The Loss Of Characters In Into Thin Air By Jon Krakauer

The events covered in the novel, Into Thin Air, are no doubt, tragic. People however, aren’t taking the time to mourn the deaths of the explorers, but are playing the blame game. After reading Jon Krakauer’s account of the expedition, I feel that blame could be put onto any group of people. One group of people that could be held the most responsible are the clients. There are two main ways they contributed the most to the deaths. They were exhausted and desperate to reach the top. “Not wanting to jeopardize their ascent by stopping to assist him{Paljor}, the Japanese continued climbing...we were too tired to help…”(Krakauer 253) The team of Japanese climbers that continued climbing were described as, “overcome by summit fever.”(Krakauer 252).

Paljor was possibly dying in the cold, but the team left him behind to die, just so they might be able to reach the summit of Mount Everest. After weeks of climbing in terrible conditions, their bodies weren’t in the best shape. Some people were “unable to cope with the complexities”(Krakauer 239), of climbing Everest. People felt unable to do anything for themselves, let alone other people. Because of their exhaustion, and their selfishness, the clients were responsible for letting others die. Another contributing factor to the climbers’ deaths were some of the guides’ oversights and mistakes. “Boukreev had come down...hours before anyone else...so far ahead of his clients - extremely unorthodox behaviour for a guide.”(Krakauer 218). Anatoli Boukreev was a Russian guide present for the disastrous 1996 climb. The summit was reached by his party, on May 10th, 1996. He left the summit early, abandoning his clients. That day, many people died. They didn’t have their guide, and may have had a chance had their guide stayed with them. Another guide, Robert Hall, got himself, and a client,