in Jon Krakauer's true crime novel, Missoula, his writing style can be described as straightforward because he uses proper language and crafts his sentences to elicit an emotional response from the reader. Krakauer's earnest and vast knowledge behind the rape cases and stories told in his novel all come together to show the reader the truths behind the criminal justice system and the faulty commitment that the us has made to women, and men, who are sexually assaulted and/or raped, the tone created by this is very critical, we see this in Krakauer's expressive language regarding the criminal justice system saying that "engaging with the criminal justice system could traumatize [victims] severely all over again.." but that all victims are urged to receive counseling. by using compelling language such as "traumatized" Krakauer is able to express how tormenting and mortifying the experiences that so many young boys and girls have to endure truly are. (page 31, paragraph 3)
The tone in Missoula by Jon Krakauer, can be best described as victimized. As Jon goes into great detail to show the horrible behavior the victims had to go through,only for the criminals to get a small "slap on the wrist" kind of punishment. "But Kaitlynn Kelly and her family were also unhappy with the verdict. Although Kelly is grateful to Charles Couture and the University of Montana for conducting a disciplinary proceeding that held Smith accountable for raping her, she thinks he got off way too easy. Kelly believes Smith should have not only been expelled,but also incarcerated."(page 113 First paragraph). This example leaves the reader a sence of happiness that Smith has finally gone to court for his crimes,but leaves more of a sence of injustice because Smith didnt fully get what he truly deserved.
Exposing the horrors of the reality of sexual assaults on college campuses,Missoula Jon Krakauer exposes real life stories of real life victims of sexual assault and their struggle to obtain justice for themselves ,but also for other women who have experienced the same horrors in the rape culture that exists in Missoula. In Missoula, Krakauer presents the reader with real life stories of rape victims such as that of Allison Huguet, Krakauer not only presents a superficial summary of the events but instead presents them with very detailed diction such as the feelings the victim was feeling, date and time of the events, the actions and feelings of others not just that of the victim and the rapists.Krakauer mainly acts as an activist and a beacon of hope for those struggling with the reality that they have been raped as well as bringing in legal aspects such as the role of government in sexual assault cases such as the legal circumstances regarding the statue of limitations etc. The author also presents various points of view such as of the prosecutors involved in the cases as well as that of the family and friends of the victim and perpetrator. At first this type of style appeared to have no specific meaning to me other than the author trying to use a creative style. I then began to realize after further analyzing the text that Krakauer use of facts and his heavy use of detail surrounding the events before, during and after the presented events is in effort to fight the stigma that rape victims lie about them being raped in order to get back at innocent males in order to fulfill their own agenda. Krakauer brings up various arguments made surrounding the issue that innocent males are being falsely accused by women who possess no real evidence of rape other than their own verbal account of the events. In the beginning of the novel Krakauer states that, "...the US Department of Justice revealed that it, too, was investigating the apparent epidemic of sexual assaults in western Montana. The feds announced that at least eighty alleged rapes had been reported in Missoula over the preceding three years and that the DOJ would be scrutinizing "assaults against all women in Missoula, not just university students"...United States attorney general Eric Holder noted, "The allegations that the University of Montana, the local police department and the County Attorney's Office failed to adequately address sexual assault are very disturbing"(9). This specific selection of the novel was not only included to bring attention to the fact that the authorities in Missoula and the University of Montana failed to bring these rapists to justice ,but also to point out the bigger issue that women in Missoula are experiencing, so big that the federal government had to step in. This selection incites anger within many who know someone who has been sexually assaulted since it points out the harsh reality that authorities many times fail to help victims of rape thus causing many women to not report their rapes since Krakauer reports that "...at least 80 percent of those who are assaulted don't report the crime to the authorities"(xiv). Despite the tragic tone the author develops using real life accounts of the horrors of rape on college campuses, Krakauer's main objective in writing this novel is to not only point out the dangerous fact that many college women face the possibility of being sexually assaulted by a male peer but also to show the lack of justice these perpetrators face but also the normality of these crimes and how it has evolved into what we call a "rape culture".
