Comparing Positivity In The Rabbit And The Dog

Having a positive attitude despite given circumstances is a life lesson taught in the novel Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, and the short story “The Rabbit and the Dog,” by Pedro Sacristan. Both of these stories reveal the theme of keeping positivity even in the most unappealing condition in order to have success. Although these two stories illustrate the same theme to their audiences, they each go about teaching this lesson in different ways. Hatchet teaches the lesson of keeping positivity to its readers by using the character’s thoughts, actions, and feelings. When Brian says, “You are your most valuable asset. Don’t forget that. You are the best thing you have,” he is beginning to realize that he has to keep his head up. Brian has the choice between just giving up after seeing how little resources he has and using what he knows to help himself and the choice he makes reveals that he is learning to keep an optimistic, positive perspective on the situation. Another line from Brian that revealed the theme was when he thought “So much of this was patience – waiting and thinking and doing things right.” This is a fascinating thought by

In the story, the rabbit was very cheerful and optimistic and threw himself into looking for the carrot, totally convinced that he would find it. This event in the plot shows that the rabbit has the positive attitude needed for the task at hand, even though it may be a daunting task. In the resolution of the story, the rabbit dug a tunnel to right under where the dog had been lying all that time, and there he found the bone. Because of this, the readers are well aware of how the pessimism, bad attitude, of the dog kept him from finding the prize. Had he had a different attitude, the outcome would have been