Structure Of Hatchet By Gary Paulsen

Syntax

Throughout the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, the author most often wrote in short, concise sentences or fragments to make it read as a series of thoughts rather than a structured story. For instance, he writes, “In fact since Brian had come to the small airport in Hampton, New York to meet the plane—driven by his mother—the pilot had spoken only five words to him. ‘Get in the copilot's seat.’ Which Brian had done. They had taken off and that was the last of the conversation (Paulsen 1-2).” The short, simple sentence structure contributes to the emotional theme of the story by reading more as thoughts than a recollection, and it helps the reader understand the main character Brian’s thought processes after his plane crashed.

Additionally, the author often repeats Brian’s thoughts, especially when talking about important or highly emotional events in his life. The most obvious example of this is present in the very beginning of the book when he writes, “Divorce. Secrets. No, not secrets so much as just the Secret. What he knew and had not told anybody, what he knew about his mother that had caused the divorce, what he knew, what he knew—the Secret. Divorce. The Secret (3).” This most often occurs when he is talking about his mother and the Secret he knows that caused his parents’ divorce. He also repeats himself in the same way right after the

While thinking about his mother’s divorce and the circumstances leading up to it, including the Secret he knows about why his mother demanded the divorce, the pilot suddenly has a massive heart attack that takes his life. Brian realizes he is the only one left in the plane, but he has no idea how to fly it. He eventually lets the plane run out of gas before he navigates it to a lake which he crashes into. So began his fifty-four day fight for