Missoula Jon Krakauer's unique writing format and detail to each story of real events and with more than enough evidence and citations to ensure the readers are well informed and educated about the matter. Not only reveal how the book is not directly telling you how each of the tragedies told is, to put it bluntly, vile and depressing because of it's intended message, but is showing the reader through each of the victims' lives are just regular college students who live the ordinary college life ,and because these events introduce themselves with ordinary people is the reason the stories have such a depressing tone but an is such an important read. To the mental and emotional deterioration of each victim that resonates within the reader to the backlash victims get through their communities and within themselves, Krakauer manages to effectively tell the stories of each victim through his detailed research and storytelling. "...if I did acknowledge it, I would have to deal with it, and it would become real. Your mind is pretty good at blocking out traumatic experiences and preventing you from thinking about them" (Krakauer, pg. 31). The previous quotation from Missoula is one from the first victim he writes about, here he shows how much psychological trauma victims of rape have to face as they attempt to ignore an experience that will forever affect them. In the entirety of this book, Krakauer analyzes each story empathetically with the reasoning of the several sources he cites, despite his choice of writing the book in third person, successfully avoiding the book to sound authoritative and objective; Missoula goes through all the emotional and personal details as a book written in first person would. - Dafne Hernandez
In the novel Missoula, written by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer writes about the rape culture that is hidden in a small college town due to the type of community that decides to hide the fact that rape is constantly occurring. Krakauer made the decision to tell the audience as many details as he was given about each sexual assult and rape case he had learned about that took place in Missoula, Montana. Krakauer did not use any type of sugar coating, making it clear that his words were genuine and kept the reader aware of the types of real life situations that bring danger to individuals. His writing style could be described as informative and complex thanks to his use of multiple cases and the negative feelings that each victim had felt during the event and even after when determining what would occur to the predator. The factual diction that is used throughout the novel gives the truth about how impacted the victim’s lives become after what may seem to others who don’t take the time to listen, understand, and support as just another mistake or consequence that took place when the victim was not responsible. Krakauer is not afraid to express the anxiety and pain each victim feels and the responses they receive from those in the justice system and any other soul that learns about each victim’s traumatizing experience. The troubling but very serious tones within each page cause the reader to not only feel just as sick to their stomach because of these unforgivable events but also the determination to bring a change to what happens in the end and what to look out for so these rapes and sexual assaults decrease. Krakauer creates these tones so the reader is not only informed about the reality of these issues. When people who were not involved learn that there are these problems that happen to someone they may not know, it is hard for them to understand what went down and the type of emotions rushing through the victim. When the victim understands that it is time for them to be vulnerable and open up about the troubling truth, having some type of care and support is desired. Krakauer illuminates how traumatic these horrendous events are with his use of explaining each individual case and the victim's emotions through and after it. Krakauer writes about what one of the experts on acquaintance rape had explained that when a person is raped there are different ways the victim could react. David Lisak asked how often was it where the victim explained that they “wanted to scream, and [they] couldn't” defend themselves. How many times a victim told others that they just “couldn't move” in their “nightmare” like how someone else would always suggest rather than acknowledge the frightening feeling that takes place in that moment of the nightmare. The rape victim could feel “paralyzed” and not be able to react in a fast escape kind of way, there is still no consent given to anyone. Krakauer added in this information given from a psychologist and forensic consultant in order to have the readers reflect on one of the ways a victim could respond even if there was no way to also feel the same shocked and paralyzed feeling in a sickening situation. There isnt a wish to place the reader in the victim's shoes, but for them to take the time to consider the truth of the rape and sexual assault victims and their cases. (page 79, paragraphs 1 and 2)
In Jon Krakauer's novel, Missoula, he tends to use a tone of straightforwardness and not sugarcoating the fear and trauma that the victims go through in their experience. In the novel, Krakauer goes in detail about the events that happens to the victims of the novel and tends to avoid any sense of alleviation as he does state that "some of the events [he describes] are extremely disturbing."(pages xiv and xv) Krakauer uses this alleviation to also talk about the victims and how they have dealt with the traumatic experiences and how these experiences have caused them to have panic attacks due to their fear of the events. In chapter eleven (11), we are introduced to Cecilia Washburn who was sexually assaulted by Jordan Johnson and how afterwards stated that "... never in a million years would have thought that this would have happened....And then, gradually, as things started to progress, [she] was still in shock..... It was like [a] nightmare."(page 153)Later on, in chapter twelve, months after the assault, while walking with a friend, Washburn caught sight of Johnson and panicked saying that "Terrified, she ran inside a nearby building to hide"(page 159) and called Lori Morin only after. By the time that Morin had found Washburn, she testified and stated that Washburn was "sobbing uncontrollably. She just came and hugged onto me and would not let me go.... I have never seen a person so terrified." (also on page 159)
In the book Missoula,Jon krakauer brings attention to the various types of experiences people have been trough ,and how rape has affected there life In many different ways.As he shows many people's storys he uses a third person omniscient point of view to help the reader understand more of the trauma and injustice victims are forced to face.Jon Krakauer expresses diction trough the way he talks about the cruelty shown to victims going trough the justice system ,who instead of being helped ,many times are forced to relive their trauma with no outcome in return.Further on expressing a furious tone towards the way these people in need are treated.In the text he writes"they seemed skeptical,she said like they thought I was just another drunk girl.I began to feel like I was the perp….. the way he reacted made me feel like he assum3r I had cheated on my boyfriend and lied about being raped to cover it up even though that wasn't the case" (pg44-45). Jon Krakauer chose to write this as a way of further opening the readers eyes to the process they are treated and how disrespectful it is,because while they are seaking for help,this system only victimizes the rapist.
