running wild

Running wild, a novel by Michael Morpurgo is a story about a boy called Will who loses his Dad in the Iraq war then soon after loses his Mum in a tsunami. Before the tsunami hit Will was riding an elephant named Oona. His Mum was on the beach taking photos of him. Oona sensed the tsunami well before anyone else did an ran off into the jungle with Will on his back. Will survived in the jungle for about a year on fruit called figs that Oona helped him get high in the trees and water from the creeks. Will met many new friends who were orangutans and tigers. He couldn’t have survived without them.

Oona, an Intelligent Elephant who became friends with Will and never left his side. An elephant who helped saved Will from death and helped will to get fruit high in the trees. Oona is a interesting character in the story because his characteristics are the same as a mothers. He cares, protects and helps Will through the tough times. It’s the same as most mothers out there would do including mine. “Oona reached her trunk up the branch and grabbed figs for Will that he could not reach”.Oona saved Will many times in the jungle. One example of this is when they came across a tiger. The tiger stood in front of them ready to eat them. Oona didn’t stand down and scared the tiger away. This helped Will feel more comfortable and safe in the jungle. When Will was watching orangutans swinging in the jungle one day, hunters came with guns and shot 4 orangutans and captured will. When Will woke up in the back of a truck with 3 baby orangutans and a dead tiger, Oona was nowhere to be seen. When the hunters took them back to the village the people wanted to sell the three orangutans and Will. A man from the village helped them escape and showed them the way back into the jungle. Will had to fend for himself and the three orangutans he named Charlie, Tonk and Bart . Will struggled to survive for weeks but soon after he came across an elephant. He thought to himself it had to be Oona and it was. Oona never forgot about Will after many weeks. They never left each other after that. They were attached to one another. I learned from Oona that even an elephant can have human qualities and care for not just their own species.

A message I took from the story was to never give up. Never give up no matter where you are, what happens or who you are with. I think that the author michael morpurgo’s message was the same as well. Will never gives up at many challenging parts of his journey. When he was starving for food, he remembered a lesson his Dad had taught him about catching fish with his shirt. He caught a couple and ate them whole. He believed that his Grandma and Grandpa would come looking for him and his Mother was still alive after the tsunami. Everytime something bad would happen to him, he would think of his Mum, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa and all of them living on the farm having the time of their life. These people gave him hope to survive and never give up. “I wish I was back on the farm with Grandma and Grandpa”.  In my opinion Will never gives up in many parts of the story. Firstly his Dad dies, secondly his Mum dies and thirdly he gets stuck in a jungle with and elephant. All through these parts of his journey he thinks positive and gets through the tough times. I found it hard to relate to this text “running wild” because I come from a town with no deadly animals and parents who are still alive who give me shelter and food. Will showed that he didn’t give up by always thinking of positive things such as his family and trying to teach Oona to get him fruit high in the trees. People need to never give up like will because if you keep trying and never quit then whatever you are going through it will turn out positive.

A challenge that I think Will would have struggled with was that both his parents were dead and he was in a jungle in the middle of nowhere with hardly any skills to keep him alive. He did have an elephant but he could not ask it to do things for him. The text states that “Will tried slapping Oona as hard as he could for attention but nothing would happen”. Will had nothing positive he could think off to keep him trying and surviving. All he could think about was his Mum and Dad, both being dead. Sometimes Will would struggle with this and stop trying to survive. When Will was caught by hunters and brought back to a village. He was separated with what all he had left (Oona). He made three new friends who were orangutans. He wanted to get them back to his mother because he knows what it feels like to lose someone. When a man helped Will and the orangutans escape they made there way back into the jungle looking for Oona and the mother orangutan. It would have been challenging for Will because he had to find food for himself, protect himself and the same for the baby orangutans. That would have been very challenging for Will. He faced many challenges in the story and overcame them all.

The text title “ Running Wild “ suits the story because it’s about a boy who is in the jungle wandering around fending for himself. Also most of the time Will is riding Oona and when Oona senses something bad or unusual he would just run anywhere. I think running wild best suits the text because everything Will comes across is wild, including him.

Personally, I would recommend this story for kids who are around the age of 10 and like elephants. It would benefit kids who like adventure books and story that turn out good. The book was well written and would suit pretty much any kid.