Joe is a funny old man. Every person has their own views on him…

One way we respond to Joe is that we see him as foolish. For starters, for Joe to be climbing up mountain where no-one had ever been before makes the reader feel nervous and cautious. We could also see Joe as foolish because he runs our of gas and food, meaning he was unprepared for the journey.

Whilst some could respond to Joe as being foolish for putting himself into danger, others could see him as brave as he is willing to put himself into situations that others would be too frightened too.

Personally i see Joe as being someone who craves acknowledgement and he climbs because he wants others to praise him. An example of this is “i hope somebody finds us, and knows we climbed the west face.” He says this at the time when he believes he is about to die, meaning acknowledgement means more to him than other things; family or his friends.