Touching Spirit Bear Essay

In “Touching Spirit Bear” by Ben Mikaelsen, Cole Matthews is a teenage delinquent who's in big trouble for beating up a kid named Peter Driscal. He's unrepentant and even though he is facing serious jail time, his kindly parole officer, a man named Garvey, gets him into this Native American justice program called Circle Justice. The idea is that his sentencing will be focused on healing rather than punishment—and the Circle Justice elders tell him that he'll be going to a remote island in Alaska for a year in order to live off the land and think about his mistakes. The lesson i learned is that, it can be hard, but it’s possible to change. My first reason is, if you don’t try, change is almost impossible.

“The Other Wes Moore” is a story that follows two boys with the exact same name who start off living very similar lives in Baltimore, Maryland. One of the boys live on to be an extremely successful man and the other one is living the rest of his life behind bars. The two men wondered how their strikingly similar path diverged into two completely different fates and then an argument formed. Are people products of their choices or their environment and expectations thrown upon them? The book proves that people are products of their choices. Both Wes Moores were raised by a single mom in the tough streets of Baltimore and they both were rebellious children who got arrested at a young age. Their similarities lessened as their choices and their mom’s choices contrasted. The more fortunate Wes was sent to Military school and he chose to make the most of it and become the best version of himself. His determination and hard work trumped his previous hooligan mindset, therefore his future was bright and fulfilling. The other Wes chose to follow his brother,

Many people would say we are all just products of our environment. For two young boys from Baltimore, this could not be truer. In “The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates,” written by Wes Moore, two fatherless, young boys growing up in the same neighborhood with the same name, end up on two entirely different paths of life. The author becomes a Rhodes Scholar, college graduate, veteran, and much more, while the “other” Wes gets deeply involved with the drug game and spends most of his life in trouble with the law. When these boys come from such similar backgrounds, how is it that they take such different journeys in life? The reason why one Wes Moore became mixed up with drugs and the law, and

Responsibility is a theme that is carried throughout both books, but used in extremely diverse ways. Touching Spirit Bear is a story about forgiveness and healing, and Cole has to take responsibility for his past actions, and on improving himself emotionally. He has to forgive his father, the people around him, the Spirit Bear, and most importantly he has to forgive himself. Cole also takes responsibility for helping Peter heal from Cole’s beating, emotionally, because Peter is suicidal. Cole tells Peter, “’My dad has beaten me my whole life,’ he explained. ‘But I know now he never meant to hurt me. He was beaten by his father, and that’s all he knew.’ Cole swallowed a big lump that had formed in his throat. ‘I learned to forgive,’ he said. ‘Not just others, but also myself.’” (Mikaelsen, 214). The Last Dog on Earth, in comparison, is a coming of age story, where Logan must learn responsibility through order. His step-father Robert, through getting him a

In the novel Touching Spirit Bear, by Ben Mikaelsen, a boy named Cole Matthews has a big problem. After several crimes, Cole gets in trouble and ends up in jail. Since he does not want to face a lot of jail time, he decides to join Circle Justice. Circle Justice requires Cole to want to change. However, Cole Matthews instead avoids responsibility and accuses someone else for everything that happens to him. His responses are pernicious to himself, and he needs to learn to have the courage to honestly examine his behaviors. Throughout Chapters 1-10, there are several examples of Cole blaming others for things he did.

In the book “Touching Spirit Bear” their are a lot of life lessons/themes. There are about 12 of them, but one of the ones that stick out the most is “Actions speak louder than words.” This theme fits well for a lot of parts in the book. This theme you will see more frequently in the book than other parts of the book.

Touching Spirit Bear is about a teenager named Cole Matthews. Cole Matthews lives in Minneapolis he has anger issues that may have been caused because his dad beat him up and mother doesn't stand up for him. Cole Matthews gets himself into a lot of trouble .About a week after Cole robbed a hardware store without getting caught . A guy named Peter Driscal tattled on him and told the police all about the robbery . This made Cole very upset causing him to push Peter into the sidewalk making his head bleed and repeatedly kicking and punching Peter. So after the Peter incident Cole had to decide if he should go to jail for 2 years or 1 year in the circle of justice which could end up being worse than the 2 years in jail if he really doesn't want

Cole is a 15 year old juvenile delinquent that has been in trouble with the law many times. But this last time there was no excuse, Cole had robbed a store. The word had worked its way around school and Peter Driscoll was the one who decided to snitch on him. At the end of the day Cole cornered peter and beat him senseless smashing his face against the sidewalk. Cole beat peter so bad that Peter can no longer function regularly, he will often wake up in the middle of the night screaming. Peter can’t walk normally anymore either. Cole needs to change his out of control attitude because the next time he might kill someone.

No wonder people don’t believe him when he has something to say. If someone had nearly killed your child it wouldn’t be surprising if you didn’t trust them. After Cole returns from his first trip to the island after burning up his cabin and getting mauled from the spirit bear, he definitely changed. He has no need to prove himself anymore. For example, ‘I wasn’t lying.’

In Ben Mikaelsen’s Touching Spirit Bear, Cole Matthews is a troubled adolescent who often acts out with aggressive behavior. Cole begins the novel as a very violent teenager, however, near the end he grasp how to deal with his anger.In the first chapter of the book, cole struggles with dealing with his emotions in a healthy way. Instead of working issues out he responds murderously towards Peter. Later in the novel, he is still furious, but he is beginning to alter how he acts. Finally in the end he has transformed from being enraged all the time, to responding to the world around him, in a positive peaceful manner.

There are many themes being shown throughout Touching Spirit Bear, but one that stood out the most is change. I learned about change mainly through Circle Justice. Circle justice is different than a regular court system because it gives opportunities to help someone heal and become a better person. It helps both the victim and the person who caused harm by trying to help the two. Circle Justice teaches to forgive, and to become better, rather than just giving out a punishment. Out of the many examples of change, one which had a major effect on everyone was when Cole was given the chance to be sent to the island. This had a lot to do with the change in Cole’s personality. After Cole was mauled by the bear, he realized that he wasn't as powerful

As a juvenile delinquent it is as expected that Cole Matthews would be antagonized by his society. “ Each time he got in trouble, he was warned to shape up because this was his last chance. Even for the day he left for the island, several of those who gathered to see him off, including his parents, had warned him”. “ Don’t screw up. This is your last chance”. Cole braced himself for the next big wave. Whatever happened, he could always count on having one more last chance.” Cole was certain that he would get away with assaulting Peter, as a result of always getting away for his actions. However the same did not happen this time as he was put up for trial because of what he had done to Peter. Strangely enough the conflict between Cole and the

He goes on to tell us about how his father constantly beats and tortures him. Then Cole says, “All I know is I don’t ever want to have a kid and beat him up.” (Mikalen 157-158). Even though his dad’s action has brought him antagonising trauma, he has learned from his father’s misconceptions. Cole is starting to change at this time in the story, but still carries on with

In addition to his carelessness and anger, he feels unwanted. He feels as if there is absolutely nobody in the world that cares about him. In the beginning of the book, he discusses how he thought his parents were ashamed of him and would never be happy until the day he died. At the first meeting of Circle Justice, he wasn’t even sure if his parents would show up. Cole felt that the reason why his parents did not bail him out of jail was because they didn’t care enough about him. His dad doesn’t even know Cole’s birthday, and his mom drinks until she doesn’t know her own name. This is the reason why in Cole’s near death experience he felt as if no one would care if he died. After Cole’s attack he thought that Garvey was only helping him for

eaches a lesson. The trials life had thrown at me had played a major role in the characteristics that make me who I am. We learn as life rolls on; with time comes wisdom.