Hatchet

By Gary Paulsen

Grades 5-12; Genre - Fiction; GRL R; AR pts: 7.0

Brian's on his way to visit his father in Canada when the pilot of the small airplane he's in has a heart attack.  Brian spends 54 days out in the Canadian wilderness learning how to survive.  His mother gave him a hatchet before he left and with that, he learned how to make a fire, a bow along with arrows and a spear, as he waited to be rescued.

Comprehension Questions

Chapter 1

1. Where is Brian going?  To visit his dad in Canada   p. 7
2. Why is Brian not speaking to his mom?  He’s angry at her for causing the divorce/ he knows a secret about her   p. 3
3. What did Brian’s mom give him on the drive up to the airplane?  A hatchet   p. 8
4. What happened to the pilot as they flew toward Canada?  He had a heart attack   p. 11
5. How did Brian know the pilot was having a heart attack?  He had previously seen an elderly man have a heart attack and he was acting the same   p. 11

Chapter 2

1. What was the response Brian got as he tried to communicate over the radio?  Someone responded, but the transmission was lost and he never got anyone else   p. 19
2. What were Brian’s two choices as he flew in the plane wondering what to do?  Take the plane down immediately or wait until it ran out of fuel and the plane would go down by force  p. 23
3. Where did Brian decide would be the best place to land the plane?  on the water  p. 23
4. What did the airplane do that made Brian realize he had to land the plane?  Coughed and died/ ran out of gas   p. 25   

Chapter 3

1. Where was Brian able to land the plane?  In a lake   p. 29
2. What did Brian have to do to make it out of the crashed airplane alive?  Tear off his seat belt, swim through the broken windshield, swim to the surface and swim to shore.   P. 29

Chapter 4

1. What was the secret Brian knew about his mom?  He saw her with another man in a station wagon and assumed that was the reason for the divorce   p. 32
2. What attacked Brian as he watched the sun rise?  Mosquitoes and black flies   p. 36
3. What made the mosquitoes and black flies disappear and leave Brian alone?  Heat from the sun; the sun rising fully   p. 38
4. How does the forest compare to the city life Brian was used to?  quiet, different colors, insects humming, birds chirping, splashing from the fish   p. 41

Chapter 5

1. How old is Brian?  13 years old   p. 46
2. What advice did Brian’s English teacher give him in school?  be motivated, you’re your best asset, stay positive and on top of things,   p. 49
3. Why didn't Brian think the searchers would find him very quickly?  The pilot jerked the plane off course when he was having his heart attack   p. 53

Chapter 6

1. What did Brian decide to use as a shelter?  an overhang in the cliff   p. 57
2. What food did Brian find to eat?  Tart berries on a bush   p. 63
3. How did Brian make his shelter safer?  Used sticks to make a wall and closed it off   p. 65

Chapter 7

1.  When Brian looked in the water at his reflection, how did he feel?  He was frightened   p. 69
2. Why?  He saw how cut up, bruised, swollen, bleeding he was/ didn’t realize he was in such bad shape   p. 69
3. Why did Brian call the berries that made him sick gut cherries?  They hurt his stomach  p. 71
4. What other kind of berries did Brian find?  Raspberries    p. 73
5. Why did Brian turn back after running away from the bear?  He realized the bear wasn’t there to hurt him, the bear just wanted the raspberries    p. 75

Chapter 8

1. Why had the porcupine attacked Brian during the night in the shelter?  Brian scared it; it was protecting itself   p. 81
2. What did Brian dream of the night he got hurt by the porcupine?  His father and Terry telling him how to make a fire   p. 86
3. What was Brian able to use to start a fire?  His hatchet and the hard rock   p. 86

Chapter 9

1. What steps did Brian take to make a fire?  Made sparks from hitting the hatchet against the black rock onto fine kindling, blew gently on it, added small wood pieces and grass, then dried sticks from trees    p. 91
2. Why do you think Brian felt like the fire was his friend?  It would protect him and help him   p. 92

Chapter 10

1. What did Brian find at the shore buried in the sand?  Eggs   p. 99
2. Who had laid the eggs?  A turtle   p. 99
3. How did Brian eat the eggs?  Broke them open with his hatchet and a stick and ate them raw   p.101
4. Why did Brian want to continue thinking about the searchers?  he felt if he stopped thinking about them, they would stop thinking about him; he knew he needed to continue hoping   p. 102

