Elements of the Novel Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

¶ … conflict is resolved with Brian being rescued from the wilderness. On the other hand, we are also led to believe that his chances of survival would have greatly diminished if the winter had come and he would not have been rescued in time.

Besides Brian and the pilot, no other character is involved in the real, factual representation of the story. On the other hand, when recalling or describing Brian's thoughts on a series of issues, like his parents' divorce or the fact that his mother is seeing another man, several characters appear in Brian's imagination and thoughts. We have, for example, Brian's mother and father, who are entering a divorce procedure because his mother is having an affair. His father does not, however, know that he is being cheated on. Additionally, there is the mysterious "man with short blond hair," involved with Brian's mother and connecting Brian's parents.

The story is told in the third person by an outside storyteller who does not appear in the plot.

9) Perhaps the tornado could, in many ways be considered the climax of the novel. There are several reasons to back up this choice. First of all, it gives a clear message about what is about to happen: if Brian is not rescued soon, until the weather changes, he has no chances despite his generous efforts.

Second of all, the tornado is the intrinsic representation of furious nature. The message is clear here: no matter how intelligent you are and how many solutions you are able to find in order to fight nature, nature finds the resources to defeat you in the end. The power of nature is endless.

Third of all, it may also be a symbolical point that life itself has a number of tornados you have to pass through, after which you need to find the resources to built your life again.

10) The mood depends on the theme or sub-theme the author describes. In order to tell Brian's experience in the wilderness, the writer uses a casual storytelling style to create an adventure mood. In some occasions, of course, we tend to be distorted by dramatic events that occur, like the plane crashing or the tornado destroying Brian's shelter. On the other hand, for the sub-theme, the mood needs to express and describe Brian's anger towards what is happening in his family.

11) The main theme and central idea of this book is the way individuals learn to survive in untamed and improper environments. On the other hand, this is only the surface idea. We need to expand on this and discover, for example, that an intrinsic theme of the book refers to courage. Certainly, the author finds one of the situations in which courage manifests itself, but this can generically refer to all situations where human kind, with courage, fought to overcome difficult situations. In fact, it is all about the challenges individuals face in life and the way the find the means to overcome them. The idea of surviving in untamed land is only one of the paradigms used to portray this issue.