Nick
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Into Thin Air Chapters 6 and 7
Like Shane talked about in the last post, neither race, ethnicity, and religion are common themes or issues throughout this text. But in trying to relate big overarching themes of some of these categories, what Krakeaur and his team led by Rob Hall, experiences in their excursion fall into them. One of the themes that relates with religion along with something that was an issue when they prepare to climb the mountain is faith. Faith is probably one of the most important things to posses when one is going to experience an extreme feat, and during chapter 6, Krakeaur seems to have been lacking faith. He is climbing with people who he is unfamiliar with, and when he sees that some of the climbers put on new and unused boots in begining to climb it he loses a lot of faith as well, and before the reader even gets to the part where everything goes bad, the lack of faith he has plays a huge foreshadow of things to come. Faith is one of the key aspects of religion, if one has faith in a religion, it means that it is their guide in life, if one doesn't have faith, then it has no role in their life. Faith is not something that one can just create, it is what they truely believe. The lack of faith that was seen by Krakeaur may not have been the exact reason why their trek went "into thin air", but it certainly played a role in it and also in the development of the book, it shows a grim foreshadow of things to come.
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ReplyDeleteNick, I especially agree with you when you say "Faith is not something that one can just create, it is what they truly believe". Krakauer obviously wants to have faith in the mission, but he cannot shake the feeling of doubt. Like you said, this is foreshadowing the calamity that is about to take place. It is important to note that while Krakauer feels uncertain about climbing, he ignores his intuition and continues on. I wonder if Krakauer has learned to follow his instincts after this tragic trip.
ReplyDelete-Amanda
I agree with you that Faith is a big part of this text, Nick. All the things you mentioned about trusting your peers, requires faith. I also believe that climbing Everest is something people do to find faith. On the mountain everything is on the line. A climber needs faith in their guides to keep them safe, their peers to support them and their equipment to keep stable. Even for those who climb solo, a climber must find faith in themselves to reach the summit. Being in the ultimate example of natural power must be an incredible experience where a person can truly find themself. That alone can be what some people call a "religous experience."
ReplyDelete-Jordan
Apparently my first comment got "Removed" so here goes again. I totally agree with you Nick in the sense that Krakauer and the whole expedition team believe strongly in faith. THe example you gave where he is unfamiliar with the people he is climbing with and his concerns about them show that he must put his life into the hands of people that he may not necessarily trust. He must have faith in his other counterparts so that way they can tackle the mountain together. Faith in a higher power also seems to be a big thing for many of the climbers, they say "There's no atheists in foxholes" and im sure you could apply that to this journey. Im not an overly faithful person but I have to wonder if myself or anyone else would be looking for help as we conquered that mountain from a higher power.
ReplyDeleteShane, the first comment that was removed was mine just FYI! I made a spelling error haha..
ReplyDelete-Amanda