Death and Adventure Narratives

Through the texts we have read, extreme adventure authors avoid dealing with the realities and risks of death on their adventures. It is clear that risk exists, but the details of the potential consequences are never discussed. Even when death actually occurs, it is not customary for extreme adventure authors to bring the reader deep into the grief, but rather to move past the death as quickly and respectfully as possible. This could be for two reasons: the author wants to connect to the reader more directly by prioritizing reward over risks that might seem futile (without eliminating so much risk that their story is no longer an extreme adventure) or the author wants to prevent the reader from excessive sadness in order to maximize the reader’s sense of adrenaline for their adventure. Extreme adventure authors avoid the topic of death because they realize that adventure is meant to project a ‘superhuman’ or immortal aspect of humans. They must avoid emphasizing the consequences of risk in favor of the potential reward.