Hatchet by Gary Paulsen falls under the adventure genre. It’s an adventure genre because an adventure genre has extreme settings, extreme situations, and often has violence. These three elements that make up an adventure novel make an adventure genre a good genre to choose when reading a book.
An adventure genre usually contains an extreme setting. Having an extreme setting underlines sense of danger and obstacles to be overcome for the protagonist, most likely, or other characters in the novel.” He came across a forest that was like a maze. He had no idea where to go”(Paulsen, 35). The forest was an obstacle for the protagonist to overcome. The setting can also be in a place where there are other people or animals in the protagonist’s way. “Brian made his way toward the tree, when all of a sudden a bear came out from behind the bushes”(Paulsen 114). The setting is in an area inhabited by wild animals which makes it hard for the protagonist to get by. The setting is a big part of an adventure genre.
With an adventure novel the protagonist has to be put in an extreme situation at least once during the course of a novel. An extreme situation can be where the protagonist has to make an important choice or choose to take a certain path. “ He was nearing the end of the trail and time wasn’t on his side. He had to jump off the cliff or keep running straight knowing that the bear will eventually catch up to him.”(Paulsen, 172) In this extreme situation the protagonist had to make a choice to either risk injury or even death by jumping or to continue running and get eaten by a bear. Another extreme situation can be where the protagonist is placed with a huge obstacle to overcome. “Brian was getting very hungry. “He searched the forest for anything he can eat. Fruit from the trees to fish from the lakes.” (Paulsen, 25). In this situation the protagonist had to go through any means necessary to get food for himself to survive. Extreme situations make an adventure novel...