Analysis Of Touching Spirit Bear By Ben Mikaelsen

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.

In the book Touching Spirit Bear, by Ben Mikaelsen, the theme is healing. The main character Cole was sent away to an Island for a year to change his behavior and life ways. But a few weeks into the task assigned by the Circle of Justice he fails. As Cole returns home he is sad that he would end up going to jail but he believed it was okay if he ended up going. But while on the island he learned how to control his anger, learned life lessons, and most of all he had a new perspective on life. Fortunately for Cole, he had learned how to control his anger but also he learned many important life lessons.“People change two ways- with slow persistent pressure, or with one single traumatic experience. That’s why some people change so much when they

Ghost of Spirit Bear, written by Ben Mikaelsen, is a touching story of overcoming violence and making a change in the world you live in. “‘You have a better idea?’ Cole had to admit that he didn’t,” (Mikaelsen, 40). Every story has a theme, a concept, a point!- and that point is making a change instead of standing by in this story. Peter and Cole come back from the time on the island, calm and collected, but city life hits them like a brick. The only thing they can think of is the island, and how they wish it was more like it. Instead of standing by and evading the mess they came back into, they want to fix it. Just how much of a mess could it possibly be?

After Cole learns the value of life, he wants to make up for every mistake he had done in the past and looked to improve. After recovering from his injuries, he is again sent to the island and the first improvement he made, was that he did not try to escape from the island when he was not monitored. He chose to face the consequences, rather than running away. The next improvement he made was, he tried his hardest to get his anger into control. He followed Edwin’s and Garvey’s advice and techniques such as, soaking into the pond, rolling down the ancestor rock and his anger down the hill and dancing by the fire each night. Eventually he stopped blaming others for his mistakes. The next improvement he made in his life, was that he made Peter to come to the island and made sure he saw the wonders and value of life. “There is one way to help him,” Cole blurted, but his voice was drowned out as Edwin revved the engine to steer the boat out away from the rocks. “You are not listening!” Cole screamed across the water. “I can help him!” (Page 202) He apologized to Peter and shows that he feels sorry for all the problems he had caused to his life. He changes into an honest, hardworking, reflective and trustworthy person. Cole has learned from his

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.

In the middle of the story, Cole goes back to the island and Edwin is trying to teach him how to dance for things like animals. “ … Garvey said, ‘Cole, what did you learn from your dance?’ Cole had been thinking. ‘A whale migrates but it doesn’t have a home.’ … ‘I feel like the whales,’ he said” (152). This and the other thoughts Cole has from his dances helps Cole change in the end because it helped him understand how other creatures and people feel (empathy). With this new skill, he learned he is able to figure out how to have a better relationship with all the people he comes in contact with. Later, Cole was soaking in the pond and notice something extraordinary about the soaks. “ He also noticed that in the water, his joints didn’t ache, nor did he feel pain in his blistered hands. His few thoughts seemed distant from his body” (164). Cole was able to use his thoughts to change himself because this thought helped him control his anger much more easily. This was because doing things like soaking in the pond and carrying the ancestor rock helped clear his mind and make him less

Living on the island and overcoming nature helps Cole learn that he's not a bad person, to forgive, and to tame his anger towards the world. Firstly, Cole learns that he's not a bad person, just a human-being who makes mistakes. For instance, on page 168, Cole states, "People are scared and do bad things...". This quote shows Cole's understanding towards his father's actions.

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.

In Touching Spirit Bear, by Ben Mikaelsen, Cole Matthews, the protagonist, is a troublemaker. He always has been. But, when he smashes Peter Driscal’s head into the concrete sidewalk, he ends up having to make a decision; prison time, or a year on a remote Alaskan island. But, that’s not the only crime he has done. This leads to me seeing him as a sociopath. Sociopaths tend to lie, break laws, act impulsively, and lack regard to the safety of themselves and others, all of which, he does.

It is true that Cole Matthews has caused trouble and issues his whole life, but it is not Cole’s fault that he is the way he is. Cole does what he does because of his parents who never cared for him. His Dad beat him and his Mom just watched which caused Cole to be a juvenile delinquent. Cole Matthews accused parents, “My parents don’t have the time of day for me. I’m just in their

Cole Matthews asks readers, “’Do you know what it's like waking up every morning knowing you're not good enough?’” and many young adults do. Young adults will relate to the characters in Touching Spirit Bear. “Touching Spirit Bear” is a young adult novel written by Ben Mikaelsen. It is about a teenager named Cole who, instead of going to prison for beating someone up, does a program called ‘Circle Justice’ where he is sent to a remote Alaskan island to heal. When he gets to the island he tries to escape, and attacks a bear, which almost kills him. After recovering in the hospital, he goes back to the island and tries again, this time with a willingness to change. While he’s there, he learns about himself, nature, and gains a new appreciation for life and for himself. He learns to be a better person, and forgive himself, and he realizes to fully heal he needs to help Peter, the person he beat up, heal too. Peter and Cole heal together, and eventually become friends. Touching Spirit Bear is a compelling piece of young adult fiction that will do well on the shelves, and should be published. It will do well because it is relatable, it is well written, and it fulfils a need in the genre for realistic fiction in young adult literature.

Conflict shapes people's lives in many different ways, somethings that conflict can shape are our emotions, and personal beliefs. Cole emotions were scattered and mixed up throughout the book. Cole has lots of regrets in life, one big one is beating Peters head into the ground. Now does Coles anger get out of hand? Cole expresses anger through dancing anger away. One thing about Cole that is misleading is Cole does not trust anyone who is not afraid of Cole. So this makes Cole very uneasy and sensitive when things go wrong. The name of this book is Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen. In the book by Ben Mikaelsen, inside Cole lies rage and anger Coles gets away with anything except for when he beats up Peter Driscal, and this is the last

Conflict appears to be a pervading theme in the novel Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, for a young delinquent by the name of Cole Mathews. After a troubling life at home that lead him to a path of destruction and hatred, Cole gets shipped off to an isolated island. He gets attacked by a bear and quickly needs to learn his place in the scheme of life to survive. Not only does Cole have to face death after being brutally mauled by a spirit bear, he also has to chose who he wants to become, face his abusive parents, and make things right with an innocent boy he wrongly attacked. Overtime the reader realizes there is much more to Cole than what meets the eye and that he is intertwined with multiple conflicts.

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.

In the book, Touching Spirit Bear, written by Ben Mikaelsen, the protagonist Cole has decided to carve a totem pole after being sentenced on the island for a second time. While Cole was on the island he had been confronted by several animals, including the one that would forever change his life. This totem pole represents healing for Cole as he was learning to heal others. For this assignment the four animals that I choose to represent were an otter, spider, swan, and Bear.