Into Thin Air: The Importance Of Self-Preservation

In the book 'Into Thin Air', by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer tells his tale of climbing the tallest mountain in the world, Mt. Everest. He was given this opportunity by Outside Magazine which he worked for. At first he was just supposed to write an article about the commercialism on the massive mountain. He later decides he actually wants to climb it. Little did Krakauer know he was about to take on the most disastrous trip up Everest ever. There was a large amount of money that needed to be paid to pursue this expedition. This money would cover the cost for being guided and getting prepared for this crazy trip. The helpful guide of professionals that had climbed Everest many times before were there. Having the guides there didn't mean everyone would be safe and certified survival. Many deaths occured on this certain trip. Even the two professionals hadn't been so lucky and had died. It seems that the guides had some responsibility for others but self-preservation is definitely the bottom line here. Self-preservation is the protection of oneself from harm or death, especially regarded as a basic instinct in human beings and animals. Being on a mountain in below zero degrees you would need to protect yourself from freezing to death. Everything going on is very unpredictable and you can sometimes protect yourself from the unknown but usually that's not how it goes. It could be as simple as needing to …show more content…
The poor-judgment would take a toll on all of them. The unpredictable weather of the mountain would contribute to this terrible ordeal. There weren't many guides to keep track of every single person on the trip so it was already not very good. They had to use self-preservation mostly. When all the guides had passed due to the extreme conditions of Mt. Everest everyone didn't have much hope. Having to protect themselves from danger and death was difficult especially on the deadliest season in history of