The Brink of Death

Have you ever wonder what it would feel like to have your arm entrapped by an 800 pound boulder ( I am guessing that it isn’t the greatest feeling)? When Aron Ralston an outdoor fanatic sets out on a hike in the remote Utah canyon-lands at the Blue-John Canyon, far away from any civilazation  the unthinkable happens. An 800 – pound boulder tumbling’s loss and heads to crush Aron’s arm and learns that “If you want to get to Heaven, you have to go through hell”(88).

In the rising action of the novel Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Aron has endure 72 hours (Three days) of having his arm entrap in the boulder and is near the brink of death. With most of his water and food supplies gone, Aron has only three options left. Trying to wait for rescue (Very unlikely to find him alive), commit suicide, or amputate his arm off.  With temperatures slowly dropping-leaving Aron exposed to wrath hypothermia, which is slowly killing him.  Hardly having any sleep at night, Aron is affect by sleep deprivation and is very slowly losing him mind. Throughout his entrapment, Aron has finally understood that “It’s me. I chose this. I chose all of this-this rock has been waiting for me my entire life. I’ve been moving towards it my whole life.” There is no one to blame for what has happen to him.

Much like the my recent independent novel, Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, both Aron and Jon face a constant Human vs. Nature conflict. Jon sets out to climb one of the most challenging mountains of all. Mt. Everest. Many have died trying for this ultimate accomplishment and have gotten lost in the mist of their overconfidence.  As many climbers begin the final ascent to the summit, many forget the unstoppable power of mother- nature. Above the ‘Death Zone’ a blizzard comes out of nowhere and changes the lives of many of the climbers forever.

In Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Aron sets out alone, without telling any of his friends where he is heading off to.  He is confident that he will make it back in time to Aspen Colorado, his home, just how Jon was sure that he was coming back from Mt. Everest alive. But this time all of Aron’s experience and confidence of not running into any trouble was wrong. “You’ll never find your limits until you’ve gone too far,” (206) however, this time Aron gone way too far from his set limits, and like what Jon did in the novel Into Thin Air, got over- themselves. Aron entrapped both in his mind and body and “longs to see his family again, but he knows that he has entered the protractedly dismal final countdown to his death” (213). Will he ever see life again?

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The Cost of Life

In April of 2003, Aron Ralston goes on a solo-hike trip in the remote Utah canyon-lands.  Born with a strive for an adventure, Aron sets out to a hike in one of the many Canyon National Park in Utah.  After spending half of the day with two young women he meet on the hike, Ralston parts way and continues on into the Blue John Canyon. ” I see another five chockstones, all the size of larger refrigerators. wedged at varying heights off the canyon-floor like a boulder gauntlet. (21) Aron slides under the coupe suspend chockstone, and encounters a chockstone about the size of a large bus tire, stuck in the channel between the walls, a few feet out from lip.” (22) Ralston begins to climb over the massive stone and instantly knows it trouble. “As I dangle, I feel the stone respond to my adjusting grip with a scraping quake as my body’s weight applies enough torque to disturb it from its position” (23) He lets go of the rotating boulder and lands on the small rocks below. “The next three seconds play out at a tenth of their normal speed.” (23) At 2:41 pm, a eight hundred pound boulder tumbles loose and heads to entrap Aron’s right arm.

As young people in a huge world, many of us have had to face a obstacle with a unavoidable consequence (Maybe not as severe as boulder heading to crush your body).  In these situation our choices decide define our fate. ” My only hope is to push off the falling rock and get my head out its way” (23). Aron is able to avoid death, however, this came at a cost. His left arm is stuck in between a eight hundred pound boulder in the middle of nowhere. He had chose to go on even when the young women told him to join them in a shorter walk back. He also could have told his friends he was on a hike. Aron eventually calms down from his adrenaline rush, and slowly begins to eliminated his escape plans one by one.  His choice of rather not dying and getting his left arm stuck between a boulder has spared his life. For now. Time goes by and Ralston comes to a conclusion that, “If I don’t get out, I’m gong to lose more than my hand.” (27). In obstacles that come with a consequence of death, overcoming it may be harder than enduring the ultimate cost. Life.

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