Chapter 11

1. How had Brian begun to change physically since the crash?  Thinner, tanned, leathery face   p. 104
2. Compare Brian’s mind from before the crash to now?  He now knew what the noises were around him, when he saw something, he really saw it, not just noticed it   p. 105
3. What was Brian’s plan if he ever heard a plane engine roar overhead?  Run up with a burning limb and light the signal fire   p. 106
4. As Brian looked over the lake what did he realize he could eat?  Fish   p. 107

Chapter 12

1.  What was Brian working on when he heard the whine of the plane engine?  Bow    p. 116
2. Tell me three words that would describe how Brian felt when the plane turned and went away?  Despair, disappointment, hopeless, sad, alone  p. 118

Chapter 13

1. What did Brian use for a string on his bow?  His shoelace   p. 124
2. Why wasn’t Brian able to catch any fish when he first made his bow and arrow?  He was aiming to high/ the water would make the fish appear closer than they were   p. 125
3. What kind of hope did Brian find building in him?  tough hope/ hope that he could survive and take care of himself   p. 127

Chapter 14

1.  What were the effects Brian had after he was sprayed with the skunk?  Blind for two full hours, eyes hurt for weeks, smell lingered at least a month and a half later   p. 131
2. How did Brian make a ladder to get to his food shelf?  Found a pine, chopped off branches so the remaining branches were 4-5 apart, chopped the log so it’s only ten feet long   p. 133
3. What did Brian do to store the fish so they wouldn’t go bad?  He made a pond to keep them close and fresh so he could catch them when he needed them   p.  136

Chapter 15

1. Tell me about the event, First Meat?  That was the first time Brian killed a bird for food   p. 142
2. Why was it so difficult for Brian to catch a foolbird?   They blended in with the environment, silent, stood perfectly still, couldn’t see them until after they flew    p. 139
3. What trick did Brian learn that keep the mosquitoes and flies off his food and out of his shelter?  they didn’t like the smoke   p. 144
4. When Brian was cleaning the bird to eat it, what did he do with the insides of the bird?  Wash it off into the pond   p. 144

Chapter 16

1. Tell me two of the “First Days” Brian remembered?  First Arrow Day, First Rabbit Day, First Meat Day   p. 147
2. Why are the "First Days" important to Brian? He learned to overcome challenges and accomplished his goals
3. What did Brian have to do to get away from the moose?  When the moose was eating he had to crawl away slowly from her, stopping and waiting when the hair on her back raised up  p. 151
4. Why did Brian feel like he was back to “square one” after the tornado?  He was injured, had no fire, no food, and his weapons and shelter were gone   p. 157
5. After the tornado, what unnatural object was sticking out of the water?  The tail of the airplane  p. 159

Chapter 17

1. Why was Brian anxious to get the survival pack from the back of the plane?  It would have things to make his surviving much easier   p. 163
2. Describe a fish board.  A flattened board Brian used to lay his fish on and lean to the fire to cook them   p. 165
3. Why was building a raft difficult for Brian?  He didn’t have anything to hold the logs together   p. 166
4. How did he solve his problem?  Used logs with branches and wove them together   p. 167
5. When Brian finally made it to the plane, what was his predicament?  Couldn’t get inside of it   p. 172

Chapter 18

1. How was Brian able to get into the plane?  Cut through the aluminum with his hatchet   p. 174
2. What did Brian have to dive into the water for?  His hatchet   p. 175
3. Why did Brian get sick when he saw the skull of the dead pilot?  It is traumatic to see a decaying dead person   p. 180
4. How long did it take Brian to go to the plane, get the survival bag and get back to his camp?  From morning until into the dark of night   p. 183

Chapter 19

1. How did the items in the survival bag change Brian?  made him more removed from the world around him   p. 187
2. When Brian went through the dehydrated food packages, why do you think he decided to feast now and be careful with the food later?  He was so hungry; he knew how to get his own food, so he wanted to enjoy what was there that night; he wanted to celebrate for finding the survival bag   p. 189
3. When Brian was preparing his feast and drinking his orange drink, what appeared out of the sky?  An airplane   p. 190
4. Why did the author name this book, "Hatchet"?   This is a coming of age story about Brian. The hatchet symbolizes survival, self-reliance and resourcefulness. As a gift from his mom, Brian was able to grow and develop from being a pampered boy to a resilient, self-reliant young man
5. What did you like about this story? Listen to your child's answer