Brian's Winter Quotes

Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen. The book takes place during present time and during winter. The location is the wilderness in Canada. The surroundings were filled with pine trees and and bushes everywhere. There are many wild animals such as birds, rabbits, and other larger animals. Also the ground was covered in snow and the temperature was freezing. The mood that the setting creates is miserable. For example “But it rained steadily for five days and while it rained it colder, so by the fifth day Brian felt as if he was freezing.” (p. 33) This quote shows how miserable it was for Brian out in the Canadian wilderness.

The protagonist of Brian's Winter is Brian. He is a thirteen year old boy of divorced parents. He is desperately trying to survive by himself in the wild. Brain is resourceful. For example “He used moose hide and made a pair of crude mittens.” (p. 88) This shows he is resourceful because he is using all the materials from the moose he killed instead of wasting it. Another character trait is Brian is smart. One quote to explain this is “Initially he had cooked meat over a fire on a stick, something he had seen in movies, but it was wrong.” (p 11) He is smart because he knows the proper way to cook food which is to boil it, when most people would just cook it like they saw on television.

She is very powerful and is in control of what happens to Brian. She is all of nature. Mother Nature is very unpredictable. An example of this is “she threw herself at him, her eyes red with rage.” (p. 79) This is when a moose, who is apart of nature, attacked Brian and he wasn't expecting it at all. Another trait for Mother Nature is challenging. An example is “He figured the coat weighed at least thirty pounds, maybe more.” (p. 88) This is challenging because he has to carry around a thirty pound coat to stay warm. This is just one of the many challenging problems that Mother Nature has made Brian