Why was brian flying the plane alone with a pilot who was a stranger to him?

Answer 1

the pilot was having a heart attack

Answer 2

Brian was flying the plane alone because the pilot had a heart attack and passed out, leaving Brian as the only person on board who could fly the plane. Brian had received some flight training and was able to contact air traffic control for guidance, despite not having much experience.

Answer 3

Analysis

Brian's reactions to the contents of the survival pack provide an interesting commentary about the changes he has undergone since he left the civilized world. While his life in the wilderness presents innumerable challenges and each element of daily life involves an incredible amount of work, Brian has grown to embrace his completely self-sufficient lifestyle. While the rifle would make hunting and fishing faster and easier, these benefits do not tempt Brian to start using it. He has worked hard to develop his own methods of survival, and when he accomplishes something on his own, the fruits of his labor become all the sweeter. The rifle would also lend Brian an advantage over all the other creatures of the woods, and separate him from them. Because the use of a rifle enables a hunter to kill an animal from a long range, the hunter's knowledge of the animal becomes unnecessary. Brian has worked so hard to observe the animals' patterns and to familiarize himself with their appearance and sounds that he regards the rifle as an unappealing weapon that would negate his efforts. The "up and down" feelings that the survival pack create testify to the effects of the intrusion of technology on the natural environment. While Brian understands that the pack contains valuable tools that will enable him to live an easier life, the intrusion they represent disturbs his sense of harmony with the woods.

Brian's shock at his rescue, and his initial inability to understand it, speak to the changes he has undergone since the plane crash. At the beginning of his wilderness life, Brian held out constant hope for his rescue and sometimes even imagined he heard the drone of an airplane engine, only to be disappointed when he discovered his mind had been playing tricks with him. As the story progresses, however, Brian not only loses hope he will be rescued, but also considers his rescue less and less important or desirable. His reaction to his dialogue with the pilot of the plane also attests to the degree of his isolation in the woods. Since he has not seen another person for months and has interacted exclusively with the animals of the woods, he initially finds himself at a loss for words.

Gary Paulsen includes an epilogue to this novel as a means of shifting the narrative voice, which enables him to inform the reader of Brian's future. In an almost journalistic tone, this passage provides an objective account of the events following Brian's rescue. Paulsen does not recount Brian's thoughts and feelings as much as he simply describes the character traits that have become permanent as a result of his adventure. The lasting nature of these traits, specifically of his ability to be patient and observant, indicates that Brian's adventure has truly changed him forever. The qualities he demonstrates in the wilderness also have relevance in the civilized world.

Paulsen only briefly refers to Brian's decision never to tell his father of his mother's affair, although he tries several times he cannot do it. The reader must conjecture as to Brian's keeping of "The Secret." Perhaps he feels the knowledge will cause his father unnecessary pain. Perhaps he wishes to protect his mother from his father's possible hatred or resentment. Paulsen, as he does with many conclusions to his works, leaves this question open-ended. Paulsen's places this question in the very last line in the novel, leaving the reader with an intriguing puzzle.

Answer 4

Chapter 2

Brian feels immobile after the pilot's heart attack, due to his state of shock at the events of the plane ride. The plane has continued without any assistance from Brian or the pilot, and Brian suddenly realizes he must take control of the plane. Confused by the numerous dashboard controls, Brian seeks the controls for the radio. Reaching over the pilot to remove his headset, he bumps the wheel and must make a serious of corrections to right it again. He tries to use the radio to no avail, as he loses the signal before he can convey any useful information. Every ten minutes for the rest of the ride Brian again attempts and fails to establish contact. Attempting to envision a successful landing of the plane, Brian finds he has insufficient time to prepare. The plane engine dies suddenly, forcing him to land earlier than he had expected. He points the plane's nose down and vomits.

Answer 5

Chapter 12

Brian spends many hours perfecting his fish spear, but in the end it fails to help him catch any fish. In need of a way to send the spear into the water, Brian decides to make a bow and arrow. While searching for wood, Brian almost steps on a bird and it flies up in a flurry of feathers. It occurs to Brian to try to catch these birds, slightly smaller than chickens, which he calls "foolbirds." At that moment a plane flies overhead, giving Brian hope that the searchers have come for him. Gesturing and yelling at the top of his lungs, Brian falls into despair and hopelessness when the plane flies past him and away into the horizon. He begins to lose faith that he will ever see his family and friends again, and experiences profound emptiness and loneliness.

