The Driving Power In Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air

Dams and levees weren’t enough to protect the 1,836 people who died in Hurricane Katrina, and yet officials relied yet again on these devices against Hurricane Harvey 12 years later. Years have passed, and still so-called “experts” believe that because the circumstances may have been slightly different than before, they had the upper hand against nature. Various natural disasters have proven again and again that no human has power over the environment, and again and again these lapses in judgement end in fatalities. In Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, the word powerless demonstrates the idea that the driving power in the expedition does not reside with the team, but with nature and their surroundings. This concept should not only be applied to