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Finally I woke up enough to recognize that I was in deep shit and the cavalry wasn't coming so I better do something about it myself.

Beck Weathers says this to his teammates in Chapter 20 about how he was able to pick himself up, half frozen and left for dead, out of the snow. With this quote, Weathers emerges as an unlikely hero. He is loyal and steadfast in his promises, but the feat of strength and spirit he pulls off in this chapter is incredible. This episode exemplifies the consistent theme of solitude versus teamwork. Weathers is abandoned on the mountain, and a rescue group finds him, but thinks he is beyond saving. At that point, it seemed his fate was in the hands of his teammates, who let him down. Miraculously, Weathers regains consciousness and single-handedly finds and gets himself to Camp Four. Once he is there, his teammates try and warm him up, but again they leave him, thinking he cannot live through the night. Again, Beck defies the odds alone. Beck is the only climber who relies on his team members but survives despite their failure.

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