The Story of Jan Baalsrud
Introduction
Jan Baalsrud was able to survive extremely cold weather, fighting German soldiers, and other physical illnesses to tell his amazing story from World War II. He was given an assignment to destroy a German airfield but somebody in the next village alerted the Germans of their arrival. To survive his circumstance, he had to rely on both his intellect and the help of other Norwegian families. Both Jan Baalsrud and Brian, the main character from the book “Hatchet”, had to use both their intelligence and determination in order to survive in the wilderness.
Background Information Jan Baalsrud was born on December 13,1917 as the son of an Instrumental maker. He was a commando in World War II, and was 26 years old when he was sent on the mission to destroy the…show more content… For example, if Brian gave up in his efforts to construct the fishing spear or bow and arrow to catch food with he might have died of starvation. Moreover, if Baalsrud gave up when he discovered that that he lost one of his boots when swimming to shore the German soldiers would have killed him. The common theme in both accounts is that intelligence is the key to survival. For instance, if Brian had not used his knowledge in building fires to help him build one he may not have survived when the weather became even colder. The same thing applied to Baalsrud, if he didn’t know that he could die from frostbitten toes because of the spread of gangrene he would never have amputated them and died miserably. These are the connections between Jan Baalsrud’s story and the novel,
