One Wrong Step

What does Atlas truly mean by “finding peace”? Why does he search for peace through mountain climbing, and why is his quest ultimately misguided?

How does climbing Mount Everest act as an extended metaphor for Atlas’s journey of self-discovery?

Analyze the author’s use of flashbacks throughout the narrative. How do these introspective moments punctuate the deadly immediacy of Atlas’s ascent?

Analyze Atlas’s father. Why does he prioritize his quest to summit Mount Everest over his responsibility to ensure his son’s safety and well-being?

Research the role of the Sherpas in the long history of mountaineering on the slopes of Mount Everest. To what extent do the visiting mountaineers unfairly take full credit for the labor and skill that the Sherpas bring to each expedition? How does this social power imbalance extend to modern-day attempts to summit Mount Everest?

Why is Mount Everest and the landscape itself of such significance to the Tibetan people? Research their cultural reverence of Chomolungma as more than just a mountain range, and use specific textual examples to explain how the author incorporates this topic into the narrative.

Why does Atlas react with such calm acceptance when his scarf blows away down the mountainside? How might he have reacted differently if this had happened earlier in the expedition?

With each near disaster and moment of self-sacrifice, Atlas makes progress in Navigating the Road to Maturity. What key moments in the story fuel his inner development?