“It wasn’t taking me as well”. Page 118
Simon, on the mountain, voices his defiance against the mountain, the worldly predator that he felt was out to get him.
This feature is known as ‘personification’. the link between this small detail and the big idea of the power of nature is that mountains are recognised as powerful forces of nature, almost godlike, that they are alive and thinking and their sole purpose in their existence is to take the lives of those brave (or stupid) enough to attempt to climb them, because to reach the top means to conquer them, and these big and proud monsters do not want to be conquered. When Simon says “it wasn’t taking me as well” he is talking about how the mountain is attempting to get revenge for Simon and joe conquering it. However, Simon is refusing to be taken by this beast and this tells us something about Simon, that he is very determined to win, that he is competitive even against a powerful force such as a mountain.
React!