Hatchet is all about a story of a boy's survival between nature and himself. Through this story, I came to realize of the thought of never giving up. Throughout the story, it implies that without hope, life is meaningless. Though, at first, Brian's mindset leaves him frustrated, hopeless, and full of self-pity. He longs for home and focusing on the past rather than the future. But later on, Brian learns this the hard way, but it is what sustains him when he faces the most difficult challenges for his survival. This only shows that what your mind can conceive, you can achieve. This is especially seen in how Brian calls upon his intelligence, memory, and youth to overcome such experiences as creating fire, fighting off a moose, building shelter, and finding food. He learns to solve problems there in the uninhabited part of the Canadian woods, in which potentially really be life-threatening.
The idea of maturity is another thing. Patience, observation, appreciation for the natural world, and newfound optimism all contribute to Brian's emerging manhood, a major theme in the novel in which we should also develop within ourselves. It is not enough that Brian must grow up to sharpen his survival skills; he must also learn the compassion and maturity it will take to handle the issues and problems in his own sphere.
In this story, Brian faces many challenges in his chase for survival, but among those challenges, his toughest challenge is in his mind. One of his biggest mental challenges is to stay positive in an outwardly hopeless situation. Whenever negative thoughts will come out in his mind, Brian just thinks of his English teacher who would say, "Stay positive and stay on top of things" (49). Indeed many students have been in a situation like this when they feel that everything is useless and began to pity themselves including myself before. Though I haven’t yet experience the way Brian had, to be caught alone in the woods, several times before, I also cried to myself feeling full of self-pity even for some little things. But like Brian, I came to realize that feeling sorry for your self wouldn’t work (82). Crying and feeling pity for myself will not going to change my situation. Sometimes, it is good for us to know that we are not the only ones facing difficult situations or feeling helpless and alone. Even a fictional character, knowing someone else who feels the same way do makes our situation feel a bit more controllable. Moreover, we should also bear in mind that God is always with us in every challenges of our lives, and so, we can always make it.
However, thinking all the angles why Brian was caught up in the wilderness of Canadian woods, why is it that his mother looked for another man and replaced Brian’s father? Was she not happy in her husband that’s why she had an affair to that man with short blond hair? I also wonder what if Brian wasn't rescued in the end. Would he survive when winter comes? And another thing, what would have happened if Brian had found the survival pack much earlier before? Would he be the same person after those days in wilderness under the book's circumstances?
I wish Gary Paulsen could answer my questions right now but this is just a fictional story that could really trigger our senses. I think, if Brian wasn’t had rescued in the end, he would still survive when winter would come. I know that human beings are all intelligent enough that we can still make ways in every circumstance. One very good proof is the primitive men so long ago who still had learned to survive despite of the climates even before. And if Brian had found the survival pack much earlier before, he would not be fully the new Brian after the incident. He would not be that mature enough to realize and appreciate all the things in his life and discover his hidden strengths. Beyond doubt, time and experiences here in this story were really his teachers in his self- realization.
Lastly, I really do believe that there’s no secret that will never be untold. As it is in the book of Luke, chapter 12, verse 2—“For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.” In God’s perfect time, the Secret he bears which burdens him that is, the knowledge that his mother is having an affair with another man would be revealed to her husband in God’s own way and so she may suffer then her consequence for committing that sin.
No comments:
Post a Comment