KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS

SETTING

The story takes place in Hampton, New York, and the forests of Northern Canada, in the present day.

LIST OF CHARACTERS

Major Characters

Brian Robeson

A thirteen year old boy who, on the way to spend the summer with his divorced father in Canada, is involved in a plane crash and must learn to survive in the Canadian woods.

The Pilot

An older man, perhaps named Jim or Jake (Brian canÂ’t remember), who flies the boy toward northern Canada until he has a heart attack and dies at the controls.

BrianÂ’s parents

His mother is the object of the Secret that obsesses BrianÂ’s thoughts. His father is a mechanical engineer who has designed a new drill bit for the oil drills on the tree line of Canada.

CONFLICT

Protagonist

The protagonist is Brian Robeson who is only a thirteen year old boy when life forces him to call upon all of his intelligence and innate skills to find a way to survive when his plane crashes in the Canadian woods. He is deeply hurt by a Secret that he knows about his mother and how that Secret led to his parentsÂ’ divorce. Over the days that he spends in the woods of Canada, he must put the Secret aside and learn to be a man.

Antagonist

The antagonist is Nature and all its dangers as well as its beauties. Brian must learn to live within the boundaries that Nature forces upon him and accept his fate. Another antagonist is Brian himself as he battles against his tendency to just give up when this new life seems too difficult. He also must end his obsession with the Secret and the divorce and learn to live with what he cannot change.

Climax

The climax of the story occurs when Brian finally finds a way into the tail of the plane after a tornado dislodges it from the bottom of the lake. Within it are the “treasures” he believes he will need to continue his life in the woods of Canada.

Outcome

After Brian obtains the treasure from the tail of the crashed plane, he finds an emergency transmitter which he accidentally turns on. He doesnÂ’t realize heÂ’s done so, because there is so perceivable change in it, and he disregards it while he takes pleasure from all the other supplies he finds in the pack. Just then, he hears the sound of another plane which lands on the lake. The pilot had picked up the signal from the emergency transmitter and now has come to rescue him at last. This is followed by an Epilogue which explains all the Brian learned from his survival experience and how, even though his parents do not reconcile, he can keep the Secret just that, a secret, so no one else will be hurt by it.

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