Hatchet Book Club Questions
Welcome to the Buddy Book Club – we have a light-hearted comedic podcast that covers a variety of books. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen follows Brian a 13-yearl old boy who must survive the Canadian wilderness with his only tool being his trusty… Ax, just kidding, his trusty Hatchet. A classic young-adult book that many of us read when we were around the same age as Brian. On our Hatchet podcast episode, we got to re-read the book now as adults (maturity wise we may still be 13). We delved into many topics including the importance of ketchup, God’s Wrath and many more so feel free to check it out.
Our book club questions try to be a little more outside the box/comedic than your typical book club questions – hopefully you enjoy them.
Book Club Questions – Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
-> Did the search and rescue team just… give up? The rescue pilot says they stopped looking for Brian “a couple months ago” even though he’d only been missing for 54 days.
Discuss how this is either realistic (no one expects a 13-year old to make it past a couple of days in the wilderness) or proof that Canadian authorities are terrible at their jobs.
-> Brian’s parents’ divorce and “the secret” take up a lot of mental real estate in the story, but then kind of disappear once survival kicks in. Was this subplot necessary, or could Gary Paulsen have cut it entirely?
Is “the secret” even a secret if everyone already knows it?
->A 13-year-old knows altimeters, elevators (the plane kind), can identify multiple tree species, and recalls obscure PBS survival documentaries. Is Brian a genius? What’s the most unbelievable thing Brian knows?
Maybe Brian is secretly Jason Bourne and just doesn’t realize he’s a 13-year old super spy?
-> Brian survives a plane crash, gets attacked by a porcupine, sprayed by a skunk, charged by a moose TWICE, and hit by a tornado, all in 54 days. Is this realistic wilderness survival or biblical punishment?
We think that God may have just had it out for Brian.
-> Could you land a plane with or without a PBS documentaries to guide you?
I’m crashing into some mountain top regardless if I know what altimeters are or not.
-> After 54 days of eating fish, turtle eggs, and foolbirds, Brian asks the rescue pilot “Would you like something to eat?” Is this the most badass line in middle-grade literature? What would your first words be upon rescue?
This is some peak Arnold Swatzeneager, 1-liner delivery right there.
-> Brian wears a hatchet on his belt through airport security (this was the ’80s, folks). Beyond the TSA implications, how crucial was the hatchet actually? Could he have survived with literally any other tool?
We at the Buddy Book Club would have liked him to have a tomahawk instead, and have the name of the book be tomahawk, just our opinion though.
-> Where does this rank in terms of childhood books for you?
D-man ranked this quite high, while Keith had it in a lower tier. See our podcast book rankings here.
-> How many days are you surviving in the wilderness?
Well, first off I’m not surviving the plane crash but, I’d give myself maybe 2 days in total. I can barely survive a few hours when the power goes out at my house.
