The Rifle Book Report

The rifle, a historical fiction book written by Gary Paulsen, is a story about the rifles influence on many people including John Byam. The book starts off in the 18th century telling the story about Cornish McManus, the gunsmith who created of the rifle, training that he had to go through, being trained by the gunsmith John Waynewright. It then goes on to illustrate the months of slow hard work that it took for Cornish to make the beautiful rifle of his dreams that would end up being his life work. It then explains the people the rifle was passed down to and how it affected those people, starting on the influence on John Byam. John Byam starts out in the book as a mysterious man, but, by the end of the book, he has become a war hero and a

As he does so he tales a path that heads towards the Bainbridge farm. The Bainbridges were nice people who provided meals and a place to sleep when they would pass by. One night the people they were housing hide barrels of stolen British supplies on the Bainbridges’ land. When the British found out that the supplies were on his land they accused him of treason punishable by hanging. When john was passing by he saw Mr. Bainbridge standing on a horse with a rope around his neck. At that moment John had to make a decision on whether to leave Mr. Bainbridge to his fait, or to intervene and try to save his life. As he approached a clearing he had made up his mind to try to save him. He picked up his rifle, aimed at the officer and shot, striking his target. He did not save Mr. Bainbridge because the sound of the gun scared the horse. After that the British army members chased after him. When john got away he ran into a large group who were on their way to join George Washington and his Colonial army. When the ask if he wants to join he feels like he has no choice but to join because after he shoot the British officer he knew that the British Army would be looking for him and that the group of people could offer him protection from the British for the time