Hatchet

Gary Paulsen

Get this SparkNote to go!

Study Questions and Suggested Essay Topics

Study Questions

What role do patience and observation play in Brian's survival? How do Brian's powers of patience and observation change in the course of the book?


In describing Brian's activities in the wilderness, Gary Paulsen repeatedly uses the phrase "There were these things to do." Why does he use this phrase and how does it reflect Brian's frame of mind?


When Brian finds the rifle in the survival pack, how does it make him feel?


Suggested Essay Topics

Why did Gary Paulsen title this novel Hatchet?

How are Brian's physical and mental states linked? Is the relationship between mind and body stronger in the beginning or the end of the novel? What accounts for this shift?

What do you think would have happened if Brian had found the survival pack much earlier? Would he be the same person he became under the book's circumstances?

The past is constantly plaguing Brian throughout the book, through his daydreaming, his sleeping dreams, and his flashbacks. How does Gary Paulsen incorporate the past into the present?

What are the most important lessons Brian learns about the natural world? How does his time in the wilderness affect his attitude toward the land and the animals?

Readers' Notes allow users to add their own analysis and insights to our SparkNotes—and to discuss those ideas with one another. Have a novel take or think we left something out? Add a Readers' Note!

More Help

Buy the ebook of this SparkNote on BN.com

Easy to view on your iPod, phone, or ereader.

EVEN MORE HELP! ↓

Take a Study Break

SparkLife

What's your Pretty Little Liars name?

Take this quiz to find out!

SparkLife

Which young actress just got married?

Click to find out!

SparkLife

Cat bearding WINS THE INTERNET

Have you seen this yet?

SparkLife

Scary movies with funny posters

These. Are. Hilarious.

Geek out!

The MindHut

Geeky Actors: Then and Now

Travel back in time!

The MindHut

Villains We Want These Actresses to Play

From super cute to super bad!

The MindHut

10 Movies Better Than Their Books

What do you think?

The MindHut

Summer Movie Open Thread

Leave your thoughts here!

The MindHut

12 Scientific Inaccuracies in Into Darkness

What did Star Trek get wrong?

The Book

Cover image

Order Hatchet at BN.com

All the words, printed on paper. Classic!

Cover image

Read What You Love, Anywhere You Like

Get Our FREE NOOK Reading Apps