One Wrong Step

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and religious discrimination.

At 14 years old, Atlas carries the weight of his name, stating, “I was named after the Titan god who carried the skies on his shoulders. It was […] as if I were born to be in the mountains. Dad once told me it was the perfect name for a son he hoped would one day join him in climbing Everest” (2). Atlas’s weighty namesake instills in him a profound sense of responsibility and a natural inclination toward mountaineering. This sentiment is encouraged by his father, a cartographer driven to gain success in daring endeavors and aid humanity’s scientific progress. However, despite these lofty ambitions, Atlas’s journey is deeply hampered by his struggle with Learning to Move Forward After Loss in the aftermath of his mother’s untimely death. His grief is further complicated by the fact that his father took him away to climb Kings Peak, even knowing that Atlas’s mother would likely die before the two returned from this mountaineering trip. Resenting the idea that his father deceived him and denied him the chance to say goodbye to his mother, Atlas grapples with his internal anger and turmoil, often concealing his pain and avoiding discussions about his mother, his own