Hatchet — Chapter 12

About This Passage

These are Brian's most hopeful words in the whole chapter. He has built the signal fire taller than his own head and he is whispering to the plane to come back. Paulsen uses the word 'look' three times in this passage to show how hard Brian is wishing for the pilot to look back and see him.

Narration Prompt

Retell chapter twelve in your own words. Brian tries his new fish spear but the fish are too fast and he cannot catch any. He thinks he must invent a bow and arrow to shoot them. He eats one turtle egg and goes to find wood for a bow. He almost steps on a small chicken-like bird that flies up with a big noise and scares him. He finds a tree with the right kind of snappy wood and starts chopping a branch. Then he hears an airplane! He runs to his camp, grabs a burning stick, climbs the bluff, and builds a big bonfire. But the plane turns away and does not come back. Brian cries on the stone. He thinks the plane was looking for him and it will not come again.

Discussion Questions

1. When Brian's fish spear does not work, he quickly thinks of something new — a bow and arrow. How do you know that Brian's mind is working in a new way here? What does the story tell you about how Brian acted at the start of the book that shows this change?
2. Brian almost steps on a small brown-and-gray bird before it flies up 'like a feathered bomb.' What in the story makes Paulsen call this bird 'not very smart'? What does Brian decide about the bird after it flies away?

+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide

Brian worked for hours and hours making his fish spear. He was sure it would work. But it did not work. How does Brian handle this failure? What does he do next? Do you think Brian has changed from the boy he was at the start of the book?