Surviving Horrors

Author’s Note: I am writing this piece in response to the book Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen. I am focusing on A/B transitions and my sentence fluency.

“His mouth opened, he called, started to aim his musket at Samuel at the same instant that Samuel raised his rifle, cocking the hammer.”(Page 155) This quote happens late in the book but it really sets the scene for the entire book, Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen. Samuel, the main character, almost dies for the 3^rd time in the book in this scene. As you can tell, survival was the most important thing during the time of this book. The theme of this novel is survival.

Survival was key during the time of the American Revolutionary War in the book Woods Runner. Samuel took a blow to the head with a tomahawk from two Indians and nearly died. “The tomahawk was coming at his head and he tried to duck, but the white-hot pain exploded as the side of the tomahawk smashed into his forehead.”(Page 55) Since Cooper, an American traveling to the only free state left of Pennsylvania, picked up Samuel on the way there, Samuel was lucky to survive. Cooper took care of him like he was his only son. If I was Samuel during this time, I wouldn’t be able to thank Cooper enough. Not even as much as when Katniss volunteered tribute for her little sister in The Hunger Games.

Woods Runner and The Hunger Games share the same theme as each other. In the book Woods Runner, Samuel is struggling to survive against the British Redcoats. Katniss, from The Hunger Games, was also trying to stay alive but against other humans fighting for their life too.  Both of the main characters shared the same goal. Their goal, to stay alive but, for Samuel he had to find his parents and rescue them. Additionally, the pair of books each had some heart-pounding action. In Woods Runner, the action occurred throughout the whole book. Whether it was when he found his town in ashes, or when Samuel acquired a nasty wound from a surprise attack with two Indians. Both of these books have similar themes.

In conclusion, the theme is clearly survival in the novel Woods Runner . If it was in the beginning of the book or the end, I could always find a quote to back up the main theme. At the end of the book, everybody almost lives happily ever after. Samuel’s parents will never forget their journey to New York and the horrors that occurred. Samuel won’t forget anything either. Samuel and his family were lucky to survive this incident.