Touching Spirit Bear Themes

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

In this book Touching Spirit Bear, By Ben Mikaelsen, Cole Matthews was always angry, taking no responsibility for his actions, then Cole got sent to an island, became friends with someone he thought he would never talk to, and had to deal with an abusive father. After beating up a classmate Cole Matthews got sent to an island in Alaska with nothing but himself and the habitat. Relationships the changed Cole the most were Garvey, his father, and Peter.

In Ben Mikaelsen novel,”Touching Spirit Bear”,Cole Matthews is a violent 15 year old juvenile offender.In the majority of the beginning part of the book,Cole is lost in pit by not controlling his actions and not learning from his mistakes.”Anger keeps you lost”,Cole hasn’t really realized that,but he is starting to realize that he is making terrible choices that are hurting him.Cole was angry when he thought about how he had no one to care for him.Another example of his frustration is when he didn’t get anywhere by trying to escape by swimming.He said