Dealing with a traumatic experience can be very difficult for one to overcome. Jon Krakauer, a journalist and avid climber, was contracted to write a story for Odyssey magazine about climbing Mount Everest. While coming down from the mountain, the expedition group experienced many incidents which caused all but 2 of the members to die. Krakauer was uneasy about the expedition to begin with, but coming home as 1 of 2 survivors severely affected his life after the accident. In Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air he uses diction and details to reveal his purpose of showing us his guilt, remorse and how persevering given that many of his climbing partners have died.
One method Krakauer uses to reveal his purpose is diction. When describing the aftermath …show more content…
During my conversation with Jan, she spent more time confronting me [...]” (Krakauer 282). While describing the phone calls Krakauer uses words such as stewing, put off, diminish, and bewilderment. By using words with a nervous, uneasy connotation, he is showing us he is not enjoying talking to the significant others of Rob and Andy because he feels guilty. These uneasy words reveals his purpose in writing this paragraph, is to show his guilt and the struggle he is going through dealing with the death of his expedition friends. Similarly, he uses more diction to show us he is trying to persevere through losing his expedition mates. Krakauer is describing how he knew climbing would be risky but the rush he got overtaken by his emotions. He states, “it was titillating to brush up against the enigma of mortality, to steal a glimpse across its forbidden frontier. Climbing was a magnificent activity [...] not in spite of the inherent perils [...]” (Krakauer 282). While describing the rush of climbing he uses the words titillating, …show more content…
When reflecting on the deaths of his friends, Krakauer describes specific facts about the descent from the summit and illustrates the deaths of each of his expedition mates. From the expedition, “Only Mike Groom and I made it back down [...] failure to act-played a direct role in the death of Andy Harris” (Krakauer 283). Krakauer is reflecting on how he could have done more in saving the lives of his teammates and just how many people came home. By giving us these facts about who came back and Andy Harris’ death he is revealing just how guilty he feels. Letting us into this guilt establishes his purpose of revealing his guilt and remorse and causes the audience to also feel the way he is feeling. Similarly, he describes his failure to act after summiting Mount Everest to continue to reveal his purpose. After coming down from the summit, Krakauer was very disoriented and could not function very well from the exhaustion and lack of oxygen. He returns to the camp and retires to his tent not feeling very well. While “[...] Yasuko Namba lay dying in the south co, I was a mere 350 yards away [...]” (Krakauer 283). Again, he is reflecting on how his actions could have saved someone in his group and how he feels guilty and selfish for not helping Namba. By showing us reflection he is telling us about his guilt remorse of not doing while people were dying. Also, by putting all the blame on
One method Krakauer uses to reveal his purpose is diction. When describing the aftermath …show more content…
During my conversation with Jan, she spent more time confronting me [...]” (Krakauer 282). While describing the phone calls Krakauer uses words such as stewing, put off, diminish, and bewilderment. By using words with a nervous, uneasy connotation, he is showing us he is not enjoying talking to the significant others of Rob and Andy because he feels guilty. These uneasy words reveals his purpose in writing this paragraph, is to show his guilt and the struggle he is going through dealing with the death of his expedition friends. Similarly, he uses more diction to show us he is trying to persevere through losing his expedition mates. Krakauer is describing how he knew climbing would be risky but the rush he got overtaken by his emotions. He states, “it was titillating to brush up against the enigma of mortality, to steal a glimpse across its forbidden frontier. Climbing was a magnificent activity [...] not in spite of the inherent perils [...]” (Krakauer 282). While describing the rush of climbing he uses the words titillating, …show more content…
When reflecting on the deaths of his friends, Krakauer describes specific facts about the descent from the summit and illustrates the deaths of each of his expedition mates. From the expedition, “Only Mike Groom and I made it back down [...] failure to act-played a direct role in the death of Andy Harris” (Krakauer 283). Krakauer is reflecting on how he could have done more in saving the lives of his teammates and just how many people came home. By giving us these facts about who came back and Andy Harris’ death he is revealing just how guilty he feels. Letting us into this guilt establishes his purpose of revealing his guilt and remorse and causes the audience to also feel the way he is feeling. Similarly, he describes his failure to act after summiting Mount Everest to continue to reveal his purpose. After coming down from the summit, Krakauer was very disoriented and could not function very well from the exhaustion and lack of oxygen. He returns to the camp and retires to his tent not feeling very well. While “[...] Yasuko Namba lay dying in the south co, I was a mere 350 yards away [...]” (Krakauer 283). Again, he is reflecting on how his actions could have saved someone in his group and how he feels guilty and selfish for not helping Namba. By showing us reflection he is telling us about his guilt remorse of not doing while people were dying. Also, by putting all the blame on