Symbolism In Into Thin Air

Just as fish cannot survive out of water, humans cannot survive out of oxygen. In parallel, just as fish do not belong on land, humans do not belong on Everest. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is a firsthand account of the climbers’ fatal attempt to make their way to the top of No Man’s Land, 29,000 feet in the sky. The climbers risked everything--their marriages, their careers, their savings accounts, their lives, just to prove that they could survive as fish out of water--however, they forgot what happens after fish flop around on the shore: they stop. The constant battle for survival on Everest illustrates Krakauer’s theme that nature cannot be tamed by man and all who try to defeat the forces of Earth face fatal consequences of their arrogance.

The lack of oxygen at such extreme altitudes is a telltale sign that humans do not belong on the mountain. Altitude sickness, called hypoxia, results in symptoms such as extreme fatigue, poor appetite, dehydration, nausea, fluid in lungs, confusion and poor judgment (caused by brain swelling), swelling in the face, and other symptoms equally as detrimental to a mountain climber (Krakauer 141). Eventually, altitude sickness becomes High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE), a disease which fills the lungs with fluid. Ngawang Topche Sherpa began suffering HAPE early on in the expedition. Within weeks, rescue teams met the climbers on the mountain and evacuated Ngawang, frothing at the mouth, vomiting everywhere, blue in the face, and under eighty pounds. Efforts to save Ngawang were fruitless, and he died within months (Krakauer 148). Every climber on Everest is susceptible to the same fate: the mountain has no mercy to

The answer is simple: the westerners suffered the most severe fatal flaw-- hubris. An expedition on Everest costs 65,000 dollars, already narrowing the clientele to ridiculously wealthy adults with a month to spare and a massive “rainy day” fund. For some, the expedition was a lifelong dream, a box to check off in the bucket list. For others, it was a publicity stunt. For very few, it was a reasonable goal that they could accomplish with proper training and acclimatization. Krakauer recalls the incompetence of his climbing companions: “I wasn’t sure what to make of my fellow clients. In outlook and experience they were nothing like the hardcore climbers with whom I usually went into the mountains” (Krakauer 46). Boukreev, a highly experienced guide traveling alongside Hall’s expedition, highlighted this in his book The Climb: “In 1996, more than four hundred people would eventually come up the trail and pitch their tents, giving the camp the appearance of a rock concert encampment. One climber described the 1996 Everest Base Camp as having all the appearances of ‘a circus, except there were more clowns in our tents’” (The New York Times). Reviewing the past experience that the climbers had, one would not be surprised at the eight deaths that occurred during the 1996 disaster. However, the leader of the Expedition, Rob Hall, boasted that he had built a “yellow brick road” to