Jon Krakauer Into Thin Air

I felt connected to the true story Into Thin Air, written by Jon Krakauer. I felt this strong connection because of the climbers: Beck Weathers and Rob Hall. Beck Weathers is a doctor with strong political opinions that he knows how to back up. I am not a doctor, but I do have strong political opinions that I know how to support. Both Beck and I are known for having political rants. Some of my friends warn other people, like Beck’s fellow climbers warn Krakauer, not to get into political arguments with me because I will argue my point and disagree with you for as long as possible. I felt a special connection to Rob Hall because he reminded me of my dad. My dad likes to plan our trips meticulously; like Rob Hall plans his team’s entire trek

Nobody suspected that by the end of that long day, every minute would matter” (Krakauer 9). The reason that is a cliffhanger is because after finishing chapter one on the top of Everest, chapter two is written about 1852, when the first expeditions of Everest are occurring. Another cliffhanger that Krakauer puts in Into Thin Air is that after he finally describes the emotional events that occurred on May 10th and 11th, he writes a whole chapter about what is happening on the other side of the mountain. Krakauer chose to write that chapter to calm the readers down from the emotional rollercoaster he just put them onto. In addition to cliffhangers, Krakauer uses foreshadowing. Krakauer first uses foreshadowing in chapter 3; “One climber’s actions can affect the welfare of the whole team” (47). Krakauer wrote that to make the readers think about what the causes of the disaster might have been. Krakauer also used foreshadowing to describe the disaster when writing Jan Arnold’s assumption of Rob Hall, “Rob’s feeling was that it wouldn’t be him; he was just worried about having to save another team’s ass’” (64). Krakauer wrote that quote not only for foreshadowing, but for irony because it was not Rob’s team saving another, it was another team saving Rob’s. In regards to having to help another team, Rob Hall also feels, “‘With so many incompetent people on the mountain,’ […] ‘I think it’s pretty unlikely that we’ll get through this season without something bad happening up high’” (Krakauer 130). Krakauer wrote this quote to show that even though the climbers did not see the storm coming, they felt the bad omens of a disaster coming. Krakauer’s choice to write this way is part of the