Hatchet Character Analysis

“The only person you can count on is yourself.” In the book Hatchet by: Gary Paulsen, Brian is faced with the challenge of finding good food. Brian, after thinking, realizes that the lake has fish in it that he could catch and eat. He spends hours and hours making a “fish spear”. He was dependent upon himself to provide the fish for him to eat, and when he tested it, it didn’t work. Brian was very disappointed at this. He kept on throwing it at the fish in the water, but the spear seemed to go directly through them and not even phase them. He tried and tried all day, only to catch nothing. He assumed that he couldn’t project the spear fast enough, and sought out a bow. He attempted to make a bow. His first bow didn’t work, in fact, …show more content…
He says that people should be confident that they can persevere through hard times, and provide what they need to survive. In Hatchet Brian persevered and provided food, which he needed to survive. Brian followed this helpful advice, and aided his survival in that way, and that shows that Hatchet does have good instructional value. A quote from “Survival by the Numbers” that shows Peter giving advice to rely on yourself is, “The only person you can count on is yourself… provide the equipment… and other tasks needed to be done if you are to survive.” Some evidence that shows Brian relying on himself to provide food is, “He had done food. With his bow, with an arrow fashioned by his own hands he had done food, had found a way to live.” This quote shows Brian following Peter’s advice because he said that by himself, with things he made with his own hands, he had found a way to live. Brian persevered through all his failure, and he followed Peter’s advice and was able, by himself, to do food. That shows Brian following Peter’s advice, and therefore, he was successful, and Hatchet portrays Brian following Peter’s advice. Because Brian follows Peter’s advice, hatchet has good instructional value for the reader, on how to