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Never, in all the reading, in the movies he had watched on television about the outdoors, never once had they mentioned the mosquitos or flies.
Brian faces a number of threats from nature, but one of the first dangers is persistent mosquitoes. In Chapter 4, after he escapes the plane and makes it to shore, he is covered in flies and mosquitoes biting and swarming him. He does not have extra clothes to cover his skin, and he can only find relief from the swarm after he builds a fire and its smoke keeps them at bay. By introducing the mosquitos before the porcupine, bear, moose, or tornado, the novel makes it clear even the smallest elements of nature that seem unassuming can be dangerous.
Protect food and have a good shelter. Not just a shelter to keep the wind and rain out, but a shelter to protect, a shelter to make him safe. The day after the skunk he set about making a good place to live.
In Chapter 14, after a skunk breaks into his shelter and eats all the turtle eggs, Brian realizes his shelter must protect against more than just the weather. He needs to keep himself and his food safe from anything alive that might come after them. Brian has to reckon with this fact of nature: the pursuit of food will continue driving the animals around him, so he cannot take shortcuts if he wants to keep up with their relentless search for food.
He had been looking for feathers, for the color of the bird, for a bird sitting there. He had to look for the outline instead, had to see the shape instead of the feathers or color, had to train his eyes to see the shape . . . It was like turning on a television.
As Brian learns to hunt, he realizes nature’s rhythms are different than his own. He knows there are plenty of foolbirds in the forest to eat because he nearly steps on them before they fly out of his way. However, when he sets out to hunt them in Chapter 15, he cannot see the birds. Their natural ability to blend in frustrates Brian because he knows they are not especially intelligent birds. It is only after Brian thinks differently about their camouflage and notices the outline of their shape that he figures out how to spot them. Once Brian changes the way he thinks, he successfully changes the way he hunts.
First food, because food made strength; first food, then thought, then action.
One of the natural forces Brian struggles against in Hatchet is his own body. He cannot survive without the basic needs of food, sleep, and shelter, the most pressing being food. In Chapter 17, after the tornado pulls the tail of the plane out of the lake, Brian wants to retrieve the survival pack, but he knows he cannot begin to plan until he gets something to eat. He cannot delay the need for food because it is inconvenient, or because he is impatient. If Brian does not eat, his body and brain will shut down. Once he overcomes the obstacle of finding food, then Brian can begin to plan and approach the plane for supplies.
So insane, he thought, letting sleep cover the pain in his chest—such an insane attack for no reason and he fell asleep with his mind trying to make the moose have reason.
After Brian has learned to fend for himself in the wild, he feels he has a grasp on how to keep himself safe. However, in Chapter 16, a moose barrels out of the forest and attacks Brian without provocation. Each time Brian tries to get away, the moose notices and attacks him again. Eventually, the moose departs, but Brian is badly bruised and cannot breathe deeply without pain. He knows if he is injured too badly to hunt, he will not survive. This random act of nature—foreshadowing the impending tornado—remind Brian he can never have complete control over his situation. He may learn to live well with nature, but he cannot always predict it.
