43 pages • 1 hour read
Gary PaulsenNorthwind
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Surviving Through Connection with Nature
Drawing on his personal experience and love of the outdoors, author Gary Paulsen often features detailed and sensory descriptions of the natural world. His vivid and sometimes visceral imagery immerses readers in his wilderness settings. Paulsen’s novels frequently involve characters facing survival challenges in harsh landscapes, with nature not only a setting but also a critical element in the characters’ struggle for survival. In Northwind, the cataclysmic plague is the force of nature that thrusts protagonist Leif into dire circumstances, in which Surviving Through Connection with Nature is his only option.
The cholera outbreak represents the neutrality of nature toward humanity, making clear that man is not exempt from the natural order. The disease is swift and volatile, decimating the fishing camp without mercy. For all human history, people have had to accept the unpredictability of nature; the epidemic is the first natural force Leif must overcome to survive, and his brush with death teaches him in no uncertain terms that the forces at work in nature are largely out of his control. Once Leif survives the illness, he must immediately shift his focus to finding food and avoiding predators. Part of the neutrality of nature toward humanity, however, is also that nature offers many pathways for survival. The brutal and unpredictable conditions prompt Leif to exercise the skills he already possesses while learning and fostering new ones. Leif realizes quickly that subsistence living is not just about head knowledge; it also requires reliance on intuition.
As Leif cultivates his spearfishing skills, he also sharpens his decision-making abilities. Nature is not purely chaos; it also has rhythms, patterns, and logic. Measured thinking and reasoning naturally emerge from a strong connection with nature. The narrative puts Leif’s predicament in stark terms: “And it was all up to him. He could eat or starve, depending on his own actions, his own thoughts, his own plans” (119). Through Leif, Paulsen asserts that surviving in nature requires not only a specific set of practical survival skills but also a keen connection to one’s own nature. Intuition, observation, and attunement to small details are key. The silencing of the birds may signal bears nearby. Subtle shifts in the water current may signal danger ahead. Leif soon learns to appreciate and respect the changeability of nature beyond just depending on its resources to meet his basic needs. This growing reverence for the spirit and wisdom of the wilderness continue to develop over the course of the novel.
Beyond teaching Leif about survival, the novel’s grand landscape also serves as a metaphor for Leif’s internal struggles and as a crucible for personal growth. For Leif, solitude and isolation provide opportunities for reflection on his life and purpose for being. As Leif observes whales, dolphins, birds, and bears working to survive, he comes to appreciate that “pure raw hunger was the driving force of everything in nature” (107). In turn, he considers all the struggles he faced in his early life and resolves to move beyond mere survival. Instead, he aims to flourish and prosper under nature’s teachings. Leif looks back on his trials not with a sense of bitterness or anger but with appreciation for people like Old Carl who cared for him and for Little Carl, who brought him moments of joy. Making peace with his past allows Leif the emotional capacity to consider his future and his place in the world. His ability to survive and eventually thrive in the wilderness inspires confidence in Leif that he can continue living on his own.
Beyond providing for his needs and teaching him self-reliance, nature becomes a source of inspiration, creativity, and spirituality. Once out of survival mode, Leif pauses to notice the interconnectedness of the natural world: “The sounds of forest and sea surrounded the canoe and the spirits as the currents took him along. A kind of music, the way the circling, looping echoes came together, a full music that fed into his spirit” (45). Leif soon learns that nature can nourish not only his body but also his soul. Tapping into this universal life force inspires Leif to create art by carving his story into wood. In connecting to the spirit of the whales, Leif feels at peace and less alone, and in feeling the pulsating ocean currents, Leif encounters an unseen cosmic energy. Leif is no longer experiencing nature with his physical body alone. He is also connecting with nature through his mind and spirit, thereby accessing a gateway to higher truths. The fjord, with its towering ice wall and waters teeming with whales, represents a sort of cathedral to Leif; struck by its beauty, he remains for days for no other reason than to revere and worship nature’s splendor. Though the natural world is at first a cruel teacher, through his journey north, Leif’s perception of nature changes as he adapts and integrates into its patterns and accepts its chaotic anomalies. Ultimately, survival becomes possible not only physically but also spiritually, as Leif finds harmony and contentment within the circle of life.
