A Character Analysis Of Cole Matthews In Spirit Bear

“Are you okay?” After the tree was struck by lighting Cole looked into the darkness to see if the baby birds were still alive. This is the first sign showing that Cole Matthews can change. Cole is starting to have compassion, something he didn’t have before. For this reason, Cole should go back to the island and not go to jail.

In the book The Body in the Woods by April Henry there is a contrast/contradiction moment where Ruby’s parents don’t allow her to go on the SAR search. The book states that, “Ruby had an excruciating awareness of her own strangeness. No matter how hard she tried, she found it impossible to fit in. Being friends with Alexis had helped.” This shows that Ruby normally doesn’t fit in, but when she joined SAR the only girls were Alexis and her, so she felt she fit in a little bit when she had a friend. Another piece of evidence states that, “ ‘You’ll go to school tomorrow, not the sheriff’s office. And you’ll contact the SAR and tell them you’re going to have to withdraw from the group... Anger made Ruby rigid, locked her rebuttal in her throat.”

I’ve never committed a crime, but author Ben Mikaelsen made me feel as if I was right there in the library waiting for my final judgement for beating a poor little kid.  The book “Touching Spirit Bear” and its sequel “The Ghost of Spirit Bear” are both books written by novelist Ben Mikaelsen about two boys and their intertwined life.   The first book takes place when teen delinquent Cole Matthews beats up a boy at school named Peter for telling on him.  Peter’s injury leads to a permanent speech impediment and because of this Cole goes to jail.  When Cole’s probation officer, Garvey, tells about a tribal version of punishment called Circle Justice, which is where the two people involved in the crime must heal together, and move forward from their quarrel, Cole jumps at the idea to get out of jail.  When this doesn’t work they decide to send Cole to an Alaskan island, which Peter is eventually sent to.  Eventually they become friends and they get past their problems.  It is the next book where they face challenges of going back to school and fitting in.

I had the same feelings when I read the back of the book. I truly enjoyed the novel. The description and detail of the bear mauling was intense. This story shows that children are a product of their environment. Cole's parents were alcoholics and his mother wouldn't / couldn't defend him against the constant beatings from his father. I felt so sorry for Cole but at the same time got so angry with his behavior. I believe everyone can change regardless of what environment they were brought up in and Cole proved that in the story. It is weird how the circle of

I’ve never committed a crime, but author Ben Mikaelsen made me feel as if I was right there in the library waiting for my final judgement for beating a poor little kid. The book “Touching Spirit Bear” and its sequel “The Ghost of Spirit Bear” are both books written by novelist Ben Mikaelsen about two boys and their intertwined life. The first book takes place when teen delinquent Cole Matthews beats up a boy at school named Peter for telling on him. Peter’s injury leads to a permanent speech impediment and because of this Cole goes to jail. When Cole’s probation officer, Garvey, tells about a tribal version of punishment called Circle Justice, which is where the two people involved in the crime must heal together, and move forward from their quarrel, Cole jumps at the idea to get out of jail. When this doesn’t work they decide to send Cole to an Alaskan island, which Peter is eventually condemned to. Eventually they become friends and they get past their problems. It is the next book where they face challenges of going back to school and fitting in.

The three most important life lessons in the book “Touching Spirit Bear” are that “Anger keeps people lost” (Mikaelsen, 20), “A man is only as good as his word” (Mikaelsen, 21), and last “Whatever you do to the animals you do to yourself” (Mikaelsen, 1). With these three lessons, it led to a lot of character development in characters like Cole, who was the protagonist in the book and even people who had less of a role in the journey like Peter who came to support Cole even though Cole maltreated him.     One of the most important quotes is that “Anger keeps people lost” (Mikaelsen, 75). This point can be proven when Cole is delirious on page 75. On this page, he burns down his own home on the Alaskan island where he was put to make up for

