76 pages • 2 hours read
Brian's Winter
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Part 2, Chapters 8-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “Winter”
Part 2, Chapter 8 Summary
The rain comes again, and the temperature continues to drop, but this time Brian stays warm and dry inside his shelter. His meat supply from the deer steadily declines, and Brian knows he will need to hunt again soon. During the rain, Brian stays busy preparing for even colder weather. Out of the deer hide, he makes sleeves for his poncho and a pair of moccasins to fit over his tennis shoes. As he works, he learns to soften the hide by working it over a piece of wood.
When the rain stops and Brian emerges from the shelter in the morning, the sight of the woods covered in bright snow nearly blinds him. The beauty of it shocks Brian; it surpasses any picture of snow-covered woods that he’s ever seen. He ventures out into the white world in his new moccasins, and he notices that since all animals leave tracks in the snow, it will be easier to hunt. Brian feels good in the snow in his new warm clothing and decides to hunt for large game.
Part 2, Chapter 9 Summary
As Brian starts his hunt through the bright white snow, he admires the beauty around him. He tries shooting a rabbit with his new war bow, but the arrow flies much farther than he expects.
He soon hears limbs breaking and sees moose tracks in the snow. After a moose attacked him during the summer, Brian has avoided moose anytime he saw one. However, now he feels different. He is stronger now, and has a more powerful weapon.
He waits in the brush, hidden from the moose, until the moose steps in range of his bow. When he looses, his arrow hits the moose in the neck, and she charges at him. He has no time to reach for his lance, but surprisingly, the moose’s charge misses Brian. She must turn around and come back, giving him enough time to reach and raise his lance. As the moose throws herself on Brian, the lance pierces her chest, and Brian goes unconscious when her head makes impact with his.
Part 2, Chapter 10 Summary
When he regains consciousness, Brian finds the moose head in his lap, weighing him down. Brian is uninjured, and wiggles out from under the moose. Although he is thankful to be alive and to have so much meat, he can’t help but feel some sadness over killing the moose so that he could live. Guessing that the moose must be about ten feet long and weigh about 700 pounds, Brian knows he needs to butcher the moose here and take her back to camp one piece at a time.
Unsure of how to go about cutting up the moose, Brian begins by skinning her. He’s shocked by how much meat the moose contains; he will need to work all day and night to bring it back to camp. Pausing at midday for a meal, Brian feasts on the moose meat and revels in its delicious taste. He butchers and transports the meat the rest of the day and into night, and only stops when nothing but the head remains. Afterwards, he collapses into a deep, satisfied sleep.
Part 2, Chapters 8-10 Analysis
Brian learns nonstop as needs arise. As new situations (such as the snowfall) arise, Brian must observe, react, and learn to survive. His willingness to try, fail, adjust, and try again proves to be an indispensable survival skill. Paulsen conveys Brian’s thought process in short phrases that use repeating grammar. For example, when he ventures into the snow and discovers that game will be easy to track by their footprints, Paulsen shows Brian’s realization about hunting in the snow with simple sentences that build on each other: “Would be easy to see. Would be easy to follow. Would be much easier to hunt.” (72). The best example of Brian’s learning in these chapters is processing the moose meat. Harvesting moose meat is a new experience for him, so he must figure out the best strategies as he works. With each step of Brian’s work—removing the hide, quartering the moose, and carrying it back to camp—the reader glimpses Brian’s thoughts as he acknowledges that all animals, large and small, have the same basic design.
These chapters highlight the appreciation Brian feels for nature’s spectacle, particularly after the first snowfall. The brightness and quiet beauty of the woods astound Brian when he wakes up to find his world covered in snow. He notes that it’s unlike any photo of a snowy nature scene, and wishes his mother could experience it with him. Paulsen shows that although Brian encountered the random harm nature sometimes causes, he still has an immense appreciation for it. Brian’s healthy respect for nature’s beauty, and its power over him, makes him a successful survivor: He cherishes nature’s gifts, yet grasps nature’s threat and his own vulnerability.
Brian’s hunting encounter with the moose and her subsequent attack provide another exciting, interest-grabbing way to build tension. Paulsen’s diction contributes to the realism of the novel, and captures the thrill of the moment. Paulsen repeats words to emphasize the slow passing of time in Brian’s mind as he patiently ambushes the moose: “[he] waited. And waited […] He aged, waiting” (77). The repetition of “wait” emphasizes that for Brian in this moment, time’s slow lapse is interminable. Paulsen also shows each detail of Brian’s movement and thought process as if in slow motion by using clipped, staccato sentences. As Brian releases his arrow and the moose reacts, Brian registers what’s happening in short bursts: “I hit her. The arrow hit her in the neck. She’s charging. She’s charging at me. Another arrow. No, no time. The lance. That’s it, the lance” (78). This repetition and concise sentence structure evoke the feeling of slow motion.
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