Analysis

The contrast between urban and wilderness environments reappears in these chapters. Earlier in the novel, this contrast revolved mostly around Brian's adjustment to the woods. He had to become self-sufficient and only then appreciated the conveniences of urban life. In these chapters, however, Brian has adjusted to his new life, and can look back on the person he was before the plane crash with some distance. While he investigates the turtle tracks, Brian demonstrates his consciousness of his urban habits. Paulsen writes, "He smiled. City boy, he thought. Oh, you city boy with your city ways—he made a mirror in his mind, a mirror of himself, and saw how he must look. City boy with your city ways sitting in the sand trying to read the tracks and not knowing, not understanding." Here, he acknowledges that nature has a lot to teach him and that his "city boy" identity must be shed in favor of habits more fitting to his environment.

Brian undergoes significant changes, both physical and mental, in these chapters. His senses have become more acute and his mind more aware. He begins to understand that self-sufficiency requires enormous effort and involves significant trial and error. Brian's mind and body begin to communicate with one another and become increasingly linked. In Chapter 11 Paulsen writes, "his mind and his body, had come together as well, had made a connection with each other that he didn't quite understand." Because survival in the natural environment relies to such an extent on the body and its condition, the mind must work to support the body. In Brian's case, he brainstorms about ways in which he can catch fish, build a shelter, make fire, and other necessities. The natural world, often more so than the civilized world, calls for a deep connection between mind and body.

Gary Paulsen continues to use repetition as a literary technique. In this part of the book, the line that appears again and again is, "There were these things to do." The repetition of this line emphasizes Brian's new perspective on his life in the wilderness. In the first few weeks after the plane crash Brian focused on the world in which he used to live, constantly seeking and hoping for a way out of his situation. He remained relatively immobile because he thought his stay in the woods would be short-term, and because he pitied himself. In this part of the book, on the other hand, Brian accepts that it may be some time before he leaves the woods. Starting to adopt a more active and positive outlook and steering clear of self-pity, Brian makes efforts to gather food, make fire, and perfect his tools. These efforts also hint that he now looks toward the future and prepares for what it might hold. His hunger for Hamburgers and for similar urban conveniences wanes, a new hunger taking its place. Paulsen writes, "This was hunger that he knew would be there always, even when he had food—a hunger that made him look for things, see things. A hunger to make him hunt." Brian's curiosity only grows with his ability to use his senses and with the enjoyment he derives from the surrounding environment.

Answer 6

Chapter 19

In the morning Brian opens the survival pack to find many useful items, including a sleeping bag, a foam sleeping pad, a cookset, matches, lighters, a knife, a compass, a first-aid kit, a cap, and a fishing kit. Surprised to find a Survivor rifle among the pack's contents, Brian dislikes it as he feels it separates him from the natural environment to which he has become accustomed. Although his daily patterns would become much easier with the use of a rifle, and with many of the tools in the kit, he feels attached to his old ways and to the self-sufficiency they represent. Brian notes his "up and down" feelings regarding the discovery of the survival pack. He then comes across an emergency transmitter and, attempting to turn it on with no evident success, Brian reasons that it had been broken in the crash. The survival pack also contains several freeze-dried food packets, which he determines to carefully ration after he feasts just once on a meal of his choice. He begins to prepare this feast with much anticipation when he hears the drone of an engine above him. The plane flies low and lands on the lake. The pilot emerges and reports to Brian that he had heard the transmitter signal. In saying this, the pilot slowly makes the connection that the searchers he had heard about were looking for Brian, who stands before him. Dumbfounded and initially unable to comprehend the situation, Brian simply says, "My name is Brian Robeson…. Would you like something to eat?"

Epilogue

Brian later learns that the man who rescued him is a fur buyer out to survey Cree trapping camps. Brian had lost a lot of his body weight since the crash, and he remains thin for years. Many of the changes Brian underwent in the wilderness seem permanent, such as his observant and thoughtful nature, and food never loses its wonder for him. Reporters become briefly interested in covering his story, but soon the attention wanes. Brian has many dreams in which he recalls his time in the woods, many pleasant. If Brian had had to survive the winter there, it would have been very difficult. While his parents react with such joy at knowing their son has survived, and even get back together briefly, they soon return to their respective homes. Although he repeatedly intends to, Brian never actually tells his father about "The Secret."

Answer 7

Chapter 18

Frustrated by his inability to access the inside of the plane, Brian strikes it with his fist and the aluminum covering opens. Using the hatchet to cut through the rest of the sections, Brian is hacking away at a furious pace when he suddenly drops the hatchet and it falls to the bottom of the lake. After a few tries, Brian succeeds in picking the hatchet up from the bottom, having barely enough air in his lungs to return to the surface. He continues to cut into the plane and swims down into it to retrieve the survival pack. On his way back up he sees the pilot's head, the flesh eaten away by fish. Traumatized, Brian gets sick in the water and, struggling to free the pack from the plane, and arrives at the surface. Exhausted from his efforts, Brian drags the survival pack to his shelter and falls immediately into a deep sleep.

