Banner In The Sky

“You cannot put out a fire by wishing it. You cannot bottle the wind.”

This quote shows Old Teo’s insight into human nature. While Franz and Ilse have Rudi’s best interests at heart, they don’t understand that trying to keep someone from what they are passionate about is futile. Only when they teach Rudi how to climb appropriately can he truly be safe and thrive. His need to climb cannot be restrained.

“What your son did, Frau Matt, was a very skillful and a very brave thing. There is no question but that I would be dead right now if he had not done it. I think his father, if he were alive today, would be proud of him.”

From the beginning, Winter is a champion of Rudi. By highlighting the best in him and affirming him as a young man, Winter builds up his confidence and helps him grow into a mature person. While Winter is not permissive, he offers Rudi respect, and Rudi rises to the occasion, proving himself to be worthy of trust.

“A warm glow filled his body. He was where he belonged. He was a man among men.”

This quote highlights the importance of role models and inclusion in Maturity and Masculinity. Rudi wants nothing more than to be included with the men and taken seriously. Belonging is not just a warm feeling but is an essential part of a young person’s growing into their identity.

“A wave of hopelessness engulfed him. And of bitter shame. For his, he well knew, had been the worst of all sins that a mountaineer can commit. He had made others risk their lives to save his.”

This quote shows Rudi’s reflection and learning from experience. Banner in the Sky shows that people do not magically grow up overnight. Only by making mistakes and trying to do better in the future can someone like Rudi mature.

“What good did it do to have the world before him, when he couldn’t get to it? When he was like a prisoner staring at it from behind the bars of a cell.”

Banner in the Sky implies that some things are simply born with us. Rudi’s passion for climbing wasn’t taught to him. In fact, his passion exists despite the attempts of his caretakers to keep him from climbing. Showing Rudi’s progression from feeling like a prisoner to becoming a conqueror shows how important pursuing passions is. 

“But only for today,” he added. “Only for reconnaissance. I am not going to pull some young Lausbube six thousand feet to the top of the Citadel.

This remark illustrates Saxo’s immaturity. Not only does he insult Rudi by calling him a “little rascal,” he also sets himself up for failure. In the end, Saxo needs to be carried down the mountain by Rudi—not the other way around.

“All right. Sit here in the Edelweiss. Swill your beer. And see how you feel when the ‘impossible’ summit is climbed by others. When the world no longer knows the Citadel as the mountain of Kurtal, but as the mountain of Broli.”

Old Teo’s frustration with the men of Kurtal shows that sometimes risk is an honorable thing. The climbers are complacent, repeating the same climbs over and over just to make money. Rudi, on the other hand, is a true climber not only because he is willing to take risk but also because he is doing it simply for the joy of climbing.

“Earth and sky, mountain and valley—the whole world that spread above and beneath him—was as transfixed as the world of a dream, and in all of it only he, Rudi, was awake and moving and alive.”

This quotation captures the true majesty of climbing. In this moment, Rudi is first enamored by the beauty of where he is, “transfixed” by the majesty of nature. This inspires a feeling of true aliveness in him, showing nature as an important part of human flourishing.

“What he felt was too deep for that; too strong for that. A shout would have been a blasphemy in that high secret place to which he had come at last.”

This quote contradicts the idea that climbing is just about proving strength or conquering nature. For Rudi, climbing is a way of being close to his father. When he reaches the Fortress, he is standing where only he and his father have been. As someone who lost his father before he was even born, Rudi experiences this as a sacred moment.

“For the first time since early that morning he thought of the world below. Of his mother and his uncle. Of his disobedience, his defiance, his willfulness, and the pass to which they had brought him.”

This quote shows Rudi’s reflection as he learns from his experience. While Rudi’s ambition ends up being a good thing, he realizes that he should also be careful. There is a fine balance that requires judgment when it comes to navigating one’s own passion and keeping others in mind.

“One of you is as bad as the other; as stupid as the other. Fighting about your damned villages. Snarling like animals, while the boy is probably—”

In this quote, Winter chides Saxo and Franz for allowing their immature prejudices about their towns to get in the way of the task at hand. Banner in the Sky shows that while honor and loyalty to one’s community are a meaningful motivator, they shouldn’t prevent kindness and cooperation.

“You have tried to make him into something he is not…Of course he has done these things. And so would I, in his place. And so would anyone.”