In Jon Krakauer's novel, Missoula, his writing style is to make it seem as people, places, and situations are one way but in reality, it’s not; it’s the opposite. The author uses concrete and upfront diction in order to create a gloomy and alarmed tone. This tone is manifested in the justice system since it’s not taking action in Missoula to protect the people, get justice for the rape victims, and stop preventing more cases on happening. To begin with, Montana is a large place with “few people.” This makes it seem that there has to be a community in Montana, and everyone knows each other since there is a small proportion of people. That place also attracts people, and they fall in love instantly: “[it] charms first-time visitors into putting money down on real estate within hours of arriving.” Montana is portrayed as perfect and aesthetically pleasing place that everyone wants to live in. Krakauer additionally includes statistics that “42 percent of the population” received a bachelor’s degree or higher; whereas, the nation only getting “28 percent.” The percentages gap shows that if one lives in Montana, the person will be more successful in getting higher education and becoming intellectuals than in other places. This would encourage more people to want to move to Montana because everyone wants to be successful. Montana also gives hope to families because who doesn’t want their child to be in a place where education is dominant. Montana’s streets are filled with “cyclists, joggers, strollers”(page 5, paragraph 3). This shows that people in Montana enjoy going outdoors and exercising creating a carefree environment. However, Montana is facade. Everything in the paragraph paints the surface of Montana but not the reality, which is Missoula, Montana suffers with lots of cases of rape. This perfect place isn’t as perfect as it seems since the judiciary system of Missoula indeed doesn’t do much in order to try to solve this problem. There was lots of cases against the football team, which was their pride. Their solution was to dismiss multiple pieces of evidence and cases to try to cover the tracks of the team, so it won’t ruin the team’s reputation. Missoula’s system is bias towards the football team, corrupted, and isn’t afraid to get their hands dirty. It creates an alarming tone because people inside of Missoula don’t know what is going on and run the danger of they themselves being victims. Overall, Missoula isn’t the only one being shaped as being flawless in the outside but suffering on the inside. Take for example Alison, who thought she was fine, despite being a rape survivor, but in reality she wasn’t. This is how Krakauer uses his writing style by giving a false perception and creates the illusion of perfection while what lies underneath is unpleasant cases of rape. Missoula protecting itself is alarming and gloomy because they are layering dark events such as rape, and people are not aware of it being a consistent problem.
Krakauer wrote Missoula with the intention to educate and inform readers of a repetition of tragedies that occur in college and university life along with some insight of some of the victims' personal opinions and status since the incident. Krakauer does not mention his own opinion on these crimes directly, however through his wording and knowledge of his previous books the readers are given the insight that Krauguer targets extreme subjects around religion and violation of innocence. Regardless, Krauguer mentions in Missoula that the book is dedicated to Linda, his wife, not much information is given of her but the readers can infer that Linda had at some point faced a tragedy like this, illuminating reasoning why Krauguer is so insightful and passionate of the subject and why he needs more people to be educated of rape and how the justice system takes it in a college town. He wants the readers to recognize injustice to a victim when they see it and hopefully prevent future justice systems from antagonizing the victims. Myself as a reader, when reading Missoula I had to stop for several sections of the book and breathe because each story is realistically put so anyone can see themselves in the victims' shoes without batting an eye -Dafne Hernandez
In Jon Krakauer’s novel, “Missoula”, he talks about the situations about different girls and their experience with sexual assault and the aftermath of the assault. When talking about each experience, he doesn’t hesitate when it comes to talking about the night of the events and the events afterwards, such as; their trauma, anxiety, depression, etc. Another thing that Krakauer talks about how these girls would handle their situations differently, whether they would go to the police to file the assault or not. When Krakauer talks about the girls that would go the police to report on their assault, most of the police wouldn’t take these girls seriously and would ask questions that have nothing to do with the situation or would get rejected helping them with the case, as what happened to Cecilia Washburn and other girls at the University of Montana. I believe that the motivation Jon Krakaure had for writing this novel was to tell the reader about the recurring situation of sexual assault that happens in a college campus and when these victims go and try to reach out for help to the police they are often, they are rejected and/or not taken seriously by them or, often times, by the people they trust. Krakauer also points out how when cases that fall under sexual assault go throw, to the point that they are taken to court, there are often times that people wouldn’t side with the victim, but with the assailant and how at this point these cases are difficult to prove that the victim is innocent, making it the harsh reality when it comes to cases revolving sexual assault. When I decided to read this book, I never thought of what I was suspecting. But then when I read the book, it has helped me better understand the grave of the situation and the aftermath of the events. It made me understand how at a scenario like this can at times not be taken seriously by those who have to support the person reporting the incident. When reading this book, I would often feel bad for the victims that would be accused of lying about the situation or would be rejected by the police about the situation and had to find another way for them to get the justice they deserve in order to feel safe in public. Another thing that stood out to me was how Krakauer not afraid to show the trauma and emotions that the victims would go through in their lives after the assault. The way that these girls would go through their lives after the events, and how they would seem so dysfunctional, was heartbreaking for me to read.
