Jon Krakauer Compare And Contrast Essay

It is interesting to see how people’s stories can seem to be so similar outwardly without that being the case at all. This can be shown in the similarities and differences of the lives of Jon Krakauer and Erik Weihenmayer. Climbing mountains was what these two had in common. These two men, who had both loved climbing since they were young, were both incredible climbers and also writers. They each wrote a memoir concerning one specific climb that had had an effect on his life, as well as other novels. This means that strangely enough, both men loved mountain climbing and writing. Although their situation was similar, Jon Krakauer and Erik Weihenmayer had had different experiences and we can see this in their actions and in their writing. They

In this writing, Weihenmayer has a much more positive outlook than Krakauer had. The story is from a blind man’s perspective and it is actually more exciting than the last one. His trip was planned and he was prepared. Because of his positive outlook and disability, readers sympathize with him. Though we don’t learn it at first, the main character, Weihenmayher himself, is blind. This makes the story interesting as he cannot describe what he sees. He utilizes his other senses, however. Reading a story from a blind man’s perspective is really interesting. It is a totally different experience. One is able imagine what is going on and see it in his head. It actually seems, throughout a lot of the story, that he is not even blind. The reader can forget and simply see him as a person. This really adds to the main perspective of the story. By focusing on the human aspect over the so-called disability, we put each other at the same level. This is extremely encouraging and inspiring. It is much different from the theme of “The Devil’s Thumb,” because they basically teach the opposite thing. “The Devil’s Thumb” warns of dreams and “Everest” encourages