Analysis

When a moose attacks Brian and a tornado devastates the surrounding area, Brian demonstrates perseverance and resolve. Rather than becoming frustrated and disheartened, as he does in several incidents earlier in the novel, he accepts what he cannot change about his circumstances, while taking every opportunity to work towards changing those elements he can control. These events present equally serious consequences as earlier events that had devastated Brian's sense of hope. However, ever since his suicide attempt, the "new Brian" has taken control. Naturally he becomes slightly frustrated, but he does not allow his frustration to consume his energy. Rather he channels this energy toward immediately setting out to rebuild what he has lost.

Brian finds the moose attack to be "insane" and "madness." He seeks rationality in the act, and attempts to make sense of the moose's motives. Although Brian has developed an increasing sense of harmony with the animals that share the woods where he lives, this incident, as well as the tornado that rips through the woods, reminds him of the cruelty of which nature is capable. Observing the chaos of the storm, Brian regards it as at once "beautiful and terrible." As the book progresses and Brian grows more familiar with and knowledgeable about the patterns of nature, he begins to accept these patterns accordingly. While he recognizes the damage the moose attack and the tornado have caused him, he gains a broader perspective of the natural environment. He learns that nature gives life and destroys it, and that he, as a part of the natural world, must also be subject to these patterns.

After the day of the tornado and the moose attack, Brian relies upon his new sense of mental strength to pull him out of hopelessness. As he lies in the darkness, he definitively decides to take an active role in his fate, thinking to himself, "I'm tough where it counts—tough in the head." He has learned throughout the course of the novel that survival depends upon the strength of the mind more than on the strength of the body. The body will follow the lead of a strong and determined mind.

Answer 8

Chapter 16

Brian proudly recalls the major events since the plane crash, which he calls "First Days." For example, on "First Arrow Day" he had successfully constructed a straight-shooting arrow, and on "First Rabbit Day" he had killed his first rabbit, using similar methods as he had used to kill the foolbird. He alternates between rabbits and foolbirds, so he is able to satisfy himself with sufficient meat. In time he perfects his skills at catching foolbirds, once even catching a bird with his bare hands. While washing his hands in the lake, he senses something and turns around just in time to face a huge moose. The moose attacks him, throwing him into the water, thrashing him around, and badly hurting his ribs and his shoulder. Retrieving his bow, spear, and foolbird from the water's edge, Brian, in enormous pain, attempts to make sense of the attack before falling asleep. A far-off roar awakens Brian in the middle of the night. Suddenly, a tornado pounds down on him, slamming him on the side of the shelter. The tornado departs as quickly as it had arrived, leaving Brian out in the open, his shelter and fire obliterated. Without the protection of the fire, mosquitoes find him once again and he lies sleepless for the remainder of the night, contemplating how his situation has changed so drastically in one day. In the aftermath of the moose attack and the tornado he has little left. Nonetheless, Brian remains unfazed in his resolve to rebuild using the hatchet, his only remaining tool, still at his belt. Right before dawn Brian dozes off, awakening to assess the tornado's damage. The tornado had scattered the pieces of his shelter but they remained the area. Looking out over the lake, Brian spots the tail of the Cessna plane sticking out of the water. He thinks of the pilot, dead in the plane, and a huge weighty sadness sweeps over him. Compelled to say a few words for him, Brain hesitates because he does not know the "right words," the words of organized religion. He decides to simply concentrate and wish the pilot a peaceful rest.

Chapter 17

Brian works to restore his shelter to its former shape and to gather more firewood. Exhausted from a day of hard work, he lies down to go to sleep when it occurs to him that the survival pack that the pilot had mentioned might still be in the plane, and perhaps he could access it. Wondering what it might contain, Brian hopes that he will find food or tools, and decides to try to find it the following day. He falls asleep with the picture of the tail of the plane in his mind. The next morning he eats some fish to gain some energy for his project and reasons that a raft would be the best method to get out to the plane. Finding the construction of the raft difficult, Brian must find a way to attach the logs to one another. After many frustrating attempts, Brian interweaves branches into the logs to hold them together. Moving the raft presents another time-consuming challenge, and, as dusk approaches, Brian decides to return back to his shelter for the night and try again in the morning. Brian sensed fall in the air on this beautiful night in the woods. In the morning, he sets out for the plane on his raft. Attaching the raft to the plane, Brian shutters as it occurs to him that he might see the pilot down underwater.