Krakauer’s motivation for creating Missoula is to inform readers about the injustice in Missoula by the prosecutors, police, police, and university when it comes to sexual assault cases. He illustrates the unfairness from the prosecutors by stating statistics of how many cases the accepted compared to how many they declined: “Of the 114 sexual assaults referred from prosecution, however, the MCAO [Missoula County Attorney’s office] filed charges in only 14 of those cases”(page 226, paragraph 4). This statistic shows that if a victim speaks up, it will be rare for their rapist to get convicted. The police also shows that they are not fair by not doing their job correctly by believing the victims are lying or asking them inappropriate questions like if “she [Belnap, who was gang raped by 4 members of the Grizzly football team] was dating anyone”(page 40, paragraph 4). The fact that the police do not know how to handle these cases is alarming because people rely on police officers to seek help, but they do not get it. This problem also encourages other rape attacks to happen since rapist aren’t being stopped by the police for their crimes; they are not held accountable for their actions. The main argument Krakauer builds is that Missoula’s judiciary system throughout the U.S fail to recognize and punish rapist. Krakauer demonstrates that in other universities like “Harvard; Princeton; Dartmouth,”(page 343, paragraph 1) which are highly well known and recognized are also failing to handle correctly sexual-violence complains. By including other examples, Krakauer is trying to prove his point that this problem is common throughout the U.S including Ivy League schools, not just in Missoula. He builds this argument by accumulating stories of victims in the University of Montana; most stories the rapist was a football player. The fact that myriad of cases are from football players is upsetting. This is because Missoula is known for and has great “civil pride”(page 7, paragraph 1) for their football team. Because of their pride, they are blinded and don’t acknowledge some football players as rapist despite there being too many cases and having confessions. For instance, Donaldson confesses about raping Huguet and was convicted of rape but after the jury’s decision,” many people continued to believe that she had falsely accused Donaldson”(page 321, paragraph 1). Peoples’ stubbornness is a problem because there is a pattern of football players taking advantage of women, but they don’t accept it. This is because if they do, they are equally responsible for these rapes since they didn’t try to change their perspective and stop more sexual assaults from happening again. Also, accepting football players as rapist will not only affect the football players’ reputation bug also Missoula because they are known for their team. In other words, they will be known as a college town that is unsafe because of the football team, which will discourage people from applying to the University of Montana or even visiting Missoula. First of all, Krakauer want the reader to acknowledge that sexual assault cases are common, but many people are not aware that this is a problem. He wants the reader to take away from the book Missoula to inform themselves by researching if this problem is also a problem in their state, city, local university, and neighborhood. The reader has to also research if victims of rape are getting their justice and how many are treated fairly by the police, prosecutors, university, and society in their area. The readers can make various changes in their community by spreading the word, starting a protest, and encouraging victims that haven’t told their story to not be afraid because they are not alone. -Brittney Peña
Missoula, written by Jon Krakauer, is so honest and eye opening, it is clear that anyone who picks up the novel to read will not only be pushed to reflect about their thoughts towards rape and its victims but also take the time to learn more about the real rape culture and how it is being handled. Krakauer’s motivation in writing this text was to spread the word about the real struggles and anxious feelings that come from being involved in these rape and sexual assault cases. There is no moment during these events where only one single person is affected and alone. Rape and sexual assault is sadly common not only in the college town Krakauer decided to focus on in this text, but also in many communities around the world. The discussion of rape and sexual assault is a very unsettling topic that many people can be too scared to start or even take the time to understand to its entirety. Krakauer wanted to argue for the victims in a way he knew he could best. He took his time to find out each piece of information from cases, individual stories, friends of victims, family members of victims, even more educated professionals that had something to say about the emotional impact rape has on people’s lives. Each victim has their own way of reacting to the traumatic experience and not every outsider is supportive or understanding. Those who judge the rape victims negatively cause fear and even more suffering for the victims due to the desire of not wanting to be judged in that way. Krakauer wants more stories to be heard and understood completely in hopes of inspiring more victims to speak up and more people to rethink their thoughts on these cases. There is an understanding that these types of cases are difficult to take care of and that brings a lot of discouraging feelings to the victims and others wanting justice. As a reader I was so proud that Krakauer was someone who wanted to take a stand and inform other people about the sexual assault and rape cases be had learned about. I was proud of myself for pushing through each page because I felt all of the anxious feelings, along with the pain, and longing for an eraser to take away the troubles those victims never asked for. I have learned more about the reality that occurs during these types of cases and the responses that the community could give. Painfully, I am now aware of the common occurrence of rape and sexual assault.
Highlighting the horror of the rape epidemic in American college campuses, Jon Krakauer’s Missoula brings the discussion of rape and sexual assault as well as the role of the American justice system in the rape epidemic to the high school classroom by presenting readers with real life stories of rape and their struggle to earn justice. Krakauer not only gives detailed testimonies from rape victims surrounding their attacks such as that of college students , Allison Huguet. Krakauer also intensely highlights the fear many rape victims hold because of the cruel nature of their aggressors such as their perpetrators and but also those of the media as well as the skepticism they have towards the American justice system actually punishing these rapists. First coined in the 1970’s during the second wave of feminism, the concept of “rape culture”, the normality of rape do to various factors such as gender and sexuality, became a very popular term during the early 21st century in which many women began to step forward and tell their stories surrounding their sexual assault leading up to many important movements surrounding this epidemic such as the Me Too Movement. Krakauer publishing this novel around the time that many women in various industries begin to speak out against their rapists is nothing far from perfect timing. Krakauer intends to give women who are unwilling to speak out against their perpetrators the courage and strength to speak out in a misogynistic society. Many reader ,like me, are naive surrounding the issue of rape on college campuses. This novel really opened my eyes to the issues many women face as well as the fear that they face. I have realized that as a man living in a society that is much in favor of me simply because I’m a man does not protect women as much as it should. It ignites fear for all the women in my life such as my siblings and friends. It makes me want to demand protection for women on college campuses and also have colleges have mandatory seminars for all male students. Education has been proven to reduce crime in many circumstances and this issue is not exception.
