Essay On Hatchet By Gary Paulsen

770 Words2 Pages

Garrett Hanberg
Professor Bryan Estes
AP Literature
17 May 2016
Brian and His Survival The novel, Hatchet, written by Gary Paulsen is a survival thriller in which a thirteen year old boy by the name of Brian has to fight for survival to stay alive. Initially in the beginning of the book, Brian and a pilot by the name of Jim or Jake (Brian couldn’t remember the man’s name) were flying around in a Cessna plane on the way to Canada so that little Brian could see his distant father that he hasn’t seen in forever due to his parent’s recent divorce. About half way through the flight a surprise came to Brian’s eye as he looked up at the pilot. The pilot had a heart attack and was no longer breathing, so Brian rushed to the front to take control of the plane and keep it level. The plane ends up crashing in the middle of nowhere in a lake, but Brian manages to survive. As the story progresses Brian’s character development ultimately makes him a stronger person. All of his experiences in the wilderness all alone without anyone around …show more content…

the wilderness, there is another conflict that continues throughout the novel that can be harder to see. That is the whole conflict with his parent’s divorce that constantly lingers throughout his mind. Brian, later on in the novel reveals a secret about his mother and an affair she had with a man that his father does now know about. This leads readers wondering whether or not he blames his mother for the quandary he is currently in being stranded in the middle of nowhere by himself. Maybe if Brian had told his father about this affair, there would be very different visitation rights placed instead of the summer visits he is stuck with to see his father, making the relationship with him very distant and inconsistent. Perhaps due to this knowledge about his mother and her affair, Brian feels to blame for being in this predicament, because if he was to speak up he wouldn’t be stuck by

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