Before he leaves, Matt's father gives Matt his heirloom silver watch and his own rifle.
In Chapter One, Matt's father tells Matt that he will be gone for six weeks or more. He tells Matt to count time by making seven notches on a stick. He also advises Matt not to look for him and the rest of the family until he comes to the seventh stick.
Matt's father tells him to wind up the silver watch every time he cuts a notch on a stick. The watch had once belonged to Matt's grandfather, so it is a very special gift. Matt is so touched by his father's gesture that he becomes emotional.
Next, Matt's father gives him his own rifle. His father tells him that he will take Matt's old blunderbuss with him on his journey instead. According to Matt's father, his rifle "aims truer." This is why he...
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wants Matt to have it. For his part, Matt is touched that his father trusts him with his rifle.
As the other educator pointed out, the rifle is stolen not long after Matt's father leaves on his journey. Matt makes the mistake of leaving the rifle unguarded, and it is stolen by a stranger he entertained. The loss of the rifle momentarily shatters Matt's confidence. He is forced to confront a frightening reality: without the rifle, he has no way of defending himself. Additionally, he can't hunt game for food. For the first time in his young life, Matt must face a precarious situation by himself. The necessity of diligence and watchfulness begins to dawn on him.
The loss of the rifle motivates Matt to act. He works in the garden as best he can and eats berries and the fish he catches. Eventually, Matt is drawn to a beehive. All he can think about is the taste of sweet honey in his mouth, but he gets stung in the process of retrieving the honeycomb. The beehive incident, precipitated by Matt's desperation, foreshadows his first meeting with Saknis and Attean. So, the loss of the rifle is actually an important plot device.
As for the watch, Matt bequeaths it to Attean towards the end of the story (chapter 22). This is a significant action on Matt's part. In the beginning of the story, Matt received the watch as a parting gift from his father. It is fitting that Matt now gives it to Attean as a parting gift. In every respect, the watch is an important symbol. Specifically, it symbolizes the eternal bond between kindred souls, which time cannot destroy.
What does Matt's father give him before leaving?
Matt's father has left him all alone in the Maine log cabin they have recently built together. He is going to head back home to Massachusetts to fetch Matt's sister, his mother, and the new baby. The whole journey should take about six weeks or so. In the meantime, Matt is going to have to fend for himself in the wilderness. So he's going to need a gun. But it won't be Matt's gun; his old man is taking it with him. Instead he'll just have to get used to his father's trusty rifle, a much better gun than his own, but still unfamiliar. Before he goes, Matt's father leaves him something else: a very special silver watch that had once belonged to the boy's paternal grandfather.