Read Online The Rifle by Gary Paulsen - Free Book Online Page A

not done. Not yet.
    Richard’s parents were torn, destroyed by their grief. His father got counseling and managed to pull himself together enough to continue working as a carpenter but his mother sank further and further into depression, refused all help, and after several thwarted attempts at suicide allowed herself to be committed to the state mental hospital, where she stayed and is now.
    Within minutes of the accident Harv found what the rifle had done, blamed himself, and continued to blame himself until he died four years later in an alcohol-induced vehicular accident when his car hit a bridge abutment. But before that, within weeks of Richard’s death, he had driven out of town and stopped at the bridge over Muddy Creek and thrown the rifle in the water and mud to disappear forever—or so he thought.
    But a man named Tilson was fishing from the shore beneath the bridge and he saw the rifle fall. He did not recognize it at first as anything but a gun and since he had several guns and was interested, he put a large snag hook on his line and after eleven casts managed to snag the trigger guard and pull the rifle ashore.
    He had seen the story in the paper about Richard’s death and knew of the accident, of the kind of rifle and that it was antique, and he correctly deduced that this was the rifle. But he thought and believed, as Tim Harrow believed, as millions believe, that guns didn’t kill people, people killed people, and he took the rifle home and disassembled it and cleaned it and oiled it until it was almost like new and put it in his walnut-veneer gun case to keep, suspecting it was valuable and a collector’s item.
    And there it rests now, and would stay that way, except that Tilson read an article in a gun magazine, entitled “Don’t Shun That Old Smoke-pole,” about shooting with black powder, and he has been thinking seriously about getting some black powder and balls and maybe loading the rifle.
    Just to see how it shoots.
    And in the meantime the rifle sits in the gun cabinet.
    Waiting.

Reader Chat Page
How do you feel about the notion that “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”? Has this story influenced your opinion?
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What do you suppose happens after Tilson finds the rifle? Who is it passed on to next? Formulate some possible scenarios.
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When the rifle is first created, it is an item that is vital to survival. By the time it ends up in Harv’s possession, it is considered little more than a decorative item. Why do you think so little consideration was given to the possible dangers of this firearm?
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The rifle remains in the attic of the house in Connecticut for generations before it is discovered. If you were to make a time capsule for people to find generations from now, what would you include that is representative of the way we live today?
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Crafting this sweet rifle was perhaps the greatest achievement of Cornish’s life. What skill do you hope to perfect in your lifetime?
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There are so many variables that caused this rifle to end up where it did. If any number of small, random occurrences had been different, the fate of the rifle—and of course, the fate of Richard—would have also been different. Think of a time that you had a bad day. If you could go back and change anything that happened, what might you change so that your day would end up differently?
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So often in the news we hear about terrible accidents like the one that killed Richard. Did reading about all the moments that Richard missed out on by dying young, his family’s grief, and Harv’s guilt give you any new insight into the possible far-reaching effects of such events?
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About the Author
    G ARY P AULSEN has written nearly two hundred books for young people, including the Newbery Honor Books
Hatchet
,
Dogsong
, and
The Winter Room
. He divides his time between a home in New Mexico and a boat on the Pacific Ocean.