The story “Hatchet” written by Gary Paulsen talks about a thirteen-year-old boy Brian who finds himself completely alone in the wilderness and he has to find ways to survive with the only tool on hand, a hatchet. Brian takes the airplane to New York to visit his divorced father. Unfortunately, the pilot suddenly has a heart attack and the airplane crashes into a lake. Brian is alive and calls out for help, but he gets no luck. The only thing he has is the hatchet his mother gave him. Brian at first has a lot of self-pity, but soon he needs to figure out how to survive in the wilderness. With the only survival tool, the hatchet, Brian sets up traps to hunt food and makes a shelter in a rock ledge. As time goes by, Brian adjusts himself very well to the wilderness and comes to understand nature more and more. One day, a tornado comes and sweeps through the woods. The tornado sucked up the plane. He made a raft to reach the plane and got the survival bag packed with food, lighters, a sleeping bag, a rifle, and other survival supplies. Then he saw an emergency transmitter, and turned it on. Soon a plane found him and he was rescued at the end of summer.
To survive, people need to develop the human quality of perseverance, pushing themselves consistently trying to do something to achieve their desired goals, no matter how hard the challenges they are facing. Hope serves as an inspiring spirit to reduce the feelings of helplessness and stress in order to strengthen the action of perseverance. Brian tries his very best to keep himself alive in the wilderness. Having hope of being rescued one day is the only thing keeping the Brian moving forward and being alive. Brian has no clues how to survive at the beginning. It is his hope that people are going to save him, which makes him want to survive even more; therefore he overcomes every obstacle with his hatchet as much as he could to stay alive. He did not give up on himself or let the forces of nature wear him down. Without questions, the things that keep people going in life-and-death situations are hope and perseverance. Hope can help people have optimistic thoughts and attitudes while perseverance pushes people to explore their potentials that would create more survival opportunities. The ability of persevering and having hope are like the weapons of shield and spear to fight with the difficulties for survival.
People should learn to appreciate the beauty of nature rather than taking nature for granted. Nature is something that people should become one with. More importantly, people should adapt themselves to the nature they are in at the moment. After the airplane crash, Brian becomes a part of nature. He acts like the wolf or the bear to use his own instincts in building tools and shelter with his hatchet to survive in the surroundings. Brian in urban life does not have any gratitude for nature where the food is from. But from the moment of the airplane crash, Brian has no choice but to depend on the natural world around him. He uses his ability to understand nature and gets what he needs from it for survival. His attitude toward nature has changed from taking it for granted, struggling against it, living harmoniously with nature, to appreciating it for keeping him alive. Brian develops a respect for nature because it is nature that helps him survive. People should show their appreciation and respect for the world of nature because the world of nature is a far richer and more meaningful place than people had previously known.
When encountering unexpected life-changing events, people are forced to grow up and become stronger both physically and mentally from boyhood to manhood. A man would accept the challenging life, try to tackle it, and learn to see himself in a positive way while a boy would look for an easy way out and be unsure about who he is. Brain has changed when surviving in the wilderness. Physically, Brian learns many new skills about hunting and knowledge about nature to have a self-sufficient life. Mentally, Brain learns to accept the fact of his parents’ divorce and see the world of nature differently. At the beginning, Brian is unhappy and could not identify who he is through family because of his divorced parents. But the airplane crash and the stay in the wilderness forces Brian to rely on himself in ways that he has never had to before, which leaves Brian no choice but grow up and be tough, or he could have died. Brain transforms from an unhappy boy to a mature man. Moving from boyhood to manhood is not defined by age. Instead, it is defined as if a boy is mature enough as well as if he could be independent and take good care of himself.
Hatchet is a very eye-opening story for me. Hatchet makes the reader think about the ideas of perseverance and hope, the appreciation toward nature, and transformation from boyhood to manhood. It teaches people to develop the human quality of perseverance. Just like Brian, no matter how hard life is, people have to take their time, make efforts, and keep going, in order to achieve their goals and prosper. If people just give up, there won’t be any success in the world, or even worse death. Also, the nature of the world is powerful and resourceful and people depend on the world of nature heavily. People should learn to respect and appreciate the beauty of nature. Moreover, the whole story constantly talks about Brian’s transformation from boyhood to manhood after experiencing the life-changing event. Although he is only a thirteen-year old boy, Brian acts like a man to face and accept the life challenge.
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