TOW #8: Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (IRB, written)

This week, I finished reading Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. Throughout the book, Krakauer wrote about a very personal experience at Mount Everest during the Mount Everest disaster that happened in 1996. Started just from a curiosity and affinity for adventure, Krakauer’s expedition had not only taught him way more than about Mount Everest, but also changed his life completely. Even after returning home safely, Krakauer feels guilty for the deaths that have occurred within his travel group and wrote this book as a way to compensate and express his sorrow to the families of dead travelers. Although their death was not Krakauer’s fault, Krakauer’s intended audiences are the families of victims, who might have suffered even more due to Krakauer’s flawed article for Outside magazine on the deaths of the victims. Krakauer especially uses a sorrowful tone to deliver the truth about what actually happened during the horrifying expedition. Krakauer establishes his sorrowful tone from the very beginning by stating in his introduction, “The plain truth is that I knew better but went to Everest anyway. And in doing so I was a party to the death of good people, which is something that is apt to remain on my conscience for a very long time” (Krakauer XVII). He shows his regret and guilt by stating that he did not listen to the others who told him not to go, and that he is partly responsible for the deaths of those who died and that fact will remain in him for the rest on his life. Krakauer does not just end there, but again establishes his sorrow at the end in the author’s note, “my intent in the magazine piece, and to an even greater degree in this book, was to tell what happened on the mountain as accurately and honestly as possible, and to do it in a sensitive, respectful manner” (Krakauer 303). He again apologizes and states his true purpose of writing this book, to express his guilt and plead forgiveness although the families of the victims do not condemn him for the deaths. After reading this book, the audience not only understands his sorrow and guilt, but also feels sorry for Krakauer.