Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Paulsen, G. (2006). Hatchet. New York: Simon Pulse.

I was looking to this week's blog, because I chose to read a book that I never finished as a child. I read Brian's Winter over ten years ago and started on Hatchet, but never finished. It has been sitting on my book shelf since then. This is one of Paulsen's most well known books and part of a series that continues to excite readers of all ages. It interests both boys and girls, because of the author's unique realistic survival story.

The book is appropriate for readers twelve and up, according to Amazon. However, this is a text that is generally taught in fifth and sixth grade classrooms. I have seen children as young as ten enjoy this text as long as they have the maturity level to understand it.

The story is told from a third person omniscient point of view focusing on the main character Brian. He is a thirteen year old boy from New York City. The book centers around his struggle for survival alone in the wilderness. Throughout the novel Brian goes through a series of changes in developing into a strong minded survival "guru." In the beginning he is angry and frustrated with his surroundings, but changes into a sound minded individual that learns more than just survival skills. He sees life lesson in his experiences. The Brian in the beginning of the story would have been upset if his plans failed, but towards the end sees failures as a learning opportunity and actually learns from his mistakes. The character development throughout the novel is one of strongest aspects that readers can understand, because it shows the main character's journey into manhood.

 For example, "He did not know how long it took, but later he looked back on this time of crying in the corner of the dark cave and thought of it as when he learned the most important rule of survival, which was that feeling sorry for yourself didn't work. It wasn't just that it was wrong to do, or that it was considered incorrect. It was more than that—it didn't work." This quote from the text shows how Brian's overall thought process changed during his time in the wilderness.  He went from feeling sorry for himself to an individual that was ready to take action. Childlike qualities were fading in him and he was forced to mature quicker than most.

A main conflict in the text is man versus nature, which flows into the one of the major themes. In the text Brian struggles with survival in the wilderness. He is not the Katniss Everdeen we picture surviving in the woods today; however, he was a normal teenage boy from the city before he was forced to survive in the wilderness. He had no training or knowledge of survival before these events. That is what truly makes this story intriguing, because children can relate to embracing the unknown and thriving in it. In the text Brian soon realizes that nature is not intent on harming him and embraces its life and beauty. He comes to understanding with the animals and recognizes the dangers.

This theme also leads into what is truly the main setting of the book, which instead of being the forest like most would guess is Brian's own mind. Brian's overall growth in his ability to behave and think like adult are what truly saves him. Readers see this constant struggle between Brian's child self and his new forming adult mind. Eventually, he sees this importance of positive adult like thinking when he recalls a quote saying "You are all you have."

I believe this book should be a required reading for all students, because young adolescents can relate so closely to the Brian and the changes he undergoes. It can also encourage future reading being part of a series. I plan to read the third book Brian's Hunt soon.

Some major questions that I had after reading this book and questions that would be great for students are listed below.
1. What role does Brian's attitude play in his survival?
2. What influenced the author to write this book?
3. How does the main character change throughout the book?
4. How would you react if you were in Brian's situation?
5. What choices did Brian make that you agree with? What choices do you not agree with?
6. Do you think Brian would be the person he is at the end if he had never been in the plane crash?