In Ghost Of Spirit Bear, the conflict is Cole vs. Society. “‘ A two thirds majority vote is needed for the passage of this proposal,’ the chairman announced. ‘Tonight’s vote is seven in favor and two opposed’” (Mikaelson 146). Cole is needing to change the mind of the society which is the school, the circle, and the school district to allow the mascot to change to the spirit bear. Second, in Touching Spirit Bear, the conflict is Cole vs. Himself. “Rage controlled his tight grip on the match. It controlled the defiant flare of his nostrils and the striking of the match against the box. . . . The gas ignited, and flames spread quickly into a steady blaze that crept over the boxes” (Mikaelson 25). In the beginning of Touching Spirit Bear, Cole lets his rage get to him, he didn’t know how to control himself. “In death there was no control, no anger, no one to blame, no choices, no nothing. To be alive was to have choice, the power to choose was real power, not the fake power of making others afraid. Cole knew he had used that fake power many times. All of his life he had squandered his choices, wallowing in revenge and self-pity, keeping himself down. Now, as he lay near death, those he had hated were safe and warm. Those he had blamed were still alive and well. He had hurt himself most. Life was empty and meaningless unless he found some meaning” (Mikaelson 83-84). Cole is realizing that when he thought he was hurting someone

He is a white male. He is average height. In the book touching spirit bear it says on page 5 “baby-faced fifteen-year-old” He is really good fighter. He is strong.

Cole Matthews is a boy is very dangerous and his behavior and his characteristics get him into a lot of trouble. For example when Peter Driscoll told on Cole for robbing a convenience store and Cole got into a lot of trouble. But Cole being Cole he slammed peters head into the pavement causing permanent speaking impediment. “With anger that had been brewing up all day, he attacked him and started to hit him hard in the face with bare fists Peter was not match”. “Nobody crossed Cole Matthews and got away with it”. So Cole Matthews is not only very angry but very rebellious towards authorities. We have two examples of this the first one was when they were going to the Alaskan island for his banishment and Edwin was there. But Cole hated

John Grady Cole has a extremely mature personality that aids him in a positive way during the book. He is exceptionally different from his friends Rawlins and Blevins; He is a truly loyal friend to both of them. When Rawlins is trying to persuade Grady to leave Blevins behind the both of them assure each other that they would never leave each other but also Grady fights for Blevins to stay with them. When Rocha offers a job to Grady he is considerate to how Rawlins would feel and says to him “You just say the word and I’ll tell him no.”(McCarthy, 116) The job he gets offered was the job of his dreams, but he was willing to give it up for his best friend. Grady is independent which is shown from the beginning, most 16 year olds today couldn’t

Every human has a special character trait and that’s what makes us great, but I wish that everybody could be as passionate for a good cause like these characters. There’s been too many corrupt human beings doing whatever they want, whenever they want and they won’t be stopping anytime soon. About every week, there’s news of government corruption, police corruption, etc., all over the world. It’s twisted and warped! That’s why I’m glad that children like Cole, Smush, and Snapper knew it was wrong and did something that could bring change, even though it was a bit irresponsible and risky. Don’t get me wrong, the adults were fully aware too, but I’m thinking they were too frightened which is actually understandable. Who wouldn’t feel threatened

The conflict the protagonist faces is man vs. higher power, I know this because when cole tries to kill the bear on page 41 the bear is a higher power than Cole and the bear is also nature because man vs. nature he had been sent to the wild in Alaska where there are a lot of animals like bears he might attack cole that he would have to face. Cole has been accumulated wounds of fighting nature and tries to retaliate against almost everything barely bothering him, now nature is the one cole is fighting, he doesn’t like nature or anyone else and even a little man vs society because he doesn’t think anyone cares for him “that’s how Cole felt- he didn’t owe anyone anything. Nobody had ever cared for him” and if nobody cared for him, therefore

First, Cole has the ability to control his mind. I told Cole it’s important to focus the happy end of the stick, not the angry end. When

Cole Mackensie is a Reaper, and when he’s told he has a new Reaper to train, a life he reaped, he refuses. But his new trainee, Jessica, may be more stubborn than he is.

Cole is an "symptom of an broken community" because he has been abused by his parents. He has been beaten by his parents when the have been drunk and the all ways say they haven't done anything. His actions affect other people when he hurts them. He does not realize himself that he has been hurting people because of his parents. His parents do not realize that they are the problem reason Cole is hurting people but either way the is no reason that he should be hurting people. He is hurting himself with his problems. His anger consumes him and then he becomes violent. He never realizes that his actions harm other because of his anger. He is scared inside but he does not show it. His life has been broken and has to be put back