Many could say that the Nurse should not be held responsible for Juliet's death; however, it is through the Nurse's thoughts and actions that lead Juliet to her death. Those who say that the Nurse does not contribute to Juliet's death could easily say that Juliet does not have to listen to the Nurse in the first place. Toward the very end of Act III, the Nurse tells Juliet that she should just marry Count Paris instead of staying loyal to Romeo because Romeo is banished and Paris is handsome, if not, more handsome than Romeo. Juliet is shocked to hear these words from the Nurse and threatens to kill herself if the Friar does not agree with her. Thus, the fact that Juliet is aware of that she does not have to listen to the Nurse proves that the Nurse should not be help liable for Juliet's death. Yet, even though this argument is valid, there are plenty of other reasons why the Nurse is responsible. First, the Nurse delivers messages between Romeo and Juliet. By doing so, it allows Juliet to talk to Romeo, indirectly. Every time they meet the risk getting caught by other people. Also, each time they talk/meet, they are more attached to one another, until something bad happens to them, like when Romeo gets banished. This, however, just makes Romeo and Juliet want to meet each other more. Thus, delivering messages between Romeo and Juliet contributes to Juliet's death. Second, at the end of Act III, when Lord Capulet forces his daughter to marry Count Paris, Juliet turns to the Nurse for some advice. The Nurse tells Juliet to forget Romeo and marry Paris because the relationship with Romeo is basically dead and that Paris is as handsome, if not, more handsome than Romeo. Hearing this, Juliet threatens to kill herself if the Friar does not help her. So, by disagreeing with Juliet on a very stressful situation, the Nurse contributes more to Juliet's demise. Lastly, the Nurse kept a huge secret from her employers, the Capulet's. Romeo and Juliet get married and the only people who know about this are the Nurse, Friar Laurence, Romeo, and Juliet. Right when the Nurse knew about the situation, she should have told the Capulet's that Juliet is in love with Romeo and has already wedded Juliet. By doing this, Romeo would not be banished because Tybalt would have known that the person he wants to kill is actually his cousin and would have probably not fought him anymore. But because the Nurse kept it a secret, it led to more family feuding and, most of all, Juliet's death. Thus, delivering messages back and forth between Romeo and Juliet, not helping Juliet cope with a stressful dilemma, and keeping secrets from the Capulet's are some ways the Nurse contributes to Juliet's death.

Another main contributor to Juliet's death is her own father, Lord Capulet. One way Lord Capulet contributes to Juliet's death is by letting Romeo stay for his traditional ball. If Romeo had not stepped into the house or was forced to leave immediately after he was detected, then Romeo would not have met Juliet. But Lord Capulet, with no idea of what this will eventually lead to, thought that there is no harm to let Romeo, a well-behaved youth, on attending the ball. So, because Lord Capulet let Romeo stay at the party, he contributes to Juliet's death. Another contribution made by Lord Capulet is when he forces Juliet to marry Count Paris. Still grieving about the death of her cousin, Tybalt, and her recently banished love, Romeo, she weeps even more. She knows that it is illegal to be married to two men at the same time and she also knows that the Friar cannot wed two men to the same woman, so this leaves Juliet in a sticky situation. While this is going on in Juliet's mind, Lord Capulet is still enraged at his daughter and has no idea how big the problem is for Juliet. Consequently, forcing Juliet to marry Count Paris within a short time period is another way Lord Capulet contributes to the death of his daughter. Finally, continuing an ongoing feud that has no particular meaning is the final reason why Lord Capulet contributes to Juliet's death. The whole feud is the reason why Romeo and Juliet cannot be together. They cannot express their love for each other publically because there are too many people watching. They also cannot speak or meet without having other members of their family butting in. By continuing a pointless feud that lasted for centuries, Lord Capulet causes the death of Juliet. Thus, letting Romeo stay at the traditional ball, forcing Juliet to marry Count Paris, and continuing an endless feud between the two families are just some ways Lord Capulet contributes to his daughter's death.