The Power of Story to Preserve Memory and Heal
Human beings have an inherent desire to tell their stories. The act of capturing one’s experiences, thoughts, and emotions in a tangible form is a compulsion that transcends cultural, temporal, and geographical boundaries. The novel opens with a saga, another word for story, that documents Leif’s early life. Leif’s adventures paddling north formulate the backbone of the narrative, but he comes to learn later that the early parts of his story are just as integral to his formation. Having no formal record of his life nor any family to share such a record with him, Leif must rely on his memories to shape his story of himself. Writing his story affords Leif the opportunity for self-reflection and the construction of personal identity. Through the act of narrating his experiences, Leif not only preserves his memories and the lessons he has learned but also engages in a process of introspection, self-assessment, and identity construction. He seeks a way to “make it last” such that “when things were quite perfect he could remember this moment, could call it up” (122).
At first, Leif doesn’t understand his urge to chronicle his story. Creating his storyboard becomes a cathartic process, allowing Leif to externalize his emotions and experiences. Crafting his narrative becomes therapeutic, helping Leif make sense of the tragedies he has endured and facilitating an emotional release. By adding Little Carl’s dancing to the storyboard, Leif immortalizes the tiny boy who died too soon. Capturing his story, though Leif has no assurance that anyone else will ever see it, becomes a transformative and healing experience for Leif. The process alone is a manner of concretizing his own fragile existence: the stories “were done because what had happened to him, the movement of his life, was there in the wood. The stories on the board were life itself” (160). Seeing the grand story of his life spread out on the plank allows Leif to integrate all his experiences, both good and bad, into himself and understand his purpose in life going forward.
As Leif continues to form his identity and understand his purpose, crafting his narrative evolves into a creative and spiritual practice, and his storyboard becomes a bridge between his mother’s spirit and himself. Though uncertain it will work, Leif’s attempt to use his written story to communicate telepathically with his mother displays a universal human need for connection and acceptance. Like monuments, cave drawings, totems, and rune stones, Leif’s storyboard is both a record keeper and a work of art. The narrative captures this duality in its descriptions of the storyboard: “They were carved memories” (160). Leif’s work is a celebration of his resilience and triumph over adversity and gives him tangible evidence of his perseverance through trials. He hopes that, in some way, his mother can also see his story and be proud of what her son has accomplished. Just as Leif marks Little Carl’s grave with a cairn, a votive stone of remembrance, his storyboard serves as an archive of his experiences, a marker of his humanity, and a reminder of his unique journey of survival and perseverance.
Self-Discovery Through Coming of Age
A Bildungsroman, meaning “novel of formation” in German, traces the psychological and moral development of the main character from childhood to adolescence or adulthood. Paulsen uses the landscape of medieval Norway as the backdrop for his young male character’s coming-of-age journey. In traversing north to an unknown destination, protagonist Leif undergoes a profound transformation of body, mind, and spirit.
The first stage of a Bildungsroman is the introduction or initiation of the protagonist. In this case, Paulsen first employs the saga of Chapter 1 to relate the tragedies of Leif’s early life and explain the circumstances that land the boy in the fish camp. When Old Carl forces Leif to flee the cholera-ridden camp, Leif then leaves his “home,” accepts the call to adventure, and embarks on a journey that poses significant challenges and dangers. Through his intense physical labor, Leif grows physically stronger. The more challenges nature throws his way, the harder Leif works to overcome them, fostering new skills and resilience. As part of building a stronger body, Leif also strengthens his mind: “The hot worm of his thoughts, a nudge of a glow, feeding on thought and more thought, a glow of wanting, a small flame of needing, to know, to know more, be more” (91). Learning and knowledge, he realizes, are key to growth: “You lived or you died. And in between the two, if you kept your mind open and aware and listened and smelled and watched…In between you learned” (195-96).
The coming-of-age journey, however, isn’t just about physical maturation and survival. Leif’s education in terms of survival skills serve as a metaphor for his emotional and spiritual development. The further Leif pushes north and the longer he is alone on the water, the more he engages in self-reflection and an examination of his inner conflicts and struggles. He at first feels guilty for being the sole survivor of the sickness, but through further introspection, Leif realizes that he has survived thus far for a purpose. The lessons he learns from being orphaned, imprisoned on a ship, and cast into the wild alone contribute to a greater understanding of himself and the world. Leif questions the belief that he is just a survivor and resolves to evolve to a higher form of existence. Each trial that Leif experiences contributes to personal and moral development as he learns from his mistakes, innovates new ways to survive, and evolves from a frightened child into a discerning young man.
After this resolution phase, Leif reaches the integration and transformation phase of his journey. Having accepted his past and committed to a new way of being, Leif is now equipped to face the world as a complete and more self-aware individual. A Bildungsroman sometimes involves a return home. In with this structure, Leif’s decision to turn south represents a symbolic return. Though he will not return to the fish camp, he is returning to his inner compass with the assurance that he holds within himself the ability to persevere through whatever may come next.
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