Literary Analysis Touching Spirit Bear Introduction Touching Spirit Bear is a very weird book. A lot of things happen. Like being in the ordinary world, doing normal things, then maybe something very big can happen. Like an ordeal. Cole, the main character in this book, beat up a side character, Peter. Cole, then, would have a reward, or some type of punishment, OR a good thing that could happen. Body paragraph 1 This started where Cole was the bully at school and always got in trouble but didn't have a big consequence. He would always do bad things and get in trouble for being the “cool” kid. Nobody really likes him, though. Cole's parents are alcoholics whose dad beats him, and his mom does not really remember anything. This has an effect …show more content…
Afterwards, they started a fight. Cole kept hitting Peter and Peter could not do anything back. Cole would then make the biggest mistake he could possibly make, which was grabbing Peter's whole head and smashing it into a brick wall. Cole would then be detained/ arrested and put in juvenile court. Cole would have a choice, a choice to go to Alaska for 1 year by himself or go to jail. He kept ignoring them by not talking to the judge. Cole would then, after a while, pick to just go to the island himself. When Cole got dropped off there, he would have a shelter that the people built for Cole. Cole was super angry, so he decided to burn down the shelter. Cole then decided that he was going to try and escape off the island by swimming to island after island after island, to get back to where his hometown was. This didn't work because Cole kept getting pushed back to the island that he chose to go to. Cole had a tough time so far, but it will get worse. Sense he burned down his shelter, he would have no place to have a good sleep, or any food. He would then go on, still mad. But then, out of nowhere, he was attacked by a bear. Cole tried to hit the bear with a sharp stick that he had picked up, he did hit the bear, but he was scorched in a hot, burning sensation from the attack. His skin was torn off, broken arm, leg, and pelvis. He passed out of the attack. He then would wake up with one of the other people that
In the book Touching Spirit Bear nobody cares for Cole. On page 33 Cole said to Garvey “ “ They don’t care if im dead or alive.”” If Coles parents really cared for him they would want alive. On page 33 Cole also thought to himself. “ He laughed at all the times he was beaten by his drunken father, or been ignored by his drunken mother.” This shows that Coles parents do not care for him because if his parents cared for him then they would have loved him more and not beat him and give him time. And on page 6 Cole thought “ They did not care what happened to him.” This proves that nobody cared for him he was talking about the counselors and Garvey because as Cole said “ They are just passing the buck.” and the people are just doing
When Cole Mathews was sent to the remote Alaskan island he viewed it as a game, but it isn’t. Upon arrival Cole started off by burning down his shelter by using the white gas for his lantern and a match, which doesn’t serve him well in the long run. He has also encountered the Spirit Bear many times in the first few days and he even created weapons to try to kill it. After trying to throw a homemade spear at the Spirit Bear from point blank a lopsided match occurs between Cole and the suddenly ferocious bear. The Spirit Bear beats Cole to the edge of death and leaves Cole desperate to survive on the ground. Cole fights to survive by scrounging up anything he can find to eat, he starts by eating worms from the wet soil and slowly progresses.
Touching Spirit Bear is a prodigious book that teaches you a lot of lessons while also giving you the enjoyment that any good book gives you while you read it. This book starts off with a juvenile delinquent by the name of Cole Matthews. In the book, Cole smashes the skull of another kid named Peter Driscoll against a sidewalk and is about to go to trial when two guys at his detention center, Garvey and Edwin, get him interested in a Native American system of healing called Circle Justice.
