Into Thin Air Blog 1

  The author of the book, Into Thin Air mainly uses the literary device of imagery and slanted imagery. He is telling about his experience climbing Mt. Everest, and the disasters that took place there. The author does a really good job describing the scenery, and the conditions of the camps, and the climb. The following is a quote detailing the Icefall of the Southern Slope of Mt. Everest. "I meandered through a vertical maze of crystalline blue stalagmites. Sheer rock buttresses seamed with ice pressed in from both sides of the glacier, rising like the shoulders of a malevolent god. Absorbed by my surroundings and the gravity of labor, I lost myself in the unfettered pleasures of assent, and for an hour or two, actually forgot to be afraid." The imagery of one's natural surroundings is very important to the book, being a memoir or a story. Writing a memoir, this display of imagery and comparison is very helpful and interesting, which also suits me because I love to travel and if I were to write a memoir my travels would have to be endorsed.
         Slanted imagery also takes place in the book, for there is a certain bias from the author. The author mainly glorifies mountain climbing. He neglects to acknowledge how much strain the schedules of people like him and their deaths put on families. Almost all of the author's team has a family, and the author has already stated that six of them die. The imagery he uses mainly describes the great feelings while climbing a mountain, like the cold wind, the rush of adrenaline, and the sheer size of the mountain. The fantastical side of me ooh-ed and aw-ed at this, while the practical side of me kept on saying, "stay away from the extremes." I think the slanted imagery was used to slightly cover up the sheer stupidity of some of their choices. If one has a dream, one should follow it, but if that dream was created by a lust for thrill, then I think some cognitive functions should be put to uses.
         One more literary device that the author uses is blatant foreshadowing. In the very first chapter, the author tells how many people died in that one expedition and how many more were injured. All throughout the book, the author tells the history of attempts to climb Mt. Everest, along with how many people died, and sometimes where their bodies were found. It is evident that a lot of the people (and probably most of my favorite characters) will die during the book, but the author intentionally leaves when they die an how they die open as food for thought. A quote of stimulating foreshadowing follows: "None of them imagined that a horrible ordeal was drawing nigh. Nobody suspected that by the end of that long day, every minute would matter." I still wonder about what he meant, and when I'm going to get to that part.
         Both imagery and foreshadowing are very important, to a memoir and a story. Both literary devices provide the reader with a picture in their head, and a mood. If I have missed anything, or misunderstood information, please let me know.


                                This is a picture of the Icefall, as mentioned in the first quote.