Physical isolation occurs when someone is prevented from interacting with other people. Sometimes this isolation results from an accident or misadventure. Other times, a person is forced into isolation, say if they’re placed in solitary confinement or kidnapped.

A boy’s ability to cope with isolation is at the heart of both The Hatchet, Gary Paulsen’s middle grade adventure novel, where the protagonist is the sole survivor of a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness, and the memoir, Lost on a Mountain in Maine, by Donn Fendler (as told to Joseph B. Egan). This singular question—will these boys survive an unknown and hostile environment on their own—drives the plot or storyline. The physical isolation inherent in the situation intensifies the suspense, and leads to multi-leveled opportunities to examine the four dimensions of conflict.

Because of course, the physical isolation is only the beginning. The boys are intellectually challenged—how can they cope? They’re emotionally taxed—they’re terrified. And they’re spiritually fraught—why me? From this maelstrom of conflict, based on a premise of physical isolation, comes character transformation.

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