76 pages • 2 hours read
Gary PaulsenBrian's Winter
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1996A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
Death
Despite the many animals he killed for food, Brian remains bothered by killing and death. He always hopes for a clean, quick kill to avoid causing unnecessary pain and suffering to the animal. As the novel progresses, he starts to favor larger game since the death of just one animal can give him several weeks’ worth of meat, eliminating the need to kill hundreds of small animals. However, hunting large game brings its own set of challenges for him: After killing a deer, he feels as if he has committed murder, especially since the deer was not posing a threat to him.
Brian’s misgivings about hunting come in part from his appreciation for nature. He sees the detail and grandeur in nature, and therefore sees animals as sources of beauty. Nevertheless, Brian realizes that while he values nature, he is also at its mercy. Killing animals is his only means of getting the food he needs to survive. In this way, the death motif furthers the theme that nature is a two-sided coin: beautiful, yet harsh.
Weather
Paulsen consistently updates the reader on changing weather conditions using vivid imagery. This helps readers understand the extreme cold even though they may not have experienced such conditions before. Changes in the weather bring both obstacles and exciting discoveries for Brian. For example, Brian must figure out how to stay warm and keep busy while stuck inside his shelter due to rain or snow. However, for every challenge the weather brings, Brian learns something new that helps him overcome the challenge. He sews animal hides together to stay warm outside, learns from the rabbits’ changing feet that snowshoes will help him walk in the snow, and notices that hunting is easier in the rain and snow, since more animals are out looking for food and their tracks are clearly visible. Despite the hardships of winter, Brian treats the cold winter as a learning experience.
Paulsen’s consistent mentions of the worsening weather also remind the reader of nature’s untamable power. Brian recognizes the gravity of his situation; he knows that without proper preparations and wise choices, he could easily freeze to death. Nature owes him no kindness or mercy. Brian may be surviving in nature, but he has by no means triumphed over it.
Food
In the novel, food is central to survival. Brian must always work for his food: find it, kill it, process it, and cook it. He often spends entire days looking for his next meal. One effect of this motif is to compel readers who have never faced food insecurity to imagine what it might be like.
Furthermore, Brian’s process of getting food provides him with many learning opportunities. He learns as he goes how to do things efficiently and successfully. For instance, he learns to approach an animal indirectly, without looking into its eyes, making sideways progress, rather than taking a direct approach. This technique helps him remain unnoticed by animals as he hunts larger game later. Brian also learns to skin and process large game, such as deer and moose, as the necessity arises. Finally, he learns to boil meat rather than roast it over the fire to get the maximum amount of nutrients, rather than letting them drip into the fire. The many ways Brian learns serve as examples of the important role of intellect in survival.
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By Gary Paulsen
