Self-Discovery and Personal Growth

Throughout the novel, the author uses Peak Marcello’s climb up Mount Everest as a metaphor for Peak’s self-discovery and personal growth journeys. Before Peak travels overseas with his dad, Peak tries to create excitement and adventure for himself in New York. He climbs the Woolworth Building as a way to disrupt his otherwise predictable adolescent life. Once he travels to Tibet, the project of climbing Everest disrupts his familiar world and challenges him in new ways. In this setting, Peak does not have to manufacture excitement or obstacles to keep him engaged in life. Rather, the mountain itself offers these challenges to Peak. The ascent is symbolic of life itself, and the difficulties it requires to move ahead, to succeed at one’s goals, and to maintain relationships. As in life, it “doesn’t matter what kind of physical condition you...