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Mortality had remained a conveniently hypothetical concept, an idea to ponder in the abstract. Sooner of later the divestiture of such a privileged innocence was inevitable, but when it finally happened the shock was magnified by the sheer superfluity of the carnage…

In Chapter 21, Krakauer reflects on how the Everest disaster continues to affect him. He joined the expedition to write an article for a magazine and to experience climbing Everest. Instead, he came down with a redefined notion of mortality, and a number of questions he will never be able to answer. This quote introduces the concept of the expedition as a grotesque lesson in life and death. Krakauer also brings up the subject of lost innocence, of what happened changing him forever by destroying that innocence. Krakauer grapples to describe the enormity of what happened on the mountain in words, because words cannot represent human life and the loss thereof. He goes on to say that every day, not two or three hours pass that he has not thought about Everest and what happened there. The inability to get past the disaster and to gradually wean in from one's life signifies just how enormous and catastrophic it was and how far and wide it reaches.

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