Answer 9

Chapter 15

While in the woods, Brian measures time by events he experiences rather than by societal measures of time, although he does mark the passing days on the stone next to his shelter. His real sense of time, however, revolves around events such as the day of First Meat. Living off berries and fish, Brian still had still craved more substantial food, meat in particular. He has thought of trying to catch the foolbirds that abound in the woods, but despite their stupidity has a difficult time catching them. They tend to fly away at the last second, and are difficult to spot. Training his eyes to see the outline of a foolbird, Brian decides to employ his spear rather than his bow and arrow, which enables him to lunge at the birds. Moving sideways rather than straight at the bird and lunging at it at the last second, he catches his first meat. Cleaning the chicken proves harder than he had expected, and he notes once more that in the past, and in a world where his mother had cooked for him, such a duty would never have occurred to him. Brian rigs up a system to rotate the chicken over a flame and sits back to watch it cook. Anxious to have his first bite, Brian pulls off a piece that has not quite cooked thoroughly yet. He reminded himself of the importance of patience, and when the meat has finally cooked through, Brian enjoys his feast more than anything he has ever eaten.

Analysis

After the plane flies overhead and the pilot does not spot him, Brian falls into the depths of hopelessness. His attempt at suicide represents the lowest point in Brian's emotional state during his entire stay in the wilderness, and certainly indicates that he considers a life in which he can hold out so little hope for his rescue unworthy of living. However, in the end this event seems to have positive consequences; once Brian pulls himself out of his miserable state, he recognizes this suicide attempt as another mistake from which he must learn, feeling virtually reborn after the experience. While he had tried to take his own life earlier, he now feels it has become more important than ever to affirm life and live with as much vigor as possible. Although Brian undergoes several major events in this story, which all have tremendous influence on his future behavior, the changes in his attitude after his suicide attempt are the most pronounced of any of Brian's transformations. Brian himself even emphasizes this transformation by distinguishing the "new" Brian from the "old" Brian in his mind.

In this part of the book Brian notices that the events of his life in the wilderness defy societal measures of time. Rather, the routines of nature dictate his behavior. He must follow nature's cycles and weather patterns, but he can largely shape his day around his needs for sleep and food, as well as his activities to improve his shelter or find food. Brian begins to define and measure time by the major events in his wilderness life. Giving a name to each major accomplishment or event, Brian formulates his own notion of time. For example, he calls his first successful hunt for a foolbird the day of First Meat.

The author once again points to the communion Brian experiences with nature. When Brian spots the wolf on the hill, Paulsen writes, "He knew the wolf now, as the wolf knew him, and he nodded to it, nodded and smiled." In this incident the reader senses how Brian has changed over the course of the book. When he met the bear for the first time in the berry patch, he initially feared it, but when he meets the wolves on the hill, he immediately acknowledges them and respects them. Fear vanishes in favor of his appreciation for their beauty and nobility, as he stands for what seems like a long time to him, simply watching them. At this point Brian has lived there for some time and feels he can identify with the animals because he lives a similarly simple life in the woods. He too must struggle to find food and to avoid the dangers of nature, bringing him closer to the animals and enabling him to understand them in a way that had been impossible before he had shared their environment.

Answer 10

Chapter 13

While Brian searches for foolbirds, as he calls the chicken-like birds he has discovered, his instincts tell him that some creature lurks nearby. At that moment he spots a big beautiful wolf, which then walks up the hill and away from Brian, followed by three others. After the plane flies by him without spotting him, Brian feels incredibly defeated. He even tries to commit suicide by cutting himself with his hatchet. When he survives, however, he determines never to let death tempt him again, and in that moment Brian transforms himself into the "new Brian." He finally figures out how to catch the many fish in the lake when he realizes he must account for the refraction of light underwater and readjust his aim. On that first day that he catches fish, he feasts on them and, satisfied with his accomplishment and the wealth of food it produced, feels hopeful. This hope, however, differs from his earlier hope that he will be rescued. He now believes the chances of his being rescued are slim. Rather, he possesses "tough hope" that he can survive on his own with his new knowledge of the wilderness.

Chapter 14

A skunk comes to investigate the spot in the sand where the turtle has laid its eggs. Brian yells at the skunk, which reacts by spraying him. Blinded for nearly two hours as a result of the spray, Brian runs into the lake to wash himself. The skunk has also eaten the eggs he had stored on the shore. Brian learned two lessons from this incident: make a sturdy shelter and put food in a protected place. Spending days strengthening his shelter with additional wood, and finding a high tree for a food shelf that bears would be unable to reach, Brian still faces the problem of a lack of food. After brainstorming about this problem, he resolves to construct a small pond in which he may store the fish he has caught, attracted by the remains of the fish he had already eaten. Brian demonstrates his forethought but not only finding food for the moment, but also developing some system of storage for the future.