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.