Preview

Symbolism In Into Thin Air

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
376 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Symbolism In Into Thin Air
IR First Quarter Final Each year climbers flock to Base Camp at the foot of Mt. Everest, spending anywhere from about $15,000 to $114,000 for a shot at the summit. About half of those people make it to the top. 280 people have died trying to climb Everest or make it back down. Yet despite the cost, even your life, the number of attempts and summits is on its way up every year. In Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, Everest stands as symbol of dreams and hopes; for the westerners. To the workers of the mountain, the Sherpas, it was a symbol of God and their way of life. Above all Everest was a symbol that commanded respect. Throughout the book, Krakauer describes the fierce possessiveness people felt towards the mountain. The history of the mountain
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Mccunn And Mccandless Similarities
    • 144 Words
    • 1 Page

    Mccunn And Mccandless Similarities

    Finally in Chapter 8, the reader is given insight into the types of letters Krakauer received, after having previously written an article about McCandless, with most of the incoming mail giving harsh criticism on the young traveler's story for being mentally ill, and unprepared. Yet McCandless isn’t the only one to go off on to a far fetched adventure out into the Alaskan wilderness, as one school teacher put it, with Krakauer offering three other examples of others with stories like McCandless. These other stories of Rosellini, Waterman, and McCunn, also prove Christopher McCandless’s uniqueness despite there being similarities between him and of the many others who shared the same philosophy as McCandless. Different in a sense that McCandless,…

    • 144 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing Krakauer's Thumb 'And Everest'
    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Comparing Krakauer's Thumb 'And Everest'

    Perhaps there is one thing everyone needs to feel accomplished whether that is earning a Master’s Degree or maybe even climbing a mountain. John Krakauer’s and Erik Weihenmeyer’s memoirs of their mountain climbing experiences presented in “The Devils Thumb” and “Everest” show different perspectives and different reasons on why they set out to climb these towering mountains. Both hikers followed their dream while not caring about the countenance of others. The assiduous men set out to climb two different mountains and they both had earned a different outcome out of their accomplishment through the use of tone, perspective, and word choice. Climbing these mountains, one hiker was expecting the accomplishment to change his life while the other hiker was doing it to inspire others.…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of The Novel 'Into The Wild' By Jon Krakauer
    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Analysis Of The Novel 'Into The Wild' By Jon Krakauer

    Krakauer was one of the only people that understood McCandless and why he did what he did. I think this is in part because they are very similar people. Like McCandless, Krakauer loves the wilderness and through another book, Into Thin Air, tells the story of his climb of Mt. Everest. After McCandless is discovered dead in Alaska, Krakauer immediately writes an article about him and defending him against those who spoke negatively about him. He knows McCandless's story and wants to tell people, because it is meaningful. There was more to McCandless than meets the eye and Krakauer felt like it was his responsibility to make this…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Jon Krakauer
    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Jon Krakauer

    To get a full perspective of the mountain and the commercialization, he requests to climb the mountain. A few months pass and his newspaper tell him he can climb Everest. Krakauer will be on the Adventure Consultants team from New Zealand. The mountain is separated into five camps, Base Camp, Camp One, Camp Two, Camp Three, and Camp Four. The team makes the climb well, and not many people are injured on the way up. On the descent a storm rolls in and causes issues with the people still on the top of the…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Into Thin Air
    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Into Thin Air

    One of Jon Krakauer claims is that to climb Mount Everest you have to be a well off individual to pay for a guide who take you up and back down the treacherous mountain. According to Krakauer clients payed 65,000 dollars just for a chances to climb the mountain. Krakauer also focuses on the mistakes and judgment errors made by himself and others in the group.…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Into Thin Air Analysis
    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Into Thin Air Analysis

    Everest will devour all in its icy crevasses and leave one’s thoughts twisted, questioning why they came here in the first place. Into Thin Air, a journalistic view novel by Jon Krakauer, tells of the May 1996 tempest that ominously shadowed Everest, leaving all on the summit oblivious as the storm’s winds growl from a short distance below them. On May 11th when the storm attacks at its full strength, it would leave eight people dying during their summit attempt. Three guides, Rob Hall, Scott Fischer, and Anatoli Boukreev, automatically stood out because as guides one may feel they hold the full responsibility of this tragedy. Rob Hall, was a studied and cerebral person with a calm disposition, he professionally guided and climbed as a main guide for the Adventure Consultants. Scott Fischer was an American mountain guide for Mountain Madness, in which he founded. He was known for his ascents of the world’s highest mountains without…

    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Figurative Language In Into Thin Air
    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Figurative Language In Into Thin Air

    Everest including images to better visualize the text. The author first begins the story in the middle when they are returning to the bottom of the mountain. He tells who didn’t survive or who had contracted a fatal injury he then continues to tell us about the impact of the challenge “… to the tragedy the Everest climb has rocked my LIFE to its core …” (Pg. 3). This quote reflects his perspective on the expedition. His vivid figurative language and exquisite imagery pertaining to every event made the passage not only highly realistic but parallel . It was as if the reader was with him and they struggles and felt lightheaded and experienced the same minor injuries. Although the author was advised not to pursue the expidition, he ignored and continued to walk in his ambitions. “Finally I woke up enough to recognize that I was in deep shit and the cavalry wasn't coming so I better do something about it myself” (Chpt. 20). This quote portrays his perspective on his situation and how he feels about the potential overall outcome of his actions. This quote also reflects his personality as a strong-willed individual. He was able to single handedly accomplish getting to base 4 half-frozen on the verge of death. Not only did he rely on teammates that left but was able to live using strength and determination with his mighty…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Periodic Table by Primo Levi
    • 3594 Words
    • 15 Pages

