Guts: The True Stories Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books

Paulsen suggests that his childhood experiences in the wilderness and away from his neglectful family were priceless experiences that led to his happiness and solidified his sense of self. Paulsen, through his own experiences and the adventures of Brian, glorifies this solitude during adolescence. Consider and describe the limitations of Paulsen’s advice on the importance of solitude and maturity.

Both Gary Paulsen and Brian Robeson must kill to survive. What contradictions are inherent in this concept, and how does Paulsen justify hunting?

In Hatchet, as in Paulsen’s life, the real world is accessible only after conquering the wild within. How does Brian’s survival in the woods prepare him to tackle the pain of his parents’ divorce? How does Paulsen’s trial in the wilderness prepare him to return to civilization after a troubled childhood?

Paulsen compares willing survival experiences to unwitting ones and notes the difference between choosing to be self-reliant and being forced into a dramatic situation. Why are these circumstances so different when the actions that follow are identical?

What does the “madness” of the moose mean to Paulsen, and what does it suggest about the gap between humans and the wild?

Why did Paulsen write Hatchet from the perceptive of a city boy without survival knowledge rather than a country boy with hunting skills? What is demonstrated through Brian’s character arc as a result of his beginnings?

Paulsen’s life is riddled with trauma, grief, and loss. His middle-grade and young-adult novels, however, offer positive endings. How does the tone of Guts explain how Paulsen is able to cope in a complicated and often painful world?

The suddenness of death is a reoccurring theme in Hatchet, Guts, and many of Paulsen’s works. How did his work as a volunteer ambulance driver inform his understanding of life and death?