The Hatchet

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 12th grade September 2001

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Frank Garrison 8K The Hatchet Gary Paulsen I chose this book because I thought it would be very interesting. The main character in this story is Brian, who went through a plane crash and had to survive on his own for fifty-four days. The character I liked the best was Brian because he is brave, smart, and never gives up. Hatchet is about a boy named Brian Robeson. His parents are separated and live in different parts of the continent. Brian is on his way to live with his father for the summer, when the pilot of the two person plane has a heart attack. Brian keeps the plane up until it runs out of gas, and then he aims for a lake that he can glide into. As soon as they hit the lake, Brian has to swim to the surface before he drowns, leaving the dead pilot in his seat belt.

All Brian has is the clothes and a hatchet his mother gave him. While stranded somewhere in Canada, Brian learned how to make a fire, which kept mosquitos away. He builds a spear for fish, and a bow and arrow for hunting birds. He lives in a cave, and does pretty well. After a while he is better and decides to go look for the survival kit inside the airplane. It takes him all day, and exhausts him, but he finally does it. Inside it there are tons of thing that will help him. There is a rifle, but he doesn't like it because it takes him away from all he has learned. There is also almost a years supply of dehydrated food. Last, there is an emergency transmitter, and without knowing it, Brian turns it on and leaves it on. When he turned on the transmitter,