Hatchet Themes

It's hard—actually, impossible—to ignore the natural world in Hatchet. When a skunk sprays you in the face, can you ignore that?From the moment the plane crashes into the lake, Brian becomes to...

Brian's experiences in the woods fundamentally change his relationship to the natural world—that's pretty obvious. But they also transform his understanding of his life before the crash. Both dir...

In Hatchet, Brian's survival depends on his ability to figure out how to take care of himself: how to find food and shelter, how to avoid being attacked by a dangerous animal, how to hold out until...

There's a serious transformation at the heart of Hatchet, and we're not talking about a bunny turning into dinner. When we first meet Brian, he's completely obsessed with his unhappy family situati...

In Hatchet, Brian's ability to keep going even when times are tough is really put to the test. Throughout the book, hope is often the only thing that keeps Brian moving forward. In the early part o...

Brian spends almost all of Hatchet deep in the woods of Canada without any human interaction. It really doesn't get more isolated than that. (Or does it?) Part of the scariness of his situation com...

While on the one hand family can be a source of great comfort and strength (not to mention terrific birthday presents), it also causes all kinds of pain and sadness when family members don't live u...

In Hatchet, Brian has no choice but to explore. After all, how stupid would he feel if there was a Dairy Queen on the other side of the lake, and he spent the whole summer scarfing down raw turtle...