SuitabookCrossbow
Dayle Gaetz
- Reading
- Consider reading together if you want to pause over the hunting and trust questions; discuss Matt’s reasoning as his view of Forrest changes.
- Themes
- Solitude and self-reliance: Matt wants to become a hermit and loves the forest; Forrest teaches him skills that could help him pursue that goal. The premise explores the appeal of living apart from ordinary life, but does not establish whether the story ultimately supports Matt’s plan.
- Hunting and ethical choices: Forrest teaches Matt crossbow hunting, then tries to kill an endangered Roosevelt elk; Matt questions the ethics of his new friend. Matt’s doubts make the ethical issue part of the story, but the wider treatment of hunting and wildlife is not established.
- Trust and criminal danger: Forrest initially seems to Matt like the ideal hermit. There is a rash of local robberies, and Matt later finds a stolen rifle in his cabin. The plot places Matt’s trust in tension with suspicious circumstances, but the overview does not establish how the danger is ultimately resolved or who is responsible for the robberies.
- Worth knowing
- Hunting with a crossbow, an attempted killing of an endangered elk, local robberies, a stolen rifle and a dangerous predicament feature in the plot.