Woods Runner

Samuel is often most comfortable in the woods. How does his affinity with and reflections on the woods develop his character?

The novel considers the idea of childhood at some depth. How is childhood handled in the story? What are its boundaries? How do frontier children experience it?

Paulsen wants the reader to think about the conditions of life on the frontier. What values do these conditions develop in the settlers? What kind of society do they forge in battling the conditions together?

Early in the novel, an old man tells Samuel that “nothing dies of old age in the forest […] Live long enough, get old enough and something eats you. Everything kills” (5). Comparing Samuel’s experiences of the woods with those of civilization, what do you think the novel is trying to say about men and other animals?

Many things and people die in the novel, but there are lines between killing to survive and killing to be cruel. How does the contrast between the wilderness and civilization explore those lines?

Paulsen includes frequent informational passages that enhance the reader’s understanding of Samuel’s life and journey. Consider the effectiveness of this choice in form. Do the informational passages add authority to the narrative? If this information was removed from the narrative, would it make the novel stronger or weaker?

What is the importance of family in the novel? Samuel works through several iterations of relation throughout his journey: son, orphan, brother, grandson, head of the family, and finally, adult son. Annie quickly accepts and is accepted as a member of Samuel’s family, despite the brevity of their interactions. How might the frontiers people have seen family differently than we do today?

Food is an important symbol in Woods Runner. There are many ways to approach the function of food in the novel: What does it mean to provide or be provided food? What if you cannot provide food for yourself? How does the settler’s view of food differ from the one we have today? Though a human can go much longer without food than they can without water, why does the novel seem to give more attention to the instances when Samuel feeds or is fed?