Hideout by Watt Key Book Analysis

In the book Hideout, the main character, Sam, is given a boat from his father. His father expects him to use it for fishing, but Same has other plans. Ever since the fight, or him and his friend getting beat senselessly in front of the whole school, Sam has been wanting to prove to his classmates that he is brave. To do so, he is going to use his newly gifted fishing boat, and search for a dead body in the far end of the creek. 

As he is motoring down a skinny bank, he sees something strange in a worn down fishing hut next to him. He could have sworn he saw a pair of eyes looking through his soul. He gives the boat more gas and hits a dead head, which is a piece of wood that spans from the bottom of the creek to the top. His engine sputters out and dies, and he gets scared. He immediately turns the engine back on, and speeds home. Sam is afraid of almost everything out on that creek, and he can't push through the fear. He is not brave enough. He knows he has to find that body and get his name in the paper. Then everybody will think he's brave.  "What would I do if I found it?" (Key 7)

On another day, he motors down to the same spot, and carefully avoids the deadhead. He pushes through his mind telling him he can't do it, and finds the bravery inside of him. He sees a canoe docked next to a wooden platform in front of the camp. As soon as he turns the bend, he sees a kid a little younger than himself standing on the platform. Sam hops out of his boat and greets the kid. Sam's dad says the fishing villages have been abandoned, and people are not supposed to be on them. Sam asks the kid his name, and he says "Davey''. Sam asks Davy how he got there, and Davey said he paddled miles, and is here waiting for his dad. Sam realizes Davey doesn't have any food or water, and speeds back home to get him some. When he gets back, he stays the night with Davey and they talk and have fun. They swam around the creek, and Sam could not believe what he was doing. They invent a fun game where they both swim down and pick up creek mud from the bottom of the creek. It is a game to show off their bravery, and Sam loves it. Sam is getting more comfortable and brave, and is starting to think better about himself.  “I wasn't sure I wanted to talk about the fight. Davey was the first person I'd ever known who seemed to look up at me. And it felt good”(Key 110)

Sam thinks back to the fight, and all the looks on his classmates' faces. The looks they had, they weren't making fun of him, they were worried about him. All of that thinking about the fight, and the entire school making fun of him, just seemed dumb. They were genuinely worried about him. ”It was a look of horror and disbelief that people like them existed among us” (311 Key)That gave Sam a massive boost of confidence, bravery, and anything else he needed. He swam down to the bottom of the creek, grabbed two handfuls of mud and swam back up. He rubbed one handful of mud on his face, and chucked the other one at Davey. They both laughed and kept having fun. Sam was happier than he ever was. Sam learned not to overthink anything, and was excited for school to start again. He didn't care about people’s thoughts about him anymore, he just wanted to forget about everybody's opinion. He didn't care about finding the dead body anymore, and he couldn't imagine what he would do if he found it.

Sam changed tremendously throughout the Novel. He went from an afraid timid kid, to an outgoing open-minded person. Now, thanks to Davey, he doesn't have to carry the weight of being an outcast at school, and can just be himself. He is going to make new friends, and use his boat for fishing, instead of looking for a dead body. Being beaten in front of the school doesn't hurt him mentally anymore, but he still remembers the pain of each punch and kick that landed on his body.