What event initiates Brian's survival ordeal in Hatchet?

• A. An hour-long search for a missing survivor.
• B. The plane crashes in a remote Canadian lake.
• C. Brian loses his way in the woods during a hike.
• D. A forest fire traps him in the trees.

Answer: (B)

The moment that starts Brian’s survival ordeal is the plane crash in a remote Canadian lake. When the engine fails and the plane goes down, Brian is suddenly alone in the wilderness with only a hatchet, and that crash becomes the catalyst that forces him to figure out shelter, fire, water, and food to stay alive. Everything before the crash is a setup for his life as a typical passenger; the crash is what flips the situation into a fight for survival. The other scenarios don’t initiate the ordeal; they either aren’t how the story begins or they don’t place Brian in the immediate, life-or-death survival situation right from the start.