Jack McGarvey

Jack McGarvey
Des Moines, IA

 
Dear Gary Paulsen:

Your book gave me a new vision of just how far one person will go to survive. Hatchet's depiction of life in the vast wilderness of Canada struck me in a way that I can hardly explain in words. I myself have a great affection for the Northern wilderness. Every page of your book brought me right back to standing on the shore of the pond behind my cabin in Minnesota or sitting on the large outcrop of rocks overlooking the lake. When I remember your book, it not only increases the great love I have for the outdoors, but it also reminds me of just how harsh and unforgiving it can really be.

When I picked up your book at my school library, I had no idea of what a great impact it would have on me. The way you emphasize just how alone Brian was and how he managed to survive really made me realize that I should work harder and harder in life, for although your story is fiction, it reminded me that many people have been in situations like Brian's, and unfortunately, not all of them probably survived.

However, you also write about how the peaceful wilderness can affect someone's attitude greatly, and I agree. Before Brian was stranded, he was a troubled 13-year-old boy. You wrote of how much he wished his parents were still together, how much he wished things were the same as they used to be. But they weren't. That fact really seemed to make me think. Here is a kid my age who's lost in the wilderness with nothing but a hatchet and lost happy memories. This made me grateful that my parents are still together, for if I was put in the same situation, I honestly don't know if I would be able to pull through.

Brian's techniques being calm also changed me. He thought of what his English teacher had taught him; to always think positively. He has to think that way in order to stay alive in the wilderness, while I am just here in Iowa trying to keep my head up in a difficult football game. This great contrast is what made me know that no task is impossible as long as you keep thinking and working toward it.

During Brian's fifty-four days of survival, you talk of how much he had to adapt to his surroundings in order to survive. I was very interested in how he managed to make certain foods and tools with only the help of nature, such as his fish trap, his shelter, and a few other things. That fact inspired me to work harder with my family and in school like getting my service hours done on time for conformation, or help my parents in the yard.

I found myself feeling just as happy as Brian whenever he would find food or finally manage to achieve something on his own after hours of hard labor. I could really relate to how he felt all those days in the forest; how he became more and more aware of his surroundings and how much he really came to actually enjoy being alone for awhile in the wild.

After spending fifty four long days in the forest, Brian was a changed man, and in a way I felt like I too had changed after finally finishing the last page of your wonderful book. Thank you for giving me a book which I could easily relate to, and one which I actually dreaded getting to the end of.

Jack McGarvey