The main contributor to Juliet's death is Friar Laurence. First, Friar Laurence is the only other person, besides the Nurse, that knew about Juliet's relationship with Romeo. As a Friar, he is a holy man, but does not tell either sides of the family about the relationship. He keeps it bottled up inside him, expecting no one to find out, but eventually everything finds its way into publicity. If he had told the two families of Romeo and Juliet's relationship, then he would probably get the two youths in trouble, but it might also bring an end to the feud by both families realizing that they should just end the feud for the sake of their children. This is one example on how Friar Laurence contributes to the death of Juliet. Another example is when he weds Juliet with Romeo. He does this because he thinks this would end the families from feuding, but what he failed to do is tell the two families that he has wed the two lovers. Without that important piece of information, how are the families supposed to end the feud when they do not even know Juliet is married? The answer is: they do not. And that is why the feuding just gets worse and worse from there. The Friar wedding Romeo and Juliet and not telling the families is just another way on how he contributes to Juliet's death. Lastly, Friar Laurence's plans are what really does the most harm to both Romeo and Juliet. His first plan was to let Romeo shelter in Mantua, a neighboring city, and stay there until he can grant Prince Escalus to pardon Romeo's actions, but that plan failed right away as Lord Capulet announces that Juliet will marry Count Paris in three days. Friar Laurence realizes that three days to beg Prince Escalus to pardon Romeo is not enough time, so he starts working on plan number two. In this plan, he gives a potion to Juliet to drink on the day before the wedding. Her heart was slowed down dramatically, as if she was dead, for 42 hours. Within these 42 hours, she would be laid in the family tomb and the Friar would send someone to Mantua to tell Romeo about the plan. This plan also failed as Friar Laurence's messenger, Friar John, was not able to deliver the message to Romeo. After hearing this, Friar Laurence came up with another plan. This plan involved him retrieving Juliet when she wakes and escort her to his cell. Later, when Romeo comes, he will then take her to Mantua, where they will spend the rest of their lives. This plan fails as well. By the time the Friar got to the Capulet's tomb, he sees another two dead bodies, one is of Count Paris, and the other one is Romeo. This is the most harmful way how Friar Laurence contributes to Juliet's death. Thus, being secretive about Romeo and Juliet's relationship, wedding Romeo and Juliet, and coming up with plans that he thought would have some effect makes Friar Laurence the main contributor to Juliet's death.

In conclusion, people who have read The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet would find that the Nurse, Lord Capulet, and Friar Laurence are the main contributors to the death of Juliet. The Nurse, who is Juliet's friend/second mother, sent and received messages from Romeo, disagreed with Juliet when she really needed it, and kept the wedding a secret from the Capulet's make her a contributor. Lord Capulet, Juliet's father, is another contributor who let Romeo stay at the traditional ball, thinking it could do no harm, forcing his daughter to marry Count Paris, and continuing the constant feud between the two families. Friar Laurence kept Romeo and Juliet's relationship a secret, wedded Juliet to Romeo, and also came up with plans that eventually led to Juliet's demise. This is truly a tragedy that will be remembered for years and years to come.

One characteristic that Nace shows during the ascent of Mount Kalpurtha is being cautious. Nace first shows his cautiousness when he decides to traverse under the ridge instead of going at it head on. He knows that it would be a lot safer for the whole group. Even though it might take longer, Nace knows that the route would be easier for everyone and that they would still have a fighting chance to reach the summit. Thus, taking the precaution shows that Nace is cautious about his surroundings. Another reason why Nace is cautious is when the snowstorms hit. Nace knows that, “'It's firm down here…because the sun hits it only two hours a day. Up above it gets the sun twelve hours. It may not have frozen yet.'”(102). Again, Nace shows he is experienced with the mountain by saying that it is not safe to be climbing right after a snowstorm because he probably has had encountered this during his previous expeditions. The most important example on how Nace is cautious is when Nace, Osborn, and Frank are within one day's worth of climbing to reach the summit. A snowstorm hits and Nace tells the two that, “'There's still too much loose snow above. We can't make it.'” (105), and that they would have to go back down to Camp V. Osborn is enraged by this action and heads off to the summit while the others were sleeping even though Nace told him not to. As a result, Nace sacrifices his life to save Osborn. This shows that Nace is cautious because if Osborn actually listened to Nace's precaution, none of the events that happened would have happened. By taking stock of the situation and realizing the dangers of snowstorms proves that Nace is cautious.

