"Above 8000 meters is not a place where people can afford
morality" (Krakauer, 253)
While reading this
section of the book it did not even occur to me that the Japanese climbers
should have stopped to save the Indian climbers. However, Claire's comment
"He (Krakauer) is inviting us to make moral judgments" made me
consider the other perspective. While this may sound cruel, "morality is
the only luxury you have". With that being said, morality is a simple
result of the context one is in. If a climber is 8000 meters in the air where
one wrong step could result in tumbling down the mountain in an avalanche
or being blown off the mountain in hurricane force winds, there is no
moral responsibility to put yourself in danger to save another. Yes,
if the opportunity seems reasonable one should help a fellow climber, but in
this situation it is truly the Darwin principle at work: survival of the
fittest. It is a climber’s responsibility to look out for themselves
and know their limit when making that next ascent.
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