The Revenant | Teen Ink

The Revenant

May 5, 2023
By 4Clark BRONZE, Delafield, Wisconsin
4Clark BRONZE, Delafield, Wisconsin
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Diving into the mid 1800s looking at the lifestyles of people who lived in this century is quite interesting. The book Revenant explores the fact but incorporates fiction into the everyday life of Hugh Glass this is what makes the novel “The Revenant” so compelling. 

Glass very early in the book was attacked by a bear and was injured dearly. The corporation Glass was in the “Rock Mountain Fur”, two men were assigned to stay with Glass after the attack and wait for his death, instead the men took his belongings and left him in his place alive. Luckily Glass survives and is put face to face with adversity of winning his pride back. The book explores the challenges of being alone in the wilderness in the 1800s. “The Revenant” showcases a growing desire for the protagonist Glass to get his revenge on the men who left him to die. While the novel is most nearly about Glass and his desire for revenge a theme of loyalty in the book is shown throughout with Glass’s own journey but the people he has had with him on the journey.

The adversity Glass must face in the Novel “The Revenant” is quite compelling from the bear attack. The journey for Glass is not over then it dives into the harsh conditions of the wild while also dealing with the unforgiving Native American tribes. The book taking place in the 1800s entails an even harder experience with these conditions due to lack of resources and knowledge. Not to mention the page turning adversity Glass faces within himself, he must overcome his doubts with his revenge but also his own self dignity while staying alive in the wild. Michael Punke creates Hugh Glasses character development within his journey, the book gets more interesting as Hughe’s journey gets more and more difficult on his journey to revenge. 

The Novel “The Revenant” has many compelling positives, the book is interesting because of the information on how living in the wild is like in the 1800s but to also put a spin on the novel to have a little fiction making things more interesting. When talking about evolution in the 1800s it can seem a little slow, the fiction incorporated in the novel took away that effect. 

It is also interesting to see how Glass grows as a character with all the adversity he must face as someone alone or trying to create new allies on his journey to revenge. “Micheal Punke '' while writing this novel puts the characters in different positions to set a tone. For example, when Glass got attacked by the bear and left to die, the tone in the book stayed very cold and rigid which made the book more compelling. 

However with the interesting plot line and cool characters the book seemed to lag along, the book is about Glass and his journey but there weren't scenes changing often the journey was slow. When reading this Novel keep in mind patience because it does tend to be boring. Other than Hugh Glass it was hard to see character development and grow relationships with the characters which is important, especially for myself as a reader when the book is slow. To the end of the novel there is a flat ending, with all of the build up in the story for Hughe Glasses revenge the end was quite disappointing. 

I would recommend “The Revenant'' novel to a crowd that appreciates history and likes to have some fiction in the mix while creating a compelling story line of the book. If you align with this you will find the journey of Glass quite compelling.  However I would not recommend this book to anyone who isn't patient while reading or doesn't enjoy reading about history, you might find this book quite boring. 


The author's comments:

This is a book Review for "The Revenant", this review mainstreams more over the craft of the book and how the historical fiction involved is incorporated to character growth but also showing a cool piece of history. This review goes over my opinion on which audiences this book matches and who would most likely enjoy reading this. 


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