Touching Spirit Bear Theme

“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.

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

I personally enjoyed reading the Ghost Map. Not only did I enjoy it, but I understood what I was reading. It was completely evident that Johnson did his research in writing this book. He did not just tell a story, but he gave background when it was needed, and explained medical terms and concepts for the readers that might not have a background in such. The way he described the people and the situations along with making sure was clarified while

“Forgiving isn’t forgetting.” This quote means if you forgive someone you don’t forget what they did to you. In Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, Cole is a character who learns to forgive himself and others. Cole also learns to forgive the Spirit Bear. The thematic statement is to forgive someone you have to forgive yourself.

Cole Matthews is not an uncommon young man that one would find in today’s society. Cole has not had a life I would call “easy” or “fair.” He had parents that as Cole stated, “all my parents do is drink.” (p27) His father beat him profusely. This is evidenced in the Circle Justice meetings when Cole said, “Or you’ll what?” “Beat me?” …..” “You’re still lying!” he shouted. “You’re usually too drunk to know your own name!” Cole knew these words guaranteed him a terrible beating next time he was alone…(p47-48) Cole didn’t feel he had any other emotions other than anger and fear. Many of us have had the same feelings as Cole, “He didn’t trust anyone who wasn’t afraid of him.” (p4) This is an

The plot of the book and movie follows a similar story line although there are many minor differences. In both the book and movie the protagonist, Jonas, is about to go through some major changes. The Elders of the community are selecting job positions for his class. At the selection ceremony the elders announce each kid’s job positon individually. The elders skip Jonas and move on to the next child. This part of the story is very similar in the book and the movie, Jonas is selected to be “The Receiver of Memories”, his job is to receive all the memories of the past and gain wisdom to help the elders of the community. Some other main plot points that stay the same are Jonas’ training. The Giver transmits memories of things such as color and war and emotions, things that no longer exist in the community. The final major event is very different between the book and the movie. In the book, after learning about much of the past, Jonas’ decides that he needs to leave the community to “Elsewhere” to release the memories back to the community. In the movie, however, Jonas decided to leave the community on a spur of the moment decision with little planning or thought. This is very different from the book where Jonas’ escape was carefully planned out. One thing that is the same about Jonas’ escape is that he takes Gabriel, a baby that is about to be released (Euthanized). The ending of both the book and movie are the same, Jonas leaves the community and finds a house in “Elsewhere”. Neither works give much closure as to what happens, the movie and book leave the reader to decide how the story ends.

One difference both characters have is that the grandmother at the end seems to find spiritual peace. At the beginning, she described the misfit as a bad guy, but the moment she touched him, she connected with him and knew he was a

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.

Touching Spirit Bear is a very interesting book about forgiveness and redemption. The book covers the story of Cole Matthews, a juvenile delinquent who got exiled to an island for a crime he committed and how he learned to overcome his anger. While covering Cole’s path to redemption the book also teaches the reader many lessons about life. Some of the most important life lessons in “Touching Spirit Bear” are: “animals can teach people more about ourselves”(Mikaelsen,17), “forgiving isn’t forgiving”(Mikaelsen,38) and “life catches people off guard”(Mikaelsen,152)

The similarities of the book are very simple and easy to point out. In both works, they cover the same events in

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

I found a theme that carried throughout the whole book, Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. This is the story about Katniss Everdeen and how she got drafted to fight twenty-three others in an arena. She must go through many struggles to end up winning, along with her new lover, Peeta. One simple theme, perseverance, runs throughout the whole book. The complex lesson the story suggests is that perseverance, emotional or physical, not only helps one, but helps others and causes them to persevere as well.

Both books deal with the emotional affect that the dead have on the living. First, in The Lovely Bones, in the moments immediately after Susie’s death, her soul rushed towards Heaven and, as it did so; it touched a young girl called Ruth. Ruth was sensitive to this presence and despite not having known Susie well from that moment she became intrigued by her life and her death and began to form what would become a strong and eternal link between herself and the dead girl. As Ruth reaches adulthood she becomes sensitive to the dead and to the vibrations that exist in places where deaths had occurred. This affect is not only emotional but life changing; Ruth ultimately leads the police to seriously consider Mr. Harvey as the key suspect in Suzie’s murder. As Ruth is sensitive to those who have passed on, Susie is sensitive to those who remain living. She can read their thoughts, knows their motives, their emotions and their desires. She can remain close to those she loved, she watches over them and occasionally, when they are in a receptive mood, they can feel her presence. These episodes are explained in an extremely gentle manner by Sebold and in such a matter of fact way that it is impossible to doubt the veracity of what we are told.

Losing a loved one can be such a difficult thing to accept. But what if you kept believing she was still there? Definitely not in body, but lingering in spirit. In The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold, we dive into the mind of Susie Salmon; a 14 year old, dead girl. When Susie Salmon is murdered on her way home from school, she leaves behind a family and friends who care deeply for her. As each person deals with her death, most of them deal with a large amount of survivor’s guilt. The two characters that seem to have the hardest time accepting Susie’s death and their own survival are Lindsey Salmon and Ruth Connors. Lindsey deals not only with the