14 comments:
in Jon Krakauer's true crime novel, Missoula, his writing style can be described as straightforward because he uses proper language and crafts his sentences to elicit an emotional response from the reader. Krakauer's earnest and vast knowledge behind the rape cases and stories told in his novel all come together to show the reader the truths behind the criminal justice system and the faulty commitment that the us has made to women, and men, who are sexually assaulted and/or raped, the tone created by this is very critical, we see this in Krakauer's expressive language regarding the criminal justice system saying that "engaging with the criminal justice system could traumatize [victims] severely all over again.." but that all victims are urged to receive counseling. by using compelling language such as "traumatized" Krakauer is able to express how tormenting and mortifying the experiences that so many young boys and girls have to endure truly are. (page 31, paragraph 3)
The tone in Missoula by Jon Krakauer, can be best described as victimized. As Jon goes into great detail to show the horrible behavior the victims had to go through,only for the criminals to get a small "slap on the wrist" kind of punishment. "But Kaitlynn Kelly and her family were also unhappy with the verdict. Although Kelly is grateful to Charles Couture and the University of Montana for conducting a disciplinary proceeding that held Smith accountable for raping her, she thinks he got off way too easy. Kelly believes Smith should have not only been expelled,but also incarcerated."(page 113 First paragraph). This example leaves the reader a sence of happiness that Smith has finally gone to court for his crimes,but leaves more of a sence of injustice because Smith didnt fully get what he truly deserved.
Exposing the horrors of the reality of sexual assaults on college campuses,Missoula Jon Krakauer exposes real life stories of real life victims of sexual assault and their struggle to obtain justice for themselves ,but also for other women who have experienced the same horrors in the rape culture that exists in Missoula. In Missoula, Krakauer presents the reader with real life stories of rape victims such as that of Allison Huguet, Krakauer not only presents a superficial summary of the events but instead presents them with very detailed diction such as the feelings the victim was feeling, date and time of the events, the actions and feelings of others not just that of the victim and the rapists.Krakauer mainly acts as an activist and a beacon of hope for those struggling with the reality that they have been raped as well as bringing in legal aspects such as the role of government in sexual assault cases such as the legal circumstances regarding the statue of limitations etc. The author also presents various points of view such as of the prosecutors involved in the cases as well as that of the family and friends of the victim and perpetrator. At first this type of style appeared to have no specific meaning to me other than the author trying to use a creative style. I then began to realize after further analyzing the text that Krakauer use of facts and his heavy use of detail surrounding the events before, during and after the presented events is in effort to fight the stigma that rape victims lie about them being raped in order to get back at innocent males in order to fulfill their own agenda. Krakauer brings up various arguments made surrounding the issue that innocent males are being falsely accused by women who possess no real evidence of rape other than their own verbal account of the events. In the beginning of the novel Krakauer states that, "...the US Department of Justice revealed that it, too, was investigating the apparent epidemic of sexual assaults in western Montana. The feds announced that at least eighty alleged rapes had been reported in Missoula over the preceding three years and that the DOJ would be scrutinizing "assaults against all women in Missoula, not just university students"...United States attorney general Eric Holder noted, "The allegations that the University of Montana, the local police department and the County Attorney's Office failed to adequately address sexual assault are very disturbing"(9). This specific selection of the novel was not only included to bring attention to the fact that the authorities in Missoula and the University of Montana failed to bring these rapists to justice ,but also to point out the bigger issue that women in Missoula are experiencing, so big that the federal government had to step in. This selection incites anger within many who know someone who has been sexually assaulted since it points out the harsh reality that authorities many times fail to help victims of rape thus causing many women to not report their rapes since Krakauer reports that "...at least 80 percent of those who are assaulted don't report the crime to the authorities"(xiv). Despite the tragic tone the author develops using real life accounts of the horrors of rape on college campuses, Krakauer's main objective in writing this novel is to not only point out the dangerous fact that many college women face the possibility of being sexually assaulted by a male peer but also to show the lack of justice these perpetrators face but also the normality of these crimes and how it has evolved into what we call a "rape culture".
Missoula
Jon Krakauer's unique writing format and detail to each story of real events and with more than enough evidence and citations to ensure the readers are well informed and educated about the matter. Not only reveal how the book is not directly telling you how each of the tragedies told is, to put it bluntly, vile and depressing because of it's intended message, but is showing the reader through each of the victims' lives are just regular college students who live the ordinary college life ,and because these events introduce themselves with ordinary people is the reason the stories have such a depressing tone but an is such an important read. To the mental and emotional deterioration of each victim that resonates within the reader to the backlash victims get through their communities and within themselves, Krakauer manages to effectively tell the stories of each victim through his detailed research and storytelling. "...if I did acknowledge it, I would have to deal with it, and it would become real. Your mind is pretty good at blocking out traumatic experiences and preventing you from thinking about them" (Krakauer, pg. 31). The previous quotation from Missoula is one from the first victim he writes about, here he shows how much psychological trauma victims of rape have to face as they attempt to ignore an experience that will forever affect them. In the entirety of this book, Krakauer analyzes each story empathetically with the reasoning of the several sources he cites, despite his choice of writing the book in third person, successfully avoiding the book to sound authoritative and objective; Missoula goes through all the emotional and personal details as a book written in first person would.
