Suspense And Tension In Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air

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Have you ever wanted to prove to everyone that you are a hard worker that is willing to give up everything to go on an adventure? If this is you than Everest is the perfect place for you. A great deal of Everest’s dangers are expressed in his book which should either inspire you to try this journey or sway you away from the treacherous mountain. In the story, “ Into Thin Air,” by Jon Krakauer a true story is told of a dangerous voyage up and down Everest. The climb up was arduous and long according to Jon, but the climbers sacrificed everything to get to the top, which most of the climbers achieved. However, emotions shifted when a storm swooped in and killed many of the climbers that were stuck on the summit, around 12-19 in total. The devices …show more content…

A quote where he uses this device is, “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.” pg. 11. In this quote Jon generates suspense by telling people in the first chapter of the story that even though he has made it to the top, the journey down was much worse than the journey up. This gives the audience the feeling of anticipation because they want to know what happened on the climb down and how dangerous the mountain is as it is portrayed to be. It generates the feeling to learn more which is what the author intended so everyone could learn the dark truth of Everest’s history from it’s expeditions. Jon also creates tension in this quote by describing how his friends will meet their end because of the time wasted from their enjoyment at the top of the summit. He gave the readers a feeling of depression and confusion that would come from the deaths of his friends that was passed on to the readers as they felt angry and emotionally distressed from the loss of these good natured people. This tension is strongly shown by his struggle to cope with the losses of his teammates from early in chapter 1 from the foreshadowing device, showing the reader how these devices can be used to generate feelings of tension and

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