Cole might not seem like the kid that cares about being lonely or if someone cares about him or not; but he truly does. He is always lonely because his dad always hits him while his mom doesn't do anything to stop it. He feels like no one is ever there for him or cares about him. In the book it says that his ultimate source of pain is being alone and with no one caring for him. No one that tries to help him when he needs . The pain of being alone is always there and will never leave, I feel like this is one huge reason why Cole is always mean and angry all the
Touching Spirit Bear is about a boy named Cole Matthews, who was mauled by a bear
Cole gets mauled almost to death and is left on the ground to die until someone returns to find him. This is resolved in Chapter 13 just as Cole was about to give up on life and die Edwin and Garvey find him and take him to safety. When he was getting taken to safety he knew that no one would believe him if he said he saw a spirit bear but he threw the fur in the water anyways because he knew he saw it. After this Cole has a different mindset, he wants to be a different person and be nice, but most of all he wants to help Peter get
This might impact the story because it’s the start of their relationship. Though, I don’t think this is Peter forgiving Cole. But it is a
(Mikaelsen 109). This quote supports Cole's change as he starts to take responsibility for things, such as burning down the shelter. Another example in the story is when Garvey says, “I’m sorry for getting you into this,” and then Cole replies saying, “My fault!” (Mikaelsen 105). This conversation from the story supports that Cole is changing because he takes accountability for having to go to the island.
Guided by his mentors, Garvey and Edwin, as well as the healing circle process, Cole unravels his pent-up anger and pain. This is exemplified when he tells Peter that "the dances, carving the totem, carrying the ancestor rock, touching the Spirit Bear - it was all the same thing - it was finding out who I was" (Mikaelsen, Chapter 28), emphasizing Cole's realization of his true identity and purpose in life. Another instance of this growth is seen when Edwin teaches him that "anger is a memory never forgotten". You can only tame it" (Mikaelsen, Chapter 13), showing Cole's acceptance of his past and his commitment to managing his emotions constructively. Eventually, he also takes ownership of his past actions and acknowledges the harm he has caused others and the environment.
I read the book Ghost Of Spirit Bear, which is the sequel to Touching Spirit Bear. I decided I wanted to read this book because I enjoyed Touching Spirit Bear. There are amazing conflicts and themes in this series, it truly inspires me.
A coming of age story that I have read would be Touching Spirit Bear, it's about a kid who gets in serious trouble because he beats up another kid and he could do serious jail time. Instead of doing jail time his parole officer sends him the a Native American justice program called Circle Justice. When Garvey his parole officer drops him off at the shelter program and leaves Cole the kid torches the shelter and tries to swim over to the next island over to try to escape and never return. But the tide kept pushing him back in, and eventually he has to return to the shore and wait it out. But before he can try escaping again he runs into a bear, it's a spirit bear, a huge, tall, white bear that someone had told him was a spiritual being. Instead
The main character in Touching Spirit Bear is named Cole Matthews. Cole is a stereotypical teen delinquent who was raised with anger,
One person in the book who had greatly impacted Cole, was a village elder named Edwin. He had taught Cole many things throughout their time together. One huge thing Cole learned from Edwin, was how to control his anger. On page 155, Edwin says to Cole “Anger is a memory never forgotten, you can only tame it.” It was mentioned and clearly demonstrated throughout the book, that Cole had a very difficult time dealing with his anger and never understood how to control it.
Others, like family members and influencers can help people in so many different ways. They can help people make the right decisions or reflect on their previous decisions and what they did wrong and right and what they could help them on. In the Circle Of Justice, Cole’s mother states, “‘I know Cole has changed some,’ his mother began, her voice surprisingly strong. ‘Sense the attack, I’ve seen a difference in his attitude. For the first time, he’s talked openly with me’” (125). Cole’s mother was Cole’s voice, speaking for him saying that she has seen change in him. Sometimes others can say what people can’t say and be their voice. Another relationship that helped Cole, was Peter. Cole knowing that what he did to Peter could never be fixed, he tried to it least fix and gain his trust and help him. “He took out the folded at.oow. ‘Garvey gave this to me as a symbol of friendship and to show he trusted me.’ He handed the at.oow to Peter. ‘Know I want you to have it.’ ‘Are you saying you trust me?’ Peter asked” (239). Cole trusts Peter and is now trying to help Peter make permanent change. Being that Peter was messed up by Cole, Cole wanted to make it up to him and be Peter’s voice, to help him change. Sometimes others are needed to realize things or keep in mind things, that others
I am assuming that these two men, Garvey and Edwin, had been much like Cole and they too learned how to control their anger and make their choices in life better.