- Dafne Hernandez
In the novel Missoula, written by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer writes about the rape culture that is hidden in a small college town due to the type of community that decides to hide the fact that rape is constantly occurring. Krakauer made the decision to tell the audience as many details as he was given about each sexual assult and rape case he had learned about that took place in Missoula, Montana. Krakauer did not use any type of sugar coating, making it clear that his words were genuine and kept the reader aware of the types of real life situations that bring danger to individuals. His writing style could be described as informative and complex thanks to his use of multiple cases and the negative feelings that each victim had felt during the event and even after when determining what would occur to the predator. The factual diction that is used throughout the novel gives the truth about how impacted the victim’s lives become after what may seem to others who don’t take the time to listen, understand, and support as just another mistake or consequence that took place when the victim was not responsible. Krakauer is not afraid to express the anxiety and pain each victim feels and the responses they receive from those in the justice system and any other soul that learns about each victim’s traumatizing experience. The troubling but very serious tones within each page cause the reader to not only feel just as sick to their stomach because of these unforgivable events but also the determination to bring a change to what happens in the end and what to look out for so these rapes and sexual assaults decrease. Krakauer creates these tones so the reader is not only informed about the reality of these issues. When people who were not involved learn that there are these problems that happen to someone they may not know, it is hard for them to understand what went down and the type of emotions rushing through the victim. When the victim understands that it is time for them to be vulnerable and open up about the troubling truth, having some type of care and support is desired. Krakauer illuminates how traumatic these horrendous events are with his use of explaining each individual case and the victim's emotions through and after it. Krakauer writes about what one of the experts on acquaintance rape had explained that when a person is raped there are different ways the victim could react. David Lisak asked how often was it where the victim explained that they “wanted to scream, and [they] couldn't” defend themselves. How many times a victim told others that they just “couldn't move” in their “nightmare” like how someone else would always suggest rather than acknowledge the frightening feeling that takes place in that moment of the nightmare. The rape victim could feel “paralyzed” and not be able to react in a fast escape kind of way, there is still no consent given to anyone. Krakauer added in this information given from a psychologist and forensic consultant in order to have the readers reflect on one of the ways a victim could respond even if there was no way to also feel the same shocked and paralyzed feeling in a sickening situation. There isnt a wish to place the reader in the victim's shoes, but for them to take the time to consider the truth of the rape and sexual assault victims and their cases. (page 79, paragraphs 1 and 2)
In Jon Krakauer's novel, Missoula, he tends to use a tone of straightforwardness and not sugarcoating the fear and trauma that the victims go through in their experience. In the novel, Krakauer goes in detail about the events that happens to the victims of the novel and tends to avoid any sense of alleviation as he does state that "some of the events [he describes] are extremely disturbing."(pages xiv and xv) Krakauer uses this alleviation to also talk about the victims and how they have dealt with the traumatic experiences and how these experiences have caused them to have panic attacks due to their fear of the events. In chapter eleven (11), we are introduced to Cecilia Washburn who was sexually assaulted by Jordan Johnson and how afterwards stated that "... never in a million years would have thought that this would have happened....And then, gradually, as things started to progress, [she] was still in shock..... It was like [a] nightmare."(page 153)Later on, in chapter twelve, months after the assault, while walking with a friend, Washburn caught sight of Johnson and panicked saying that "Terrified, she ran inside a nearby building to hide"(page 159) and called Lori Morin only after. By the time that Morin had found Washburn, she testified and stated that Washburn was "sobbing uncontrollably. She just came and hugged onto me and would not let me go.... I have never seen a person so terrified." (also on page 159)
In the book Missoula,Jon krakauer brings attention to the various types of experiences people have been trough ,and how rape has affected there life In many different ways.As he shows many people's storys he uses a third person omniscient point of view to help the reader understand more of the trauma and injustice victims are forced to face.Jon Krakauer expresses diction trough the way he talks about the cruelty shown to victims going trough the justice system ,who instead of being helped ,many times are forced to relive their trauma with no outcome in return.Further on expressing a furious tone towards the way these people in need are treated.In the text he writes"they seemed skeptical,she said like they thought I was just another drunk girl.I began to feel like I was the perp….. the way he reacted made me feel like he assum3r I had cheated on my boyfriend and lied about being raped to cover it up even though that wasn't the case" (pg44-45). Jon Krakauer chose to write this as a way of further opening the readers eyes to the process they are treated and how disrespectful it is,because while they are seaking for help,this system only victimizes the rapist.
