Seven Years In Tibet

Harrer’s journey is not only one of physical survival but of deep spiritual and personal transformation. Although Harrer faces many hardships during his trek to Lhasa, he eventually gains insight and maturity through overcoming challenges and setbacks. Thus, throughout the memoir, Harrer explores personal transformation through adversity. 

Harrer depicts himself as someone who, from an early age, longed to test his endurance and push the limits of human achievement. He depicts his early mountaineering excursions as foreshadowing his later exploits, emphasizing his athletic abilities and mental stamina. When his first escape attempt from the prisoner-of-war camp in India fails, he presents himself as disappointed but not discouraged, immediately planning his next escape instead of giving up. This self-portrait thus presents Harrer as someone who thrives in adversity instead of turning away from it.

Once Harrer and Aufschnaiter successfully escape from the camp, they must endure many months of deprivation and physical hardship on their way to Tibet. As Harrer and Aufschnaiter travel deeper into the Himalayas, they battle frostbite, starvation, and exhaustion. Harrer also complains that, the deeper they go into Tibet, the more resistance and suspicion they face from some of the locals, who know that they are trespassing in what is usually a forbidden land to foreigners.