How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
He needed something to spring the spear forward, some way to make it move faster than the fish—some motive force. A string that snapped—or a bow. A bow and arrow. A thin, long arrow with the point in the water and the bow pulled back so that all he had to do was release the arrow…yes. That was it. (12.6)
This is free indirect discourse at work, Shmoopers. (Check out our section on "Writing Style" for more). The narrator (via Brian) walks us step by step through to a solution. We hope you're taking notes.
Quote #5
With his bow, with an arrow fashioned by his own hands he had done food, had found a way to live. The bow had given him this way and he exulted in it, in the bow, in the arrow, in the fish, in the hatchet, in the sky. He stood and walked from the water, still holding the fish and arrow and bow against the sky, seeing them as they fit his arms, as they were part of him. (13.30)
The reward of curiosity and the ability to explore new ways of doing things is, in this case, life itself—food and the possibility of survival. Not a bad prize.
Quote #6
Mistakes.
He tried to learn from the mistakes. He couldn't bury food again, couldn't leave it in the shelter, because something like a bear could get at it right away. It had to be high, somehow, high and safe. (14.23-24)
Part of the exploratory attitude is learning from mistakes, trying new ways when the old ways don't seem to work. Even if Brian sometimes feels down and depressed, he never lets his mistakes stop him from trying a new approach to a problem.