The Hatchet By Gary Paulsen Summary

Brian couldn't survive without food so he had to go hunting he made a small bow and arrow. With sticks and string from the survival pack and sharpened rocks to make the arrow heads and he would kill small birds and rabbits. But that bow wasn't getting the food that he needed cause he only hit the animals half the time and sometimes it didn't kill the animals. So he made a bigger and better bow and this he could barely pole back and with that he killed a deer and a moose but the moose didn't die and

Brian is stranded in the Canadian wilderness in the summer season. Near him is a L shaped lake and he is surrounded by animals.

He then tries repeatedly to create fire. He eventually does succeed in making fire. He later finds turtle eggs and hesitantly eats them. Later, a plane flies over Brian, but never notices him and Brian loses all hope. He attempts to commit suicide, but ends up surviving the attempt. Brian makes a bow and some arrows and catches a fish. Later that night a skunk enters his shelter and tries to steal his food. He yells at it and it sprays him, leaving him temporarily blinded. He perfects his tools and catches a bird. While he is cleaning the bird in the lake, a moose attacks Brian. In the attack, his ribs and his shoulder were

Brian appreciates the nature so much that he volunteered to go into the wilderness and

Brian landed in the Canadian wilderness with no food. “I’m hungry and i'd trade everything I have for a hamburger.”(47) The book talks about him finally getting cherries by following birds. Later he decides to hunt for more wholesome food. He found a bird that was easy to hunt because of it's stupidity. he also fished with tools he crafted. He could have stopped at the berries but he went the extra mile to hunt for birds & fish.

When they crashed, Brian couldn’t be lazy like he was in the city. He had to use his wits and knowledge that he knew about the woods. He needed to learn how to cook, make fire, hunt, make tools, and build a

‘’Something caught his ear or nose and he began to turn, and had his head half way around, when he saw a wall of fur.’’ (pg.150) The realistic fiction novel, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen describes a boy named Brian who crashed in the canadian woods, who must survive off the grid with only his hatchet and biran. Gary Paulsen uses the setting of the canadian wilderness to demonstrate the growth of the main character mentally, emotionally, and physically. Certain events throughout the plot add to the readers understanding of brian’s true transformation.

Brain realizes that he can make fire using his hatchet. This aha moment was a critical part in Brain’s survival. Having a fire in the wilderness is a big part in survival. The night before he realized this, he heard something and couldn’t see it because it was so dark, and he ended up getting injured because of it. If Brian would have had the fire, he would have been able to see what it was, and would have not gotten injured.

One of the changes we do get to see is when he’s thinking about what happened skunk, in chapter 14 Brian begins to think about what mistakes being made. The quote states “small mistakes could turn into disasters, funny little mistakes could snowball so that while you were still smiling at the humor you could find yourself looking at death.” This quote shines a bit of light on his developing personality, it also shows how much he has changed through his harsh time in the forests. This changes things because it shows that Brian is starting to understand things more. He’s starting to get that mistakes aren’t affordable and could put him in a bad spot. This should help him become more vigilant and should also keep the young man out of trouble for the most

Jean Bressler believes Hatchet written by Gary Paulsen is an excellent book because the readers can relate to the protagonist having to adapt and survive. The character from hatchet named Brian Robinson is put into an epidemic and has to consider every choice he makes because his life depends on it. The accomplishments to improve his environment leads his hope of continued survival. Readers observe the maturity process of a thirteen year old boy. As Jean Bressler says “Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet is a good vehicle for middle/junior high students to observe the maturity process and learn the importance of decision making skills that they can apply to their own environments.” Bressler notices in the beginning of the book “[the mother] keeps him dependent

Brian faced a turning point in his life when he was stranded in a forest, which led to loneliness and hunger. He had to spend nights “alone and hoped”, “they would come today”. This evidence is stated on page 5. Although, Brian hoped he would be rescued, his loneliness makes him question if and when someone would come to the rescue. “I wish you were here, Perpich. I’m hungry and I’d trade everything I have for a hamburger.” This evidence shows that he was really hungry and would trade everything for food. Hunger and loneliness forced Brian to face challenges he wasn’t prepared to deal with.

Bear Grylls once said “Survival can be summed up in three words Never Give Up, that's the heart of it really, just keep trying.” Skills can be used in everyday life; math skills when you are at the grocery store or restaurant, and grammar skills when addressing people. Another set of skills that can be useful are survival skills if you are stuck in a life or death situation. In the award-winning novel, “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen, Brain has to learn how to use his tools to survive in the for example how to uses the fire as guard, how he strives to kill the animals, and how the tools help him kill the animals.

Chapter One starts with Brian waking up in the hospital room from his accident. Chapter Two and Three explain Brian’s confusion and frustration as he gains consciousness and feeling. In Chapter Four Brian sees his parents for the first time; this motivates him to blink and move his feet in Chapter Five. In Chapter Six he decides he is going to give up, however, his parents since the defeat and beg him to continue the fight. For his parents’ sake Brian gets back in the fight and is determined to live; this is explained in Chapter Seven. Chapter Eight and Nine demonstration Brian’s steady progression. He is able to smile, sit up (with the help of a chair), and blow his mother a kiss. Chapter Ten reflects on Brian’s successful track season and reveals his frustration with not being able to speak. However, in Chapter Eleven and Twelve Brian says his first word—hello. After a

He uses the shelter to protect him from the rain and some animals. After he builds the shelter, Brian uses his hatchet to make spears and arrows. He takes branches and sharpens the tip of them to make arrows and spears. "He had worked on the fish spear until it had become more then just a tool. He shoots the arrows at birds and throws the spears at fish. "I know about fire; I know I need fire." Brian says this the second night he's there. Brian needs a fire because he needs it for heat, to cook food and to keep animals away. Brian makes the fire with his hatchet and a rock. First, he figures out that he needs some paper so he takes his 20-dollar bill and tries to burn it. Unfortunately, the bill just burns right out and leaves him with no fire. After that, he takes his hatchet and cuts small pieces of bark. Then he piles them up under twigs. Then he takes his hatchet and hits a rock with a great blow and sparks catch the bark on fire. He hits another blow and the sparks catch the twigs on fire. Therefore, he has a fire. This process shows that whatever Brian sets his mind to he can do it. About two months later Brian went to the bottom of the lake to see if there was anything useful in the plane. He brought up a survival package. There were many useful things in there like bandages and matches. Couple months later, just before winter was going to hit a man shows up in a plane. The guy in the plane was the man Brian had talked

The key character traits that are exposed include perseverance, determination and also creativity. Brian show’s perseverance when things are not easy or don’t go his way. The text supports this is the many times it seemed nature itself was trying to make Brian’s life harder or to even kill him. An example of this is when a bear shows up in his camp in the dark of night and begins eating his food. The beer ends up throwing him twenty feet in the direction of the lake causing many injuries. Brian is very hurt and it isn’t easy for despite everything he keeps on going after the bear encounter. Brian shows determination many times throughout the story. When something seems impossible he keeps on going and pushes through. An example is when he begins trying to make a stronger bow. He repeatedly fails but does not give in. Creativity, if Brian did not possess this trait he couldn't have survived more than a week. He used creativity when doing so many things. These things included the area of the lake that he made a wall that traps in fish for him to spear and get an easy meal. He also uses creativity when designing his shelter door to keep animals out. After having various unwelcome guests, he decided to do something about it. All in all Brian uses the three traits Perseverance, determination and creativity many times to last in the