Touching the void Essay- Annabel Carter

“Life can deal you an amazing hand. Do you play it steady, bluff like crazy or go all in? I’ll never know. “- Joe Simpson, Touching The Void.

 300 feet from the surface, a shattered knee, alone and dying. Touching the Void written first hand by Joe Simpson, is the real life account of the 1988 disaster on Siula Grande. The writing techniques used throughout the text gives an emotional response, a feeling of urgency. These techniques include foreshadowing, Personification and minor sentencing, all may have to the power to alienate the reader. 

FORESHADOWING

Foreshadowing is used in touching the void as a way to create tension by underlining the further events to come. In touching the void, Joe Simpson a mountaineering enthusiast journeys up Siula grande with his companion Simon Yates, While descending down the mountain Joe falls into trouble, unsure if he will make it out alive, Joe simpson gives the reader a lot of indications that something will go wrong within the text, even if the characters don’t know it at the time. Joe does this by referring to his sense of anxiety and friends worrying about the passing weather forecast. For example in the opening chapter Joe expresses his sense of worry and feelings of danger although he has no recognition of why he feels the way he does. Within the first 4 chapters of the text both men’s climb up Siula Grande has been too good to be true, there climb up towards the summit had been presented with barely no life threatening mishaps or accidents. This affected the readers knowledge and understanding causing the reader to feel a false sense of security and courage, ultimately anticipating the accident that happens in the future days to come. Joe describes at the beginning how comfortable he feels at the start of the text and within the safety of his tent, It is the warmth and security he will later be losing. Simon quotes at the start of the text “I dont think its (the weather) anything like as bad as it seems”, This gives the reader a false sense of security of how good the climb up the mountain will be. The writer uses stories of past events to show a sense of foreshadowing throughout the first 4 chapters. In Chapter 2 Joe recalls a fall from Bonatti Pilla, a mountain very few have conquered, The flashback shows that, despite a traumatic incident, Joe is willing to keep climbing, showing us a tremendous passion and mental strength, that his friend later lost after the recovery.  Joe also talks about the changing environment and weather forecasts set for there acend.  He as the narrator creates a sense that the pair will not be able to overcome the path that is ahead of them, that all odds are against them, and that any safety felt in there tent is temporary.  The method of “Foreshadowing” throughout “Touching the Void” suggests what will happen in further events to come. The occuring mishaps and plummets of Joe and Simon in chapter 3 and 4 prepare us for an even bigger event later on. This means although we might know as the reader what will happen, We lose understanding of exactly when it will happen.

Foreshadowing has also been used in the similar text of “Into Thin Air” written by Jon Krakauer. Jon was apart of an expedition to the top of Mt Everest amongst the Himalayans, this journey was later known as the “Everest Disaster”. Jon while climbing with others hits an unpredictable storm, causing a tragedy to stir. Within the text Jon repeatedly describes his climb to the summit of Everest as “7000 feet of sky on either sky”, Jon gives descriptions of his feelings while coming close to the summit of Everest, while also never fully allowing the reader to experience a sense of safety,      “overwhelming apprehensive about the long, dangerous desert ahead” the reader may feel panic and uncertainty of what events may happen later. This comes to play when danger sets next in the text causing the ultimate disaster to creep up on the reader and fear for the worst.

PERSONIFICATION

Personification is the art of attributing personal nature or human characteristics to a non living image to give a representation of an abstract quality in human form.  Personification is used when Joe simpson descends from Siula Grande and falls off a ice shaft, he describes the excruciating pain coming from his knee. He uses this to show the physical results of the fall telling the reader “the pain had flooded down” and how his knee had “exploded”. This gives his audience a good view on how bad the situation really is, in multiple occasions joe uses extended personification, for example “I thought of it as something living, something which lived through crawling into my body”.  He uses human like qualities to explain the tremendous fall he had just endured, This helps the reader have clear picture and understanding of the text although it might not be completely true. The personification joe uses throughout the text can let him exaggerate his struggles through his words,an example of this are these quotes “Twinges of fear lurked round my mind but even these were fading as it crept through me”, “plagued with endless thoughts which turned madeley upon themselves” Joe describes his feelings from human attributes that something is taking over him and he has no ability to stop it. Joe’s thoughts while falling contrast an idea of the emotions personification can lead the reader to understand. Words like “flooded” and “exploded” can manipulate the readers total understanding of the situation he is in, it tells us a narrative response first hand of the pain and suffering endured by Joe and his last minutes as what Simon would of thought it as. 

Joes first person account gives his situation a more personal response, allowing a more detailed description of his physical and mental challenges. The use of Personification in the quote “Fierce burning fire”, coveys more of the drama of his fall than a literal response would. Joe emphasises his thoughts with painful- sounding words, “splitting”, “shattering”, his knee “Ruptured, twisted and crushed”. These descriptions of his physical sensations can put the reader into his shoes at the time of the incident.

MINOR SENTENCING

Joe is left alone with a shattered knee in a crevasse 300 feet from the surface. Alone, and dying. The use of Minor sentencing, also known as incomplete sentencing shows the thoughts flooding Joes mind at the time of the accident. It shows a raw side of joe that the reader has not seen, this creates urgency detailing ultimitially his final breaths. Within this text less is more, giving the reader understanding about the situation of Joe’s aftermath of his fall. This writing technique informs a sense of confusion and mystery around the words in the text. His ongoing mental battle while climbing up the shafts of siula grande communicates an idea of a trouble free climb up to the top according to Joe’s head. Although originally Joe was calm before the climb the reader can see the effects and mental barriers that are stopping Joe from completing the mountain. Not only does Joe use the effects of minor sentencing, Simons thoughts overtake chapter 8 “Stupid, Empty, My God, Why this?”, the use of Simon’s incomplete sentences creates panic, confusion and uncertainty, leaving the reader to question Simons actions and partnership within Joe. ”No one cuts the rope!”, after Simon Yates separates Joe by cutting the only safety rope between them, Simons “paranoia” sets in. The reader is able to paint a picture of Yates uncertainty and doubt on whether he did the right thing. Would you sacrifice your partner if it meant that you had the opportunity to live? 

Minor sentencing may also be an add on for foreshadowing, In the text Joe quotes “Left here? Alone?…” he expresses his worry, will he be left there to die? The reader loses all understanding whether or not he will make it out alive. Minor sentencing conveys an idea of foreshadowing within Joe Simpsons Thoughts.  “Head down, keep looking at your feet, swing, swing, hop, look at your feet…all the way up a smooth 150 feet, no effort, no headache, feeling on top of the world.” This is another example of Joe Simpsons foreshadowing within a Minor sentence. This is where his thoughts are significant towards the combining text of Minor sentencing and foreshadowing. 

The writing techniques used throughout Joe Simpsons “Touching the void” give a personal account of the tragic events on Siula Grande, the narration by Joe includes Foreshadowing, anticipating the final events to come while persuading the reader throughout Joe’s descriptions of safety and warmth. Personification, attributing personal feelings of danger through using human like attributes when describing his fall that left him fighting for his life. And minor sentencing, showing the thoughts flooding through Joe and Simons minds at the time of their descent, all of which fills the reader with emotions and persuasive quotations, me as the reader felt a sense of unknown security as I was unable to picture what events were to come later on within the text. “Touching the Void” is a personal story in which hope and courage are put to the ultimate test.