In Jon Krakauer's novel, Missoula, his writing style is to make it seem as people, places, and situations are one way but in reality, it’s not; it’s the opposite. The author uses concrete and upfront diction in order to create a gloomy and alarmed tone. This tone is manifested in the justice system since it’s not taking action in Missoula to protect the people, get justice for the rape victims, and stop preventing more cases on happening. To begin with, Montana is a large place with “few people.” This makes it seem that there has to be a community in Montana, and everyone knows each other since there is a small proportion of people. That place also attracts people, and they fall in love instantly: “[it] charms first-time visitors into putting money down on real estate within hours of arriving.” Montana is portrayed as perfect and aesthetically pleasing place that everyone wants to live in. Krakauer additionally includes statistics that “42 percent of the population” received a bachelor’s degree or higher; whereas, the nation only getting “28 percent.” The percentages gap shows that if one lives in Montana, the person will be more successful in getting higher education and becoming intellectuals than in other places. This would encourage more people to want to move to Montana because everyone wants to be successful. Montana also gives hope to families because who doesn’t want their child to be in a place where education is dominant. Montana’s streets are filled with “cyclists, joggers, strollers”(page 5, paragraph 3). This shows that people in Montana enjoy going outdoors and exercising creating a carefree environment. However, Montana is facade. Everything in the paragraph paints the surface of Montana but not the reality, which is Missoula, Montana suffers with lots of cases of rape. This perfect place isn’t as perfect as it seems since the judiciary system of Missoula indeed doesn’t do much in order to try to solve this problem. There was lots of cases against the football team, which was their pride. Their solution was to dismiss multiple pieces of evidence and cases to try to cover the tracks of the team, so it won’t ruin the team’s reputation. Missoula’s system is bias towards the football team, corrupted, and isn’t afraid to get their hands dirty. It creates an alarming tone because people inside of Missoula don’t know what is going on and run the danger of they themselves being victims. Overall, Missoula isn’t the only one being shaped as being flawless in the outside but suffering on the inside. Take for example Alison, who thought she was fine, despite being a rape survivor, but in reality she wasn’t. This is how Krakauer uses his writing style by giving a false perception and creates the illusion of perfection while what lies underneath is unpleasant cases of rape. Missoula protecting itself is alarming and gloomy because they are layering dark events such as rape, and people are not aware of it being a consistent problem.
Krakauer wrote Missoula with the intention to educate and inform readers of a repetition of tragedies that occur in college and university life along with some insight of some of the victims' personal opinions and status since the incident. Krakauer does not mention his own opinion on these crimes directly, however through his wording and knowledge of his previous books the readers are given the insight that Krauguer targets extreme subjects around religion and violation of innocence. Regardless, Krauguer mentions in Missoula that the book is dedicated to Linda, his wife, not much information is given of her but the readers can infer that Linda had at some point faced a tragedy like this, illuminating reasoning why Krauguer is so insightful and passionate of the subject and why he needs more people to be educated of rape and how the justice system takes it in a college town. He wants the readers to recognize injustice to a victim when they see it and hopefully prevent future justice systems from antagonizing the victims. Myself as a reader, when reading Missoula I had to stop for several sections of the book and breathe because each story is realistically put so anyone can see themselves in the victims' shoes without batting an eye
-Dafne Hernandez
In Jon Krakauer’s novel, “Missoula”, he talks about the situations about different girls and their experience with sexual assault and the aftermath of the assault. When talking about each experience, he doesn’t hesitate when it comes to talking about the night of the events and the events afterwards, such as; their trauma, anxiety, depression, etc. Another thing that Krakauer talks about how these girls would handle their situations differently, whether they would go to the police to file the assault or not. When Krakauer talks about the girls that would go the police to report on their assault, most of the police wouldn’t take these girls seriously and would ask questions that have nothing to do with the situation or would get rejected helping them with the case, as what happened to Cecilia Washburn and other girls at the University of Montana. I believe that the motivation Jon Krakaure had for writing this novel was to tell the reader about the recurring situation of sexual assault that happens in a college campus and when these victims go and try to reach out for help to the police they are often, they are rejected and/or not taken seriously by them or, often times, by the people they trust. Krakauer also points out how when cases that fall under sexual assault go throw, to the point that they are taken to court, there are often times that people wouldn’t side with the victim, but with the assailant and how at this point these cases are difficult to prove that the victim is innocent, making it the harsh reality when it comes to cases revolving sexual assault. When I decided to read this book, I never thought of what I was suspecting. But then when I read the book, it has helped me better understand the grave of the situation and the aftermath of the events. It made me understand how at a scenario like this can at times not be taken seriously by those who have to support the person reporting the incident. When reading this book, I would often feel bad for the victims that would be accused of lying about the situation or would be rejected by the police about the situation and had to find another way for them to get the justice they deserve in order to feel safe in public. Another thing that stood out to me was how Krakauer not afraid to show the trauma and emotions that the victims would go through in their lives after the assault. The way that these girls would go through their lives after the events, and how they would seem so dysfunctional, was heartbreaking for me to read.
