Hatchet By Gary Paulsen Summary

Hatchet by American writer Gary Paulsen is a very interesting book about a teenager named Brian Robeson who is riding in a plane. Brian Robeson is a teenage boy who lives with his divorced mother. He is not obese but has a considerably large amount of fat by his waist. When Brian is on his way by plane to visit his father, he goes through many struggles. As the copilot of the airplane, Brian Robeson watches the pilot suddenly have a major heart attack. Scared and yelling, Brian tries to get help through a radio, but the connection is insecure and he is unable to communicate properly. Brian falls into a muddy lake and starts to figure out how to survive with nothing but the hatchet his mother gave him and the wilderness.

Brian, shocked and tired, takes a quick nap. When he wakes up, he finds out that he has no large injuries and sits down by the lake in pain. His body is aching all over, and after a day of thinking, Brian falls asleep again.
The next day, Brian is thirsty and takes a few sips from the lake. In the next few days, he finds some bitter gut cherries and juicy raspberries to eat. Later, he starts his very first fire and feeds it wood. Every day is the same: Brian wakes up, figures out how to make shelter and get food, feeds the fire wood, eats fruit, and sleeps.

One day Brian finds some buried turtle eggs. He is super hungry and eats them raw. Brian saves the rest of the eggs and buries them near his temporary home. Days and days after, Brian develops new tools. He makes a bow & arrow, and has many more skills. He learns how to hunt and eat fish and foolbirds. When Brian sees a skunk digging up his turtle eggs, he reacts violently and gets sprayed by the skunk. He doesn’t enjoy it. Brian achieves many more things. For example, he learns how to hunt and eat a rabbit. His days are slightly easier and he has fashioned a sturdy wood hut and can eat a bigger variety of food – gut cherries, raspberries, fish, rabbits, and before, turtle eggs.

A disastrous day comes to Brian. A huge tornado and lots of stubborn wind blows the boy’s home down and it is nothing but scraps of wood. The fire Brian has kept going for so long goes out. Brian has to start over again. Brian decides to explore the crashed plane. To his horror, he sees the pilot’s body – well, skull. He determines that fish have nibbled the whole body down and shudders. Further into the ruins, Brian finds an ultimate complete untouched survival kit! Brian gains many eating and cooking utensils, a compass, more travelling tools, and lots of freeze-dried food, drink, and dessert mix. Brian has a feast, but then a man finds Brian Robeson! The man sends Brian back to his home. Brian remains lean and wiry and has lost 17% of his body weight, which is all of his fat. He later gains back 7% but does not gain any body fat. Brian has permanent good changes to himself. He’s more thoughtful, careful, and values food more.

More detailed Q & A:

1. What’s a hatchet? _____________________________________________________
2. What type of plane was Brian riding in?_____________________________________________________
3. Describe the plane. _____________________________________________________
4. How many feet did the plane level up in the first five minutes? _____________________________________________________
5. What direction was the plane going?_____________________________________________________
6. What are signs that the pilot could have a heart attack?_____________________________________________________
7. What was written on the plane radio?_____________________________________________________
8. Describe Brian’s memory of cycling with his friend Terry.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. What did Brian eat in the last Thanksgiving his mother and father weren’t divorced?_____________________________________________________
10. What kind of watch was Brian wearing?_____________________________________________________
11. What did Brian call the birds that he wanted to catch?_____________________________________________________
12. Fill in the blank directly from the book: “He went into the food packs once more and selected what he wanted for his feast: a __________________________________________________________________________________________________________”
13. True or False: Brian is 14 years old. ___________
14. Fill in the blank: The hatchet cut through the aluminum like ___________.
15. What was the plane survival kit made out of?_____________________________________________________

A:

1. A hatchet is a small axe with a short handle, designed to be used with only one hand.
2. Brian was riding in a Cessna 406 – a bush plane.
3. The plane was small, but so loud that it ruined any chance for conversation.
4. The plane leveled up 600 feet in the first five minutes.
5. The plane was going northwest.
6. The pilot’s limbs were jerking everywhere.
7. “TRANSMITTER 221” was written on the radio.
8. Brian remembered a time when he was cycling at 10-speed with a friend named Terry. They had been taking a run at a bike trail but came back a different way, that took them past Amber Mall. The bank clock was flashing 3:31, 82, and the date. Terry was about to smile at Brian when Brian saw his mother sitting in a strange station wagon. Brian was about to call his mother but saw a blond man wearing a white pullover tennis shirt in a car.
9. In the last Thanksgiving before his mother and father were divorced, Brian was eating juicy turkey.
10. Brian was wearing a digital watch.
11. Brain called the birds he wanted to catch “foolbirds”.
12. “four-person beef and potato dinner, with orange drink for an appetizer and something called a peach whip for dessert.”
13. False.
14. soft cheese
15. The kit was made out of nylon.