Month: May 2016

When Simon was holding the rope for Joe to get down there was a lot of teamwork involved. It was very dangerous because If either Joe or Simon falls off, both of the climbers will fall and die in the crevasse. There is no metaphor in this sentence because it was literal. “Any fall requiring a rope to stop it was going to be fatal: neither of us would stand a chance”.The climbers were at high risk. If any person holding a rope falls there is no chances of survival. They will fall and die in the crevasse.

“uncrossable gap had come between us”

Simpson uses a Metaphor to talk about the decline in their relationship, he describes it as an uncrossable gap that developed between them. They do not work together and feel seperate like there is a gap between then, all emotional links are broken. It can not be crossed so there is no way of repairing the relationship in this situation . After Joe broke his leg Simon knew that it was dangerous for both of them to continue descending on the mountain. Joe was disadvantaged and since Joe and Simon had to work together Simon was now at risk if Joe fails he would take Simon with him and die, climbing the mountain is dangerous but now it was extremely dangerous, almost impossible for Joe to survive. Simon believed that Joe will die, he rather not talk about It. This feeling developed a void in between the two climbers, this made it more dangerous as the team work was essential to their survival. “uncrossable gap had come between us” because both of the climbers believed that Joe will die, and rather not talk to avoid this topic.

58

“I felt a moment of anxiety only minutes before Simon had fallen”

Joe foreshadows anxiety of falling down the crevase. He says that he is afraid of a case of one of them falling and bringing the other with him.

150

“he was dead and I wasn’t, but that was no reason for tormenting myself”

In this quote Joe guesses that Simon feels guilty but right. He feels that even though he cut the rope he did the right thing by saving himself from death,if both of them fell then both could have died or been seriously injured.

“stepped into the freezing water”

this could suggest that Simon needed to wash himself off the bad memories and clean the dirt of him, wash his sins for killing Joe. It could be like trying to start a new clean life like a form of baptism.

141

“The voice was clean sharp and commanding. It was always right”

In this quote joe says that he heard a voice. He says that the voice was commanding and clear on what he has to do, and that he always followed it because it was right. This voice was his survival instinct and his will to survive and it said what he needs to do to get out . If he lisens to it then he wants to live.

“I set about obeying the orders of the voice”

this tells me that the voice took over Joe’s mind and it was controling him and that Joe wanted to survive so he obeyed his survival instinct.

145

“I just stared at them blankly untill the voice called me”

In this quote Joe says he was split in two becasue one side was telling him to give up and relax while the other side was demandning and put him back together so he does not waste time and moves on to survive.

146

“I was looking at the ice figures , the next i was alone again and the cliff, mysteriosly , was behind me”

This quote talks about Joe’s hallucinations which could be a sign of insanity or being exposed to too much cold. He halucinates about seeing ice figures but then he wakes up having superstitious thoughts about the cliff behind him by refering to it as misteriouis. This could show that Joe is feeling very bad and he is loosing his mind.

170

” I burned his ghost yesterday ”

This could mean tat Simon felt like he had got rid of the last of Joe and that when he did the ceremony of buring Joe’s clothes he burned his spirit too and now it is like Joe never existed, and Simon feels like he should be forgoten

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