on the planet entails. Additionally, he deploys diction that conveys his initial shock when he sees the corpses, as opposed to the other climbers, who seemed to be fairly

The story “The Devil and Tom Walker” takes place in a stagnant, lonely and treacherous forest. The author, Washington Irving, while writing was also a satirist and a lawyer. He made short fiction popular and was a very original writer. The characters in this story include Tom Walker, Tom Walker’s wife, and the devil. The conflict in this story is when Tom Walker realizes that he does not want to go to hell, so he makes a deal with the devil. Greed and manipulation does not get you far in life.

“Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives,” stated Alan Sachs. This applies to Chris McCandless who always had to live life to the fullest. Chris McCandless wanted to live a life away from others for many different reasons. He had issues with emotional intimacy with others and himself. He always needed to live the extremes of life. Alex's experiences has affected lots of different people, including me.

Krakauer In the beginning of the last section of the novel uses a narrative and descriptive style. The point of view is first person. The only time the author doesn’t use first person is when he is talking about events that he didn’t see himself. That’s when he transfers to a third person. Krakauer uses imagery in the novel as well. Furthermore, he says, “The skin on her face was the color of white porcelain.” Jon Krakauer has a desperate tone after saying, “After a night at 26,000 feet without supplemental oxygen, I was even weaker and more exhausted than I had been the previous evening after coming down from the summit.” Looking back at one of the symbols of bottled oxygen it used it rescue people. Furthermore, Krakauer says, “the IMAX team joins in the

Survival : the state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances. In school, we read the book Peak by Roland Smith. The novel is about a fourteen year old boy with the urge to get to a mountain again after he moved to New York City. The closest thing to a mountain remotely near him is the New York City skyline. Until he took on Everest. The majority of this book is his journey up the mountain. I feel this book overall shows the types of conflicts and survival they had to go through during his journey.

From Krakauer’s letter to the reader, we have a basic understanding of his immense personal grief as the result of a tragedy on Mount Everest and the reason for writing the book. Then instead of jumping right into the narrative from the very beginning, Krakauer starts in the middle– the time and day when he reached the peak of Mount Everest and returned, and how eight others couldn’t do the same. This interlude first shocked me but also prepared me for what was to come. Most are unaware of what occurs at Mount Everest but this book awakens those who are oblivious, including myself. The book was incredibly informative, starting right from the beginning when the author gives the complete history of those attempting to reach the top of the world. Krakauer obviously well researched this book, which is unsurprising because of his journalist background, but provides for a good read. In fact, the additional elaboration never seemed too much and always made me seem like an omniscient and omnipresent participant. However, Krakauer also manages to make it seem conversational, always explaining his thoughts and opinions in every

Jon Krakauer had obstacles to face when he climbed down Mt.Everest in the excerpt of “Into Thin Air”. The obstacle Jon had to face was his mind. He couldn’t think straight, his mind had gone haywire. The lack of oxygen and because he was really high up in the mountain, all of the pressure in his brain didn’t allow him to think or breathe correctly. Then came the situation where Jon’s oxygen tank ran out, he had problems breathing and focusing on getting down the mountain. Jon had to find a way to get down the mountain and get down safely. Jon Krakauer faced many obstacles on the mountain very similar to Ody’s journey in “The Odyssey”.

79) (Simile). "The wind kicked up huge swirling waves of powder snow that washed down the mountain like breaking surf, plastering my clothing with frost." (pg. 125) (Simile).These smilies really compare, and show the reader the harsh conditions the climbers faced everyday. The main paradox in the book is that experience and preparation ultimately means nothing on Mt. Everest. In particular, no one thought that such a tragedy could occur on an expedition guided by Rob Hall, the most celebrated Everest guide dog of the decade. Jon Krakauer often uses personification to describe Mt. Everest and the harsh forces of nature on its slopes, making it seem that they are actively fighting the climbers as they attempt to reach the summit and survive the descent. An example can be found on pg. 59, where he describes the sounds of a glacier: "Retiring to my tent at night, I was serenaded by a madrigal of creaks and percussive cracks, a reminder that I was lying on a moving river of ice." At the height of the storm, Jon Krakauer is so tired and in pain that he temporarily gives up moving and sits still. It is ironic that he finds this better than to the intense struggle of continuing to move, even though he knows staying still means death. Rob Hall and Yasuko Namba have the same experiences, where death seems like the more reasonable option compared to the

Responsibility and Justice leave people accountable for their actions and leave them with consequences that result from their actions. In the novel Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, the book talks about Krakauer’s journey up Mount Everest and what he encountered on the way up. He had many responsibilities, as did the other guides and clients. Their first priority was to be safe and complete the hike up the mountain. Although not everyone was able to make it to the top, the people that did receive justice in the end. Krakauer was responsible for his journal entries and keeping himself and others on task throughout the journey. When plans did not go as expected, he was left with the responsibility and the effects of what happened. The group's responsibilities show through their journey, and justice is received in the completion of the treacherous task.

In Jon Krauker’s, Into Thin Air, the Sherpas play a large part in the ascending and descending of the mountain climbers. They complete many tasks throughout the time in which people are climbing and before they climb. These things that they complete make the climbing experience more safe and, in some cases, possible. As I read the book, many times I asked myself, ‘Why are the Sherpas seen as so inferior to the climbers despite their large role in the safety and possibility of the climb?’ and ‘Why do they accept this treatment?’ If I had such an influential role in something of this extent, I wouldn’t let people treat me the way that some of the Sherpas are treated. After continuing the book and pondering my questions more, I came to a conclusion. The Sherpas are treated this way because the people who climb Mt. Everest usually have lots of money and think that they can treat others with less money in such a rude and mean manner. And the Sherpas accept the