How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
But those were his eggs, not the skunk's, and the half smile had been quickly replaced with fear that he would lose his food and he had grabbed a handful of sand and thrown it at the skunk.
"Get out of here…"
He was going to say more, some silly human words, but in less than half a second the skunk had snapped its rear end up, curved the tail over, and sprayed Brian with a direct shot aimed at his head from less than four feet away. (14.8-10)
Whoa, this really doesn't sound fun. This episode helps Brian to see—and, um smell—how little he really understands about nature. He may think he's more powerful than a little skunk, but ultimately his "silly human words" can do nothing to protect him.
Quote #8
He had another half-second to fill his lungs with air and she was on him again, using her head to drive him down into the mud of the bottom. Insane, he thought. Just that, the word, insane. Mud filled his eyes, his ears, the horn boss on the moose drove him deeper and deeper into the bottom muck, and suddenly it was over and he felt alone […]
So insane, he thought, letting sleep cover the pain in his chest—such an insane attack for no reason and he fell asleep with his mind trying to make the moose have reason. (16.14, 23)
Even at this point in the book, when Brian has achieved a certain sense of harmony with nature, the creatures and the forest around him can still totally throw him for a loop. He feels a need to try to explain the moose's behavior in a way that's familiar to his human understanding, but the best explanation he can come up with is that the moose was acting "insane." Sounds like a good description to us. Sometimes nature just doesn't make sense.
Quote #9
He looked down at his feet and saw that there were some fish in his fish pen looking for the tiny bits of bait still left from before the wind came. He fought impatience to get on the plane project and remembered sense, remembered what he had learned. First food, because food made strength; first food, then thought, then action. There were fish at hand here, and he might not be able to get anything from the plane. That was all a dream. (17.11)
In the natural world, Brian reminds himself, physical needs like hunger and thirst have to come first, before less immediate goals can be pursued. Being in nature forces Brian, here and elsewhere in the book, to live in the moment and concentrate on the here and now. It's a lesson we could all use—ideally over a glass of milk and a few Oreos.