Mountain climbing is a very tough activity that includes years of training before someone is ready to complete an exhilarating climb. Looking around the world, there are many amazing places to climb. Although two of the most difficult and intense climbs include the Devil’s Thumb in Alaska and Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on earth. “Everest,” by Erik Weihenmayer and “The Devils Thumb,” by Jon Krakauer have some similarities and some differences in terms of the author’s perspective, organization structure, and tone and word choice. As the two authors wrote, they showed their struggles and feats of every situation through words. With those words, they created visual images for the reader and enhanced their imagination of the journey. In “The Devil’s Thumb,” the author’s prospective in the story is determination. Throughout the story, Krakauer explains the importance of making it to the top. Krakauer stated, “Most of all, I couldn't stomach the thought of having to endure the …show more content…
As the author writes, it comes clear to the reader of how much completing this climb means to him and how determined he is to go through with it and conquer the climb, but he also shows his excitement throughout the journey. “Wind and horizontal snow takedown our suits and covered us with a layer of ice,” one example stated by Weihenmayer that the climb was very difficult, but the team had to push through with determination. Throughout the story, Weihenmayer explains every tough situation of the climb, like this one, that he had to struggle to overcome. He continues to push through to complete the climb because of his determination and with every obstacle conquered his excitement is visible. As Weihenmayer stated, ‘“We’re on the top. I can’t believe we’re on the top,’” is an example of the excitement showed after completing the climb. By saying this, the reader can feel the joy and excitement of the
Many of them are inexperienced and would undoubtedly never make it to the top without a guide. The one unifying characteristic shared by all of the climbers is that they have money—enough to shell out $65,000 a piece for their shot at the top. Krakauer spends long chapters giving his best, most educated guesses about why climbers made certain decisions, and what happened to the people who disappeared. This is an exercise that must result in major frustration, as no one can be entirely sure what took place. Many mistakes later, Krakauer manages to piece together an outline of what happened to whom and when during the climb, but the questions he struggles with in almost every situation are "why" and "how".
As Krakauer and other skilled team members climb farther up the mountain they encounter struggling members of other groups and the experienced Lopsang on the ground vomiting after enduring the climb with 80 pounds of equipment and aiding Pittman. This chapter can be classified as part of the rising action. Response
Peak loves to climb and is doing it for the money, the publicity, and his passion for climbing. There have been small conflicts like how josh came into into an argument with George about his heart problems. But there has been a much bigger picture of survival this book has
As Tom and Brendan discuss plans for the future and their climb to Mount Everest Base Camp, Tom reaches the top of the hill with ease for the first time. “We’d reached the top of the ascent. I’d made it without even realising”. This revelation allows Tom to reflect how far he has come, and he realises how much he has changed with the help of Uncle Brendan and Chrissy. Tom’s thoughts of “shedding with each kilometre, like layers of skin falling onto the track” as he ran with Brendan, are a similie by J.C. Burke, as Tom removes each layer of his depression and leaves it on the mountain.
I was on top of the Devils Thumb.” (Krakauer, 153) However, when he got off the mountain no one believed that he climbed the mountain. He tried telling several people about his trip and none of them would take him seriously. He soon lost his happiness he soon went back to his same old life.
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.
The entire day had been a struggle as we slipped on the various rocks underneath our feet as we made our way up Mt. Phillips. Every ten minutes our Scoutmaster, Mr. Britton, would gleefully shout, and “Come on boys, just a little more climbing and we will be at the top.” Although I wanted to believe him, I was running out of energy. This was the most difficult challenge I had ever faced in my seventeen years of life
When Krakauer reached the summit, he noticed the clouds changing; a storm was coming, and he needed to descend as fast as he could (pg. 242). As many calamities there were while ascending Everest, descending proved to be the primary
For people who don’t know anything about Everest or climbing in general, Krakauer dives into the history and technicality of climbing Everest. Only after describing every incident leading up to the summit, Krakauer begins detailing the events and mistakes during the storm that ended up killing thirteen people. The storm leaves Krakauer and many other survivors shaken, the only thing left is to see how the deaths on Everest end up affecting friends and family. There is no real ending to this book, it was only meant to purge Krakauer of the guilt and shame Everest left him with. The only resolution is for Krakauer getting as accurate of an account of the event as he could
By the end of the story, Krakauer informs the reader that climbing the mountain had allowed him to grow as a person. He states “Climbing the Devils Thumb, however, had nudged me from the innocence of childhood. It taught me something about what mountains can and can’t do, about the limits of dreams” (page 141). This reveals how the risk Krakauer takes changes him. It pushes him away from the childish innocence that had convinced him to climb the mountain in the first place.
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.
, it is important to note that the characters portrayed in this book are real people. The unique conditions and the weather of the setting forced the climbers to make choices that they could not have made in a different situation. The tough choices made by the climbers and the setting influenced the result of the story. Krakauer’s tone for the most part is respectful toward the guides and climbers, and he narrates as objectively as possible, while including his own concerns and doubts. His tone in the beginning expresses excitement and nervousness, but later turns into
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.
He gripped the nearest rock and held on tight . After he started climbing once again , Howard remembered his mission , and the more thought he gave it the more energized he felt . He began to climb faster . Howard reached the top .
When completing a long climb, one first experiences dizziness, disorientation and shortness of breath due to the high altitude, but once you become accustomed to the climb, your mind opens up to the tranquility of the triumph" (Bozeman, par 4 and 8). Bozeman describes the 3 challenges that the graduating class had to overcome in order to reach the hilltop, using vivid language to create a visual image of the physical struggle involved in the climb, highlighting the idea that great struggle is required to achieve enlightenment. he concludes by highlighting the rewards of the climb, suggesting that once the graduates become accustomed to the climb, their minds will open up to the tranquility of the triumph. He appeals to the audience's logical thinking to encourage and inspire the graduating class to persevere in the face of challenges and to strive for greatness. Both speakers use logos effectively to make their arguments appeal to the audience's rationality.