    The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

    The setting of this novel is somehow between the tenure of the Second World War, where the war was getting smashed into various units with the formation of many warring groups. The main incidents that have been fore grounded are the Nazi regime and its activities, the subjugation and mass slaughter of the Jews, the intervention of the world war in the modern war. As there is also the case of the movement of the family one encounters the description of various mountains and cliffs.…

    • 3594 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Jon Krakauer Character Analysis
    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jon Krakauer Character Analysis

    altitudes such as Everest. He was very honest and admitted when he made a mistake. Krakauer struggled climbing and faced many challenges once the storm arrived. I honestly do not think he was trained enough to be climbing Mt. Everest. As an author, he was very detailed and made sure he knew all the facts about the people in the novel. He was also very sympathetic and told about all the guilt he had from the expedition. Krakauer writes, “My actions or failure to act played a direct role in the death of Andy Harris.” (Krakauer 284). He is a very professional writer and really makes you feel a part of the story. His wording was impeccable and I feel like he did not leave out any details. I loved how he was a very honest person while writing which made me have a lot of respect towards him. I relate to his honesty and bluntness. I personally am a blunt person when it comes to telling the truth. I tell it how it is even if it is not the right way to say it. For Krakauer to be able to write this novel after all the stuff he experienced in this disaster is unbelievable. He witnessed some very tragic things and for him to sit down and write it all out shows how determined he was to get the truth out. I honestly believe that he told his part of the story to the best of his ability. I do not think that he could have made it up. He also knew that the other survivors would read this book and would know if he did not tell the story correctly. Since he seemed very loyal I do not think he would have tried to make himself seem different than his real self. If he had in anyway tried to claim that he had no regrets about the expedition and what happened then I would be hesitant of the type of…

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lack Of Trust In Into Thin Air
    • 1419 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Lack Of Trust In Into Thin Air

    All of the climbers were willing to pay the ultimate price to reach the top of the mountain. I never have thought of anything in the world I would die just to do. The closest thing I would do is sacrifice my body to win the World Series, but I would never die to do it. They climbed up and were ready to give up everything just for the self-satisfaction of climbing the mountain and some hoped for fame. It is ironic that Sandy climbed the mountain for the fame and the publicity and when she got back she was criticized heavily and looked down upon.…

    • 1419 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    1996 Mt. Everest Disaster
    • 1401 Words
    • 6 Pages

    1996 Mt. Everest Disaster

    In 1996, a number of expedition teams ascended Mount Everest. During May, a storm hit Everest, causing lives to be lost. This event is now known as the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, and it brought changes to mountain climbing. Numerous individuals wrote about the events that occurred during this climb. Among these individuals was Jon Krakauer, a writer and member of Rob Hall’s expedition team, who provided his account of the events in his book Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster. Krakauer’s book was met with criticism from other climbers and mountaineers. His credibility was questioned as well because of the effects that high altitudes have on the human body.…

    • 1401 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Into Thin Air
    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Into Thin Air

    The degree of loyalty and teamwork on Everest amplifies potential hazards to professional guides and their fellow clients. In this expedition, ‘guide’ means a leader of group, thus all guides have responsibility to care clients as individual. However, caring those inexperienced climbers at the 8,000 meters above is too extreme for the guides. Shigekawa who is one of Japanese climber on Everest explains that they “were too tired to help. Above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality.” However, in that terrible condition, honorable guide such as Rob Hall has to support his client Doug Hansen. When Hall reaches to South summit to support Doug Hansen to achieve his goal, Doug’s oxygen has run out, and they become stranded at the top. Hall could have left Hansen and descend the mountain for survival, “Hall, however wouldn’t consider going down without Hansen.” Hall is trying to protect his clients until the very end and his loyalty could deserve respect as a leader. As a result, extreme loyalty and trusting between guides and clients brings more death on the expedition.…

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Symbolism In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson
    • 230 Words
    • 1 Page

    Symbolism In The Possibility Of Evil By Shirley Jackson

    In the short story “The Possibility of Evil” Shirley Jackson uses several symbols to tell her story about Miss Strangeworth.One symobol that Shirley Jackson uses are the roses that Miss Strangeworth holds dear in her heart.The roses are a symbol of what she loves in the story showing that she loves nothing else just her roses. Another symbol that Shirley Jackson gives is the letters that Miss Strangeworth writes to people about what she doesn't like about them.The letter represent the evil in Miss Strangeworth, and the hate in her heart throw out the story you will find out that she writes these to people in secret and talks bad of them and points out what she doesn't like. Shirley Jackson gives us another symbol and it's the lock door in…

    • 230 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Personal Narrative-Base Camp
    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Personal Narrative-Base Camp

    There is nothing more menacing, more intimidating, more alluring than the prospect of conquering a mountain.…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Kite Runner Symbolism Analysis
    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Kite Runner Symbolism Analysis

    Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner describes the effects of social levels when a boy betrays his friend in time of need. Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara. The social differences between the boys impact Amir’s actions when he encounters Hassan in a situation of sexual abuse, yet he chooses to run away instead of helping; a regret he carries over the years. The symbolism in this story provides a deeper insight on how Amir and Hassan’s friendship progressed over the years through kites, slingshots and a pomegranate tree.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics