The interview/profile is obviously essential the story in “Murdering the Impossible,” but what else, if anything, serves as a central “plot point”? What creates drama in this story?
Tags: 5 Comments
Magazine Article Writing
Fall 2008
The interview/profile is obviously essential the story in “Murdering the Impossible,” but what else, if anything, serves as a central “plot point”? What creates drama in this story?
Tags: 5 Comments
5 responses so far ↓
Three things create drama for me in this piece. They are:
1. All his big dreams and goals particularly the building of his museums.
2. The mystery of his brother’s death and his subsequent grief and longing for he body.
3. The way others interviewed view him.
Besides the central theme of the story – the outstanding achievements of Messner’s life – there is the side plot of Messner’s guilt about his brother’s death on Nanga Parbat. Reinhold goes back several heartbreaking times to try and recover Günther’s body and then he finally succeeds. This brings more drama to the story.
The brothers death definitely struck me as the “plot point” or one of the main sources of drama in this interview.
The text even suggests this, “The line of Reinhold Messner’s life, that line that unlocks and defines him, is unquestionably the 1970 Austro-German Sigi Löw Memorial Expedition to Nanga Parbat.” (pg. 7 online)
This story comes after an uncharacteristic attempt for Messner’s brother, Gunther, to accompany him last minute to the summit of the death-defying Pakistani mountain. After a great victory of both brothers reaching the peak, they are caught in a 40 below night without food and with only a space blanket.
On the way back, Messner (who is noted for an incredible speed) walks on, unknowingly on the fourth day, without his brother. He doesn’t realize this until days later. It seems, after this, Messner is always doomed by the ghost of his brother following right behind him.
I like that the first comment after this story is the account of a friend who sees Messner in his delerium and not Messner himself.
The death of Gunther serves as a central plot point in this article. This pivotal event in Reinhold’s life showed a side of him that every reader can relate to, even one who has no desire to climb anything more challenging than a flight of stairs.
I previously left a comment on your web page and selected inform me about latest commentary. Is there a way to disable that service? I’m getting numerous emails.