83 pages 2 hours read

Gary Paulsen

The Transall Saga

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1998

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Character Analysis

Mark Harrison/Kakon

Thirteen-year-old Mark, who is renamed Kakon when he is transported to Transall (a future Earth), is the protagonist of The Transall Saga. He yearns for a life of outdoor adventure. However, his wish is fulfilled in a way he could have never imagined when a tube of blue light transports him to the world of Transall while on a multi-day hiking trip.

Stuck on Transall, Mark embarks on a four-year quest to find the light and return to his old life. He is a dynamic character who is forced to learn and adapt to challenging circumstances. Mark is shown to be an unusually resourceful and intelligent teenager in the challenges he faces during his first days on Transall. He develops his survivalist skills and intuition even further to survive hunger, animal attacks, enslavement, and war. Mark is a person of strong morals and principles; he consistently helps those in need, such as Leeta and Yonk.

When Mark has given up on ever returning to his own time, he is suddenly transported by the same blue light. Maintaining his status as the story’s hero, he devotes his life to finding cures for the Ebola virus, which he knows will later mutate into a strain that will kill most of the world’s population.

Related Titles

By Gary Paulsen

Study Guide

logo

Brian's Hunt

Gary Paulsen

Brian's Hunt

Gary Paulsen

Study Guide

logo

Brian's Return

Gary Paulsen

Brian's Return

Gary Paulsen

Study Guide

logo

Guts

Gary Paulsen

Guts: The True Stories Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books

Gary Paulsen

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE

logo

Harris and Me

Gary Paulsen

Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered

Gary Paulsen

Plot Summary

logo

How Angel Peterson Got His Name

Gary Paulsen

How Angel Peterson Got His Name

Gary Paulsen

Study Guide

logo

Liar, Liar

Gary Paulsen

Liar, Liar

Gary Paulsen

Plot Summary

logo

Masters of Disaster

Gary Paulsen

Masters of Disaster

Gary Paulsen

Plot Summary

logo

My Life in Dog Years

Gary Paulsen

My Life in Dog Years

Gary Paulsen

Study Guide

logo

Soldiers Heart

Gary Paulsen

Soldiers Heart: Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers

Gary Paulsen

Study Guide

logo

The Crossing

Gary Paulsen

The Crossing

Gary Paulsen

Plot Summary

logo

The Monument

Gary Paulsen

The Monument

Gary Paulsen

Study Guide

logo

The Voyage of the Frog

Gary Paulsen

The Voyage of the Frog

Gary Paulsen