Krakauer’s motivation for creating Missoula is to inform readers about the injustice in Missoula by the prosecutors, police, police, and university when it comes to sexual assault cases. He illustrates the unfairness from the prosecutors by stating statistics of how many cases the accepted compared to how many they declined: “Of the 114 sexual assaults referred from prosecution, however, the MCAO [Missoula County Attorney’s office] filed charges in only 14 of those cases”(page 226, paragraph 4). This statistic shows that if a victim speaks up, it will be rare for their rapist to get convicted. The police also shows that they are not fair by not doing their job correctly by believing the victims are lying or asking them inappropriate questions like if “she [Belnap, who was gang raped by 4 members of the Grizzly football team] was dating anyone”(page 40, paragraph 4). The fact that the police do not know how to handle these cases is alarming because people rely on police officers to seek help, but they do not get it. This problem also encourages other rape attacks to happen since rapist aren’t being stopped by the police for their crimes; they are not held accountable for their actions. The main argument Krakauer builds is that Missoula’s judiciary system throughout the U.S fail to recognize and punish rapist. Krakauer demonstrates that in other universities like “Harvard; Princeton; Dartmouth,”(page 343, paragraph 1) which are highly well known and recognized are also failing to handle correctly sexual-violence complains. By including other examples, Krakauer is trying to prove his point that this problem is common throughout the U.S including Ivy League schools, not just in Missoula. He builds this argument by accumulating stories of victims in the University of Montana; most stories the rapist was a football player. The fact that myriad of cases are from football players is upsetting. This is because Missoula is known for and has great “civil pride”(page 7, paragraph 1) for their football team. Because of their pride, they are blinded and don’t acknowledge some football players as rapist despite there being too many cases and having confessions. For instance, Donaldson confesses about raping Huguet and was convicted of rape but after the jury’s decision,” many people continued to believe that she had falsely accused Donaldson”(page 321, paragraph 1). Peoples’ stubbornness is a problem because there is a pattern of football players taking advantage of women, but they don’t accept it. This is because if they do, they are equally responsible for these rapes since they didn’t try to change their perspective and stop more sexual assaults from happening again. Also, accepting football players as rapist will not only affect the football players’ reputation bug also Missoula because they are known for their team. In other words, they will be known as a college town that is unsafe because of the football team, which will discourage people from applying to the University of Montana or even visiting Missoula. First of all, Krakauer want the reader to acknowledge that sexual assault cases are common, but many people are not aware that this is a problem. He wants the reader to take away from the book Missoula to inform themselves by researching if this problem is also a problem in their state, city, local university, and neighborhood. The reader has to also research if victims of rape are getting their justice and how many are treated fairly by the police, prosecutors, university, and society in their area. The readers can make various changes in their community by spreading the word, starting a protest, and encouraging victims that haven’t told their story to not be afraid because they are not alone.
-Brittney Peña
Missoula, written by Jon Krakauer, is so honest and eye opening, it is clear that anyone who picks up the novel to read will not only be pushed to reflect about their thoughts towards rape and its victims but also take the time to learn more about the real rape culture and how it is being handled. Krakauer’s motivation in writing this text was to spread the word about the real struggles and anxious feelings that come from being involved in these rape and sexual assault cases. There is no moment during these events where only one single person is affected and alone. Rape and sexual assault is sadly common not only in the college town Krakauer decided to focus on in this text, but also in many communities around the world. The discussion of rape and sexual assault is a very unsettling topic that many people can be too scared to start or even take the time to understand to its entirety. Krakauer wanted to argue for the victims in a way he knew he could best. He took his time to find out each piece of information from cases, individual stories, friends of victims, family members of victims, even more educated professionals that had something to say about the emotional impact rape has on people’s lives. Each victim has their own way of reacting to the traumatic experience and not every outsider is supportive or understanding. Those who judge the rape victims negatively cause fear and even more suffering for the victims due to the desire of not wanting to be judged in that way. Krakauer wants more stories to be heard and understood completely in hopes of inspiring more victims to speak up and more people to rethink their thoughts on these cases. There is an understanding that these types of cases are difficult to take care of and that brings a lot of discouraging feelings to the victims and others wanting justice. As a reader I was so proud that Krakauer was someone who wanted to take a stand and inform other people about the sexual assault and rape cases be had learned about. I was proud of myself for pushing through each page because I felt all of the anxious feelings, along with the pain, and longing for an eraser to take away the troubles those victims never asked for. I have learned more about the reality that occurs during these types of cases and the responses that the community could give. Painfully, I am now aware of the common occurrence of rape and sexual assault.
Highlighting the horror of the rape epidemic in American college campuses, Jon Krakauer’s Missoula brings the discussion of rape and sexual assault as well as the role of the American justice system in the rape epidemic to the high school classroom by presenting readers with real life stories of rape and their struggle to earn justice. Krakauer not only gives detailed testimonies from rape victims surrounding their attacks such as that of college students , Allison Huguet. Krakauer also intensely highlights the fear many rape victims hold because of the cruel nature of their aggressors such as their perpetrators and but also those of the media as well as the skepticism they have towards the American justice system actually punishing these rapists. First coined in the 1970’s during the second wave of feminism, the concept of “rape culture”, the normality of rape do to various factors such as gender and sexuality, became a very popular term during the early 21st century in which many women began to step forward and tell their stories surrounding their sexual assault leading up to many important movements surrounding this epidemic such as the Me Too Movement. Krakauer publishing this novel around the time that many women in various industries begin to speak out against their rapists is nothing far from perfect timing. Krakauer intends to give women who are unwilling to speak out against their perpetrators the courage and strength to speak out in a misogynistic society. Many reader ,like me, are naive surrounding the issue of rape on college campuses. This novel really opened my eyes to the issues many women face as well as the fear that they face. I have realized that as a man living in a society that is much in favor of me simply because I’m a man does not protect women as much as it should. It ignites fear for all the women in my life such as my siblings and friends. It makes me want to demand protection for women on college campuses and also have colleges have mandatory seminars for all male students. Education has been proven to reduce crime in many circumstances and this issue is not exception.
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