You know, in Lord of the Flies the boys shake spears.
Haha, pun.
So, here's a fun topic. I'm sure none of you have ever heard of it before...just kidding.
I'm about to read literature not just like a professor, but like a boss.
So, SPOILER ALERT
The tragic hero of Into Thin Air is Rob Hall, the fearless leader of the group of climbers in May of 1996. Ole Robby is a New Zealander, which means he's basically an Australian, which gives him compassion points already. You can almost feel the warm, kind emotions in the sounds of his South Pacific twang.
I like to think that Australians and New Zealanders are one tier lower than Canadians on the kindness scale. I mean, if one of the most known words of a certain nationality's lexicon is a greeting (G'day mate), you know they're a welcoming people. That is, to tourists.
Not to immigrants.
Sorry, not getting political...
[NOTE: I'M GONNA USE LITERARY PAST TENSE, INSTEAD OF PRESENT BECAUSE ROB HALL WAS A REAL PERSON AND I'M A REBEL.]
Anyway, so Rob Hall devoted his life to helping amateur climbers up the most difficult mountain to climb. Scott Fischer, one of his rivals and friends, called Adventure Consultants, the company Rob runs, as a hand-holding service up the mountain. Which is what it is. Rob is the mentor and savior of all these people. Because...wait for it...he's a Christ figure!!!
Let's go through the list...
He was 35 years old when he died. Jesus was 33. He was an agony when he died, and he was self-sacrificing. Again, like Jesus. He stayed with Doug on the peak of the mountain even though he could've left...he stayed with his clients til the end and it cost him his life.
He used humble modes of transportation, including help from Sherpas, his own feet, and donkeys.
He spent time alone in the wilderness!
He had a group of followers, these climber disciples, if you will.
He made a lot of parables-that is, he spoke eloquently with comparisons, saying that their bodies will be literally dying and they'll be at the cruising altitude of a Boeing 747.
[Imagine I'm reading that in an Australian accent.]
And...that's about it.
The truth is, this book is nonfiction, so it's hard to see intentional literary motifs and symbols. It's pretty easy to take any character and find ways to Christ-ify them. So any presumptions of Christ-hood are purely speculation, since the book details real events and was written by a journalist, and not Thomas C. Foster.
So, if he's a tragic hero, his fatal flaw would be his ambition in getting up the mountain. He doesn't enforce his turn around time to get down from the peak because he wants to see his climbers, particularly Doug, fulfill their dream, and recklessly, he lets Doug get to the top of the mountain, thus guaranteeing his downfall.
But wait...is he a Christ figure or a tragic hero? Or both?
Eh, I'd like to keep it open ended. I've given you the facts, now it's up to you to make the decision.
He was 35 years old when he died. Jesus was 33. He was an agony when he died, and he was self-sacrificing. Again, like Jesus. He stayed with Doug on the peak of the mountain even though he could've left...he stayed with his clients til the end and it cost him his life.
He used humble modes of transportation, including help from Sherpas, his own feet, and donkeys.
He spent time alone in the wilderness!
He had a group of followers, these climber disciples, if you will.
He made a lot of parables-that is, he spoke eloquently with comparisons, saying that their bodies will be literally dying and they'll be at the cruising altitude of a Boeing 747.
[Imagine I'm reading that in an Australian accent.]
And...that's about it.
The truth is, this book is nonfiction, so it's hard to see intentional literary motifs and symbols. It's pretty easy to take any character and find ways to Christ-ify them. So any presumptions of Christ-hood are purely speculation, since the book details real events and was written by a journalist, and not Thomas C. Foster.
So, if he's a tragic hero, his fatal flaw would be his ambition in getting up the mountain. He doesn't enforce his turn around time to get down from the peak because he wants to see his climbers, particularly Doug, fulfill their dream, and recklessly, he lets Doug get to the top of the mountain, thus guaranteeing his downfall.
But wait...is he a Christ figure or a tragic hero? Or both?
Eh, I'd like to keep it open ended. I've given you the facts, now it's up to you to make the decision.
Let's have a sophisticated discussion in the comments below about what Rob Hall is, filled with text jargon and emojis.