Sacrifice In Peak

Putting yourself in danger to save others takes a huge amount of courage. This is called sacrifice. In the book Peak, by Roland Smith, every character experiences different types of sacrifice, whether they are endangering themselves, their reputation or other people. From Peak sacrificing himself so that Sun-jo would be safe, to Josh sacrificing his job for Peaks safety, and the Sherpas and porters sacrificing their jobs so that Zopa would be set free. Every character has a choice in this book and it’s up to them if they want to risk losing everything they have, including their lives. In the book Peak, it gives great examples of arduous challenges and characters showing many acts of bravery by sacrificing themselves, their reputation, or their

There are many different types of sacrifice. The most common sacrifice is when people put themselves in danger to help their loved ones or people in need. Later in the book Josh explains to Peak that he feels like he owes a huge debt to Zopa and Sun-jo. “Two years ago Sun-jo’s father saved my life.”(183) “The man who saved my life died not four feet away from me.”(184) Sun-jo’s father, Ki-tar was a Sherpa. He died saving Peak’s dad Josh in a terrible blizzard on the mountain K2. Josh was the only one who survived in the frightful blizzard. He sat there watching all his team members die and he too was close to death. With little chance of survival, Ki-tar stumbled up the mountain in the horrible conditions and risked his life to save one climber. Soon after he rescued Josh, Ki-tar died in the bed next to Josh. Josh feels like he owes a debt to Sun-jo and Sun-jo’s

In the chapter Family History, Peak is on the phone with his mother. His mother says, “I quit because of you.”(182) His mom is talking about how she quit her climbing career, not because she had fallen, but for Peak. When she fell off the climbing wall in her backyard it really opened up her eyes. She was afraid of something really terrible happening to her that will cause her not to see Peak again. So she sacrificed her job to take care of her son, even though it was a risk because they needed the money. Also, in the book Zopa gets arrested by Captain Shek because the Captain assumed that Sun-jo was on the mountain illegally(which he was). All of the porters and Sherpas risked their jobs and tried to get Zopa out of the situation. Over a walkie, Josh states, “As soon as the porters and Sherpas herd about Zopa’s arrest, they all gathered around Shek’s headquarters to hold a silent vigil. Shek tried to disperse them, but they wouldn 't budge.”(175) The Sherpas and porters really care about Zopa and they were willing to sacrifice their important jobs to save him. Sherpas and porters are from a country that is pretty poor. When they held the silent vigil they sacrificed not only themselves but their families. Lastly, in the very beginning of the book Peak got in trouble with the law for climbing and tagging skyscrapers. Josh had left all his customers at base camp