Touching The Void Essay. Joes account emphasizes how physically painful his accident was and uses lots of exaggeration

Joe account starts with him falling and is very dramatic as he describes the pain and his worry. He also uses action words such as “Hit … Struck … Catapulted” these are all violent words showing the falling action and are all trying to show a lot of pain. He uses the word “shattering” to show sensory images so the reader can relate to it and the reader can be more interested. He also uses words to make the whole incident seem faster “Sudden violent stop…my thoughts raced” this makes the experience more dramatic as it speeds up the events.

Joe then starts to think about what might have happened and starts to piece things together “I’ve broken my leg, that’s it…maybe I’ve just ripped something” this shows a sense of uncertainty and worry. Joe uses facts in his account this shows his accuracy in his description “19,000 ft…East Face…Seria Norte.” He talks in the last paragraph about being left by Simon as he has got broken leg and can’t continue “and very much alone…He would leave me…Left Here? Alone?...the notion of being left.” This makes us feel sorry for him as he is showing ho he is lonely this is a very good to make the audience sympathies with Joe. He uses short emphatic statements to convey his emotions “The rushing speed of it confused me…My knee exploded”. Joe uses ellipsis to create tension “Everyone said it … if there’s just two of you a broken ankle could turn into a death sentence.” Joe’s last line is a very good last line as it has two meanings “I could feel myself teetering on the edge of it.” it means in one sense he is on the edge of panicking and on the edge of the mountain.

Simon is hard hearted and uses unsympathetic language such as “In a way I hoped he would fall…” this shows he doesn’t want to have the choice about whether to stay or leave him this is quite selfish but is probably the right thing. He also uses Jargon as he says “breaking trail” and “as I crested the rise” this shows Simon is an expert as he knows lots on this subject. Simons opening is very bland and not as dramatic as Joe’s. Simon talks about his own feelings “I felt tired and was grateful…” He is more positive in his writing as he says “I was glad we had put that steep section behind us…” and “and was grateful”. He tells things as they are and doesn’t exaggerate or alter the truth “You’re dead…I think he knew it too…it was totally rational” and “if I tried to get down I might die with him.

I think Joe’s account is more effective as it is more dramatic than Simon’s account as it starts with a very dramatic first paragraph of Joe falling off the mountain and his changes in his mental state as he is worried about what will happen to him and he uses a lot of very good metaphors to describe the pain he was in for example he says “A fierce burning fire coming down the inside of my thigh” he uses this as there is obviously not a fire in the middle of a frozen mountain as it is a contrast and is shows the pain as if he was in a fire. He talks about “a wave of nausea surged over me” this is telling us about a dramatic change in which is taking place as he is trying to calm himself down, and then he says “and the sharp cold seemed to calm me” this is suggesting that he is getting a relaxing feeling which is odd as you can’t often relax when you are in freezing temperatures. He then goes on to say “thinking about it. Left here? Alone?” this is trying to make the reader more sympathetic towards the reader.