Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Content Warning: This section refers to thoughts of death by suicide.

By presenting the details of his near-death experience in Bluejohn Canyon, Aron Ralston highlights the will to survive as a fundamental human instinct that also symbolizes the hidden, untapped strength that people possess, whether they realize it or not.

The central narrative traces Ralston’s increasingly desperate attempts to escape and survive following his devastating entrapment in a narrow canyon. Shortly after becoming trapped, he estimates that his rescuers will likely arrive on Friday, which is two days after he expects to die of dehydration. Perhaps because of this bleak outlook for rescue, he sets to work, employing every means within his power to escape his predicament.

Although Ralston’s initial attempts to extricate himself from his rocky prison are unsuccessful, he consistently outperforms his expectations in other ways. By drinking his urine, he extends his survival window. Additionally, he uses his climbing and other equipment to make himself as comfortable as possible under the circumstances, even as he takes intelligent measures to conserve body heat during the cold nights in the canyon. Meanwhile, his brain begins to take flights of fancy away from his immediate discomfort, providing him with intermittent relief from the concerns of the present. In this way, he survives well beyond his estimate, even after carving his expected year and month of death into the canyon wall while feeling “certain [he] won’t see the dawn at the far end of this hideously cold night” (248).

The next day, however, he’s not only alive but actually rejuvenated by visions of loved ones he saw during the night. Not even his gruesome process of amputating his own arm represents the final limit of Ralston’s strength, though he previously expressed his belief that amputation would inevitably lead to his death. Following the amputation, he travels miles down the canyon before finally meeting other hikers and attracting the attention of a helicopter sent to rescue him. As he did earlier, moments before the arrival of the helicopter, Ralston thinks to himself, “It will kill me if I try to hike out of this canyon” (317). Yet again, however, he proves that he has not yet reached his limit, as he makes his way to the helicopter and, once inside, maintains consciousness through sheer force of will, knowing that it could be fatal for him to pass out before arriving in a hospital. As he explains, his brain “wants to abdicate, but [he] cannot let it” (318). With little, if any, external assistance, Ralston maintains his composure throughout the flight to Moab and after landing at the hospital, providing a concise account of his experiences to a ranger stationed there before finally succumbing to the effects of morphine.

In the end, it’s impossible to say how close Ralston was to his physical and mental limits, since he never reached them—whether hours, minutes, or even seconds could have cost him his life. As the public learns of his experiences, they’re seen as an inspiring example of the strength of the human spirit and the value of life. As one woman writes in a letter to Ralston, “Your act of bravery has inspired me to hold on more dearly. […] I know now that suicide is not the answer. You inspire me to stay strong, remain brave, and to fight for life” (332-33).