72 pages • 2 hours read
Gary PaulsenHatchet
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1987A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary
Brian recalls the day he saw his mother kissing another man. He was riding bikes with his friend Terry when he saw his mother sitting in an unknown vehicle kissing a man with short blond hair. He notes that every detail of the memory is precise: “the hot-hate slices of the memory were exact” (30). Then he opens his eyes and screams. He is in shock from the crash and can’t make sense of his surroundings. He doesn’t recall how he survived the crash, only that he did. He feels immense pain all over his body, and his head is very swollen after smashing into the steering wheel. It takes enormous effort to pull himself out of the lake and onto the shore, where he lies down and sleeps until dawn.
When he wakes, he is disoriented, unsure if it is morning or night. His body is still in pain, so he slowly checks himself for wounds or broken bones. He determines that his head is the most severely bruised and he is lucky to be alive without any broken bones. He is in too much pain to move. As the sun rises, droves of mosquitoes begin to swarm him, and Brian tries to hide in his torn windbreaker. Luckily, once the sun is high enough to shine directly on him, the mosquitos disappear. Brian realizes they don’t like the cold or direct sunlight. He can’t believe that no one ever mentioned the horror of mosquitoes in any book or movie about the great outdoors.
As he takes in his environment, which is a pine and spruce forest, Brian notices how lucky his landing was: “if the plane had come down a little to the left it would have hit the rocks and never made the lake. He would have been smashed” (37). He tries not think about this and instead observes a beaver and its dam, fish jumping from the water, and the sounds of the forest. He finds a tree to lean up against and succumbs to his overwhelming fatigue.
Chapter 5 Summary
Brian wakes up “unbelievably, viciously thirsty” (40). He isn’t sure if it is safe to drink the lake water, but he feels he will die if he doesn’t drink water immediately. He pulls himself to the lakeside and finds a patch of water that has no bugs or reeds. He gulps mouthfuls of water until he throws up. After this, his brain begins to work again, and he tries to figure out where he is. He realizes that the plane has crashed “somewhere in the Canadian north woods but he did not know how far they had flown or in what direction or where he was” (43). He tries to keep calm and convinces himself that a rescue team is already searching for him. He is certain they will come for him right away, so he decides to take stock of his situation and survive the best he can until help arrives.
As his ravenous hunger grows, Brian tries to remember what he has seen in movies about how stranded people eat and survive. He recalls his English teacher, Mr. Perpich, and the lessons he taught about “being positive, thinking positive, staying on top of things” (46). Brian decides to heed Perpich’s advice by focusing on what he does have rather than on what he lacks. He notices that he still has his hatchet, sturdy shoes and socks, his clothes, and a watch. He speaks out loud about his hunger, and his voice startles the creatures of the woods such that they all stop. Brian experiences total silence for the first time. He again sits against a tree, thinking that he can handle hunger for a day or two. But a worrying thought gnaws at the back of his mind: “When the pilot pushed the rudder pedal the plane had jerked to the side and assumed a new course” (49).
Brian realizes that he may be very difficult to find and may not be rescued for quite a long time. In fact, he may never be rescued. He again calls on memories of Perpich to stay positive. He decides to focus on tasks to keep busy and forward thinking. He focuses on figuring out how to make a shelter and find something to eat.
Chapter 6 Summary
Brian and his friend Terry once discussed what it would be like to try to survive if they were lost in the woods. They thought a lean-to would be the best option, so Brian sets about making one near the lake. He finds a natural enclave in a rock ridge that makes a good base for a shelter. He has a rock roof and two walls, so he only needs to “wall off part of the bowl and leave an opening as a doorway and he would have a perfect shelter—much stronger than a lean-to and dry because the overhang made a watertight roof” (54).
Sitting in his cool shelter, Brian thinks about food. Recalling a survival movie that he once saw sparks the idea to look for berries. His search is slow and painful due to his many injuries, but Brian soon finds “slender branches […] drooping with clusters of bright red berries” (59). The berries lack sweetness and have pits, but Brian gorges on them anyway. He also carries as many berries as possible back to his shelter. He longs for matches to start a fire before falling asleep in his shelter “with his stomach turning on the berries” (62).
Chapters 4-6 Analysis
Chapters 4 through 6 detail Brian’s attempts to orient himself in unknown territory. These chapters illuminate Brian’s character, as he goes from a traumatized, physically impaired young boy to a forward-thinking survivor, struggling but trying to find a way to eat and build shelter. This transformation is demonstrated by Brian’s first thoughts upon waking, which are not of self-preservation. Rather, he is obsessed with his mother’s affair. He recalls the exact details of the man he saw her kissing and can’t focus on anything else: “Brian saw this more and more, saw the Secret” (30). Relinquishing obsessive thoughts about “the Secret” is the first hurdle he must overcome to survive.
One of the ways Brian helps himself cope is by reflecting on good past experiences and things he has learned throughout his life. He first recalls Mr. Perpich’s lessons on the importance of positive thinking: “All Perpich would say is that I have to get motivated” (46). In this wilderness Brian needs motivation to eat, to build shelter, and to hope that he will soon be rescued. He initially struggles to hold on to hope, thinking darker thoughts like, “if you keep walking back from good luck […] you’ll come to bad luck” (37). He fights back the fear that “they might not find him for a long time […] they might never find him” (50). Eventually, he makes the conscious choice to focus on hope: “It would be all right. They would find him soon […] I have to get motivated […] I have to do something” (50).
This focus on self-reliance and productivity becomes a central theme in the novel. It is the notion that to survive, Brian must think positively and always remain productive. This contrasts with the initial portrayal of Brian as a sulking teenager who is lost in anger and despair, sitting in a car thinking endless dark thoughts. Chapter 6 shows Brian not only shifting his mindset but experiencing the success that comes with that shift. He manages to build a shelter and find edible food, increasing his feelings of success and hope.
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