Hatchetby Gary Paulsen

Morărescu Ruben

Targoviste, Romania

About the book “Hatchet” is a 1987 award-winning novel

about wilderness survival, written by Gary Paulsen. The title “Hatchet” represents the tool that will help Brian throughout his survival days.

OVERVIEW The book contains a story of individual

survival against great odds. It tells how a routine journey turned into a life-threatening and life-changing experience. The central character, thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson, is stranded alone at a lake deep in the Canadian wilderness for fifty-four days. A small plane, carrying Brian from his mother's home in Hampton, New York, to the oil fields in Canada where his father works, crashes after the pilot dies in flight from a heart attack.

…the cause…the action…

The turning point in Brian’s life and also the beginning of the novel’s action is when the plane he was traveling with crashes into a lake in the Canadian wilderness.

Summary

• Brian Robeson is stranded and alone in the Canadian wilderness after the pilot of the single-engine Cessna plane in which he is traveling, the pilot suffers a fatal heart attack. Brian is forced to try to land the plane, but ends up crash-landing the plane into the trees and sliding down into the water and escapes just as it sinks in a remote lake.

• Brian figures out how to make fire. He forces himself to eat whatever food he can find, such as turtle eggs, fish, berries, fruit, some rabbits, and even a couple of birds. He deals with wild animals and a tornado. He eventually becomes quite a craftsman, crafting a bow, arrows, and a spear. He also fashions a shelter out of the underside of a rock overhang. During the story, he struggles with memories of home, and the bittersweet memory of his mother, who Brian has discovered was cheating on his father.

• When a tornado hits the woods and lake, it draws the plane wreckage toward the shore of the lake. Brian makes a raft from a few broken off tree tops to get to the plane. When Brian is working his way into the plane, he drops his hatchet in the water. He realizes how critical the hatchet is for his survival. After diving twice, he retrieves the hatchet and narrowly avoids drowning. Inside the plane, he finds a survival pack, which has a transmitter, packs of food, and an AR-7 (survival rifle). Brian unknowingly activates the transmitter, but he thinks it is broken. As he is eating the food packs, a fur trader arrives in a water plane some time after because he caught the sunken planes signal. Finally, after reaching his father, he is no closer to being able to tell him about the mother's affair than at the novel's beginning.

Personal thoughts and opinions

What I loved about the book was that, no matter the struggle and tough situations Brian was facing, he always found a way to overcome the difficulties.The book teaches everyone that in any given situation, if there’s a will there’s a way and you can always succeed if you try hard enough.This is a great book for anyone who wants to read and have fun. You do not only read the book but you learn in the process as well. You learn how to survive in the wilderness with limited supplies and how to stay positive even when there’s nothing to be happy about.

Conclusion

This novel is a Newbery honor book and I believe it is very deserving of that prestigious award. Gary Paulsen puts you right in the action and in the struggle. I recommend this book to people of all different ages and backgrounds. You will feel every moment of hope and rejection in this amazing novel and you will learn many lessons of life and of survival.

“…never lose hope…”