Brian makes his fishing spear out of willow wood that he sharpens using his hatchet. First, he scrapes out the bark of the willow to remain with a “six-foot long straight stick that was about an inch thick at the base.” He then carves out the base into a sharp tapered point, which he reconstructs into two prongs by creating an eight-to-ten-inch cut at the center which he clogs using a piece of wood about two inches thick. According to chapter 12 of the book, the spear does not work because he cannot lung at the fish fast enough. The fish always move faster than he can with the spear.

It could be said that Brian does a good job with the spear, even though his efforts appear futile. This is because he learns a lot from using the spear. He learns that he “needed something to spring the spear forward.” This something would be able to propel the spear forward at a speed faster than that of the moving fish. Thus, he thinks to invent a bow and arrow that can improve on the weaknesses of his spear. Brian uses his experiences to improve his living conditions in the jungle. The thirteen-year-old boy is learning to do remarkable things, knowing full well that his very life depends on it. As the narrator puts it, “he had to get motivated for he was all he got. He had to do something.”