Teo recognizes that identity and individuality are important parts of life—especially for a teenager beginning to navigate young adulthood. Sometimes adults don’t realize what they are asking of children and teenagers. Teo points out that anyone, not just a “rebellious” teenager, would feel constrained if kept away from their passion.

“Together we’ll be the strongest team that has ever climbed the Alps. But separately, there’s not a hope. Quarreling and competing—there’s not a hope. The Citadel is too great for that.”

Winter proves himself as a leader and person of honor. What makes him remarkable is not just his skill but also his ability to bring out the best in others. He is able to bring together unlikely climbing partners and overcome the odds because he sees past local bickering and sees the best in others.

“He was well aware of the honor and responsibility that had been conferred on him, and he climbed with the utmost care.”

This quotation shows that trusting young people is an important part of their development. The more that people like Winter take Rudi seriously, the more he surprises them with his skill and courage. He takes his task more seriously when he is trusted to demonstrate good judgment and treated as an equal.

“Up—up they went: the first of all men to enter that secret world above the world. The first of all living things, too, it seemed.”

Throughout his climbs, Rudi is struck by the moments where he gets to be the “first.” Banner in the Sky examines human nature and the enticement of being the first to accomplish something. Rudi’s experience shows that having pride in what one does is different from being a proud person. 

“That was why the Englishman was going first. Not because he considered himself the best climber, but because the risk was so great, and he was resolved that it be his.”

Winter is an example of leadership for Rudi. While he might have said that being the one paying for the guides meant that Franz and Saxo should risk climbing the Needle, he insists on going first. Winter shows that maturity and leadership mean putting others’ safety first.

“He knew something else too—something even more shattering—and this was that his uncle was right. It was the very heart and essence of a guide’s code that he must not leave his Herr.”

This realization shows how doing the right thing is not easy; for Rudi it is “shattering.” Doing the right thing meant going against his internal sense of duty and morality. While Rudi makes mistakes by disobeying his conscience, he makes up for it in the end, saving Saxo despite his desire to climb to the top alone.

“It was not an outer but an inner change, a thing that could not so much be seen as simply felt. It was in his bones, in his blood, in his heart.”

The resilience of humanity is on full display when Winter insists on climbing with Franz to find Rudi. The fact that Winter is able to summon incredible strength when Rudi’s safety is at risk more than when he was just climbing shows the depth of his character and the bond among fellow climbers.

“He had climbed beyond time, as he had climbed beyond the world, and all that existed were rock and sky.”

This quote shows how sublime the top of the Citadel is. The more that Rudi climbs, the simpler things become. The narrative choice makes it feel like it is truly just between Rudi and the mountain as he nears the end of the climb.

“‘You’ve won, boy—don’t you understand?’ The guide’s voice grated like iron on stone. ‘Go on. Get your damned shirt and pole. Carry them up. Put them on the top.’” 

Saxo’s attitude shows that he sees climbing as a zero-sum game. Either he wins for Broli, or Rudi wins for Kurtal. Obviously, this way of looking at climbing doesn’t work. This approach could have cost Saxo his life if it weren’t for Rudi, who sees climbing as a collaborative effort with inherent responsibilities for others.

“That, too, they could reach in half an hour, or less […] If he did not call. Only if he did not call.”

Rudi’s thoughts show perhaps the most important moment in his character development. When he sees his uncle and Winter approaching the summit, he could summon them down to help him, saving the summit for himself later. By choosing to say silent, Rudi gives up his dream of being the first to conquer the Citadel and makes that possible for the others, showing his maturity.

“’Yes, that is good, Uncle,’” said the son of Josef Matt. “’We are guides of Kurtal, and we got our Herr to the top.’” 

By referring to Rudi as “the son of Josef Matt,” the narrator makes it clear that Rudi chose his father’s honor and code as his own. While Rudi wrestles between Saxo’s and his father’s climbing philosophies throughout the book, in the end, he chooses his father’s way of looking at climbing as a collaborative effort. He learns to take pride in the accomplishments of others instead of seeing them as a threat to his own success.

“He saw beyond the tears—to what lay behind them—deeper and stronger and more shining than tears. And he knew that there was no need to speak.”

Banner in the Sky profoundly displays the impact that losing a loved one has on a person’s life. In this beautiful moment between Rudi and his mother, their love for Josef is so obvious that there is no need to express it. By bravely embarking on his climb and saving the life of another, Rudi carried on the legacy of his father.