Another characteristic that Nace demonstrates is that he is caring. One way that Nace demonstrates this trait is when he decides to zigzag under the glacier instead of taking the ridge. This shows that he cares about the group by letting them take the safer and much easier route and the more difficult one. In a later conversation between Nace and Frank, Nace tells Frank that, “It [the ridge] can be done. Trouble is, when you've made it, you're too done in for the summit.” (101). This quote demonstrates how Nace cares about his fellow group mates and does not want them to make the same mistake that he did with his old friend Furness. This is one way Nace cared for the group. Another example on how Nace is caring is when he makes steps for them and the porters to step on during the ascent. This quote, “… the bright prong of his ax rising, falling, rising, falling with tireless rhythm, until the steps in the glassy incline were so wide and deep that the most clumsy of the porters could not have slipped from them had he tried.” (103), proves that Nace is caring for his group as well as the porters. He made the steps so wide and so deep that no one could have slipped even on purpose. This is another example on how Nace is caring. The last example of when Nace shows that he is caring is when he goes up to find Osborn, even though he disliked Osborn. Nace, Osborn, and Frank are at Camp VI, when a snowstorm hits. After a couple of days, Nace still thinks that climbing to the summit would be too dangerous and decides that they should go down and get more supplies before they try to reach the summit again. Osborn is outraged and tries to reach the summit when Nace and Frank are asleep. When Nace wakes up, he finds Osborn missing and decides to look for Osborn even though Osborn disobeyed him. So, even though there was a lot of tension between Nace and Osborn, Nace shows that he is caring by trying to look for Osborn. In conclusion, taking the safer route, digging out steps for the group, and helping Osborn all prove that Nace is caring.

The last and most important characteristic that Nace shows is the quality of being experienced. Because he unsuccessfully climbed the mountain 5 times, he has more knowledge and understanding of the mountain, hence, making him more experienced than the others. The text states, “Because of his far greater experience and intimate knowledge of K3, Randolph almost invariable followed his advice…” (100). This quote demonstrates that Nace's experience and his decisions help guide the expedition team toward the summit. Thus, using past knowledge of the mountain proves that Nace is more experienced than other group members. Another way Nace demonstrates his property of being experienced is when he is asked about the sleeping bags. Osborn, young and inexperienced, immediately wanted the sleeping bags out, while Nace, with his familiarity to this kind of situation, told Osborn and the rest of the men, “'Longer we wait for the bags, better acclimated we'll get.'” (98). Nace knows that it will be harder to breathe up at a higher elevation if they use the sleep bags then. So, with his knowledge and common sense on mountain climbing, Nace shows that he is experienced. The last example of how Nace is experienced is when they were going from Camp IV to Camp V.

One of the porters accidentally slipped while they are climbing the ridge to get to Camp V. Nace took control of the situation by creating a balance. They balanced each other out and continued to climb the ridge. Once they were out, Nace tried to comfort the men by letting them have a cup of tea. As a result, Nace's experience saved the party from disaster. All these events that led to Nace's death prove that Nace is more experienced than the rest of the flock.

In conclusion, people who read “Top Man” will notice that Nace is cautious, caring, and experienced. To recap, Nace demonstrates his cautiousness when climbing the mountain. He shows that he is caring by helping everyone out one way or another. Lastly, Nace proves that he is experienced when he faces difficult problems between nature and men in the story. In the end, sacrificing one's life for another rather than to reach the summit himself makes Nace the true “Top Man”.