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Katelin Foley
Mrs. Crichton
AP Language
2 December 2013
High Stakes
Style can affect the reader immensely, even in the smallest of stylistic points. One can
influence someone through many aspects of writing. In both Into Thin Air and Where Men Win
Glory Jon Krakauer writes in a distinct style and tone to convey his opinions of life and death
and other everyday topics that affect everyone. In each book he conveys his own opinions of
these subjects through an array of techniques. In these two books he changes his tone, diction,
syntax, and perspective to communicate his personal views and to project his views onto the
reader. His juxtaposition in the way he writes in each book is due to the different subject matter.
In one book he writes a sort of a memoir in honor of Pat Tillman, Where Men Win Glory, and in
the other he writes of a perilous, incredulous, sad adventure into the heights of the planet. These
everyday subjects affect and relate to everyone.
Mr. Krakauer changes his tone in each book to convey different feelings. In Where Men
Win Glory the author writes with a sense of somberness and regret to convey a feeling of respect
for Pat Tillman and his fellow military men. In this book, death, in the early stages, is referred to
like a sad, tragic event. It is written with sorrow. He refers to Tillman as the antithesis of a
bully and that he was overachieving which shows his respect for Tillman (Where Men Win
Glory 24; xxix). And when discussing Tillmans death he describes it as a tragedy which shows
his sadness towards the mans, who he did not even know, death (Where Men Win Glory xxix).
On the other hand in Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer writes with a matter-of-fact tone. He states the
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facts of death with simplicity and with detail but very few emotional and sensory words. Until
the death that he personally experiences he is very nonchalant in his writing of the deaths of
others. For example, when Krakauer describes the long, agonizing death of a sherpa, a member
of a climbing team who is Nepalese and helps carry equipment and is not a client, he says, By
mid-June Ngawang would be dead leaving behind a wife and four daughters in Rolwaling (Into
Thin Air 118). He describes this death with severe nonchalance and does not speak with any
opinion but simply states the facts of the death. He describes death in these two books to elicit a
different reaction from the reader. In the case of Into Thin Air he portrays death, initially so
simply as if to say death is a thing of common occurrence on Mount Everest, which it is. While
in Where Men Win Glory he uses sad emotions and descriptions to create a sense of tragedy and
horrid discontentment. This portrays the subject of death in two different ways. Death is usually
spoken about in a very somber and depressing way, like in Where Men Win Glory, but in Into
Thin Air he talks about it so simply to show his readers the simplicity of death and how it is a
part of life and that if you dance on the edge of life and death, death should not be unexpected.
His diction changes between books and is specific to each books genre and topic. For
example, in Where Men With Glory he speaks with high military vocabulary and knowledge to
connect to his military audience and the subject his high vocab shows his interest and his
knowledge. It also forces the reader to learn and adapt to these words. When talking about a type
of gun supplied to the Afghans, by the American, in the Afghanistan-Soviet war he calls it a a
thirty-five-pound, shoulder-fired, antiaircraft missile known as the FIM-92 Stinger (Where Men
Win Glory 14). With this kind of language the reader needs to be knowledgeable of the subject,
in this case military guns and ammunition.
In addition, Krakauers use of varying diction affects his opinions and how they appear to
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the reader. In both books, Krakauer uses lengthy descriptions of each new subject to provide
further background and opinions on each topic. In addition to these lengthy sentences, Krakauer
uses the technique of footnotes to describe added information and to input even more opinions.
In his footnotes and lengthy descriptions he uses long, descriptive sentences to convey
importance and understanding. In an example of these opinionated and lengthy footnotes,
Krakauer, when describing the Seven Summits in Into Thin Air, lapses into a short story about
the history of the Seven Summits. He states that some critics think that a considerably more
difficult challenge than ascending the highest peak on each continent would be to climb the
second highest peak on each continent, a couple of which have to be very demanding climb
(Into Thin Air 24). In this footnote he invents a completely new insight on the subject and at the
same time brings his opinion and expertise into the subject. In addition to these extensive
footnotes, Krakauer also uses passages from other pieces of literature to connect similar themes
throughout the books. These passages from other works of literature allows the reader to know
the themes before the theme is presented. These passages, not by Krakauer, also allows the
reader to see these constant concepts throughout the chapter and the book. For example in the
very beginning of Where Men Win Glory Krakauer sites a passage by Susan Neiman who wrote
Moral Clarity. In this passage Ms. Neiman describes the sacred characteristic of charisma and
how that makes a man. This theme of charisma is throughout the first part of the book and
wholly describes the charismatic attitude of Pat Tillman.
Finally, one of the biggest and most noticeably differences between these two books is
the perspective and objectivity of each book. In Where Men Win Glory, Krakauer is telling a
story about a young man in Afghanistan. In this story he uses interviews and writing (like Pat
Tillmans diary) to tell the story from a point of honesty. He depicts the story as if watching it on
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a television or a movie screen; he tells the story through other peoples eyes, not his own. But on
the completely opposite side of the spectrum is Into Thin Air. Not only is this book told with
great bias but it is also told with great connection and thoughtfulness. The reason for this
difference is simply because Jon Krakauer experienced Mount Everest, he experienced death on
the mountain, he experienced the stark weather patterns atop a frozen summit, and he
experienced what it was like to lose people in a life or death situation. Instead of just an observer,
he is himself a character in this movie. In the Pat Tillman story he writes with a less personal
connection and more with an unbiased opinion like the reporter he is. But in Into Thin Air he
writes with great bias and undeniable opinions about everything and everyone. He is also able to
give in depth descriptions of each character and event due to his personal knowledge and
connection. In example, when he first describes his soon to be close friend he uses great detail
and description. He describes Andy Harriss palpable hunger for climbing and his unalloyed
enthusiasm for the mountains (Into Thin Air 32). Krakauer also describes himself as wistful
when talking with Andy Harris (Into Thin Air 32). This shows not only his opinion of another
character but also connects himself with the story and the character. This personal connection
allows the reader a closer look at the inside details this event. This up close and personal style
makes the reader part of Krakauer and in his mindset. In Where Men Win Glory the reader is
simply another observer being described the events in Afghanistan, but in Into Thin Air, it is like
we are one of the character, like we are Jon Krakauer himself climbing the deadly Icefall and
summit.
Through these four points of style Jon Krakauer affects the reader and their own
opinions. Whether it is the tone, the sentence structure, the word choice, or the point of view,
Krakauer uses these stark differences to his advantage in conveying his goal and his opinions
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about life death and other overarching themes. Through all these stylistic choices it gives us an
insight on how Krakauer feels about these high stake subjects. These stylistic choices heavily
affect how each reader reads these completely different books by the completely same man.

Word Count: 1440












Works Cited
Krakauer Jon. Into Thin Air. New York: Anchor Books, 1997. Print.
Krakauer Jon. Where Men Win Glory. New York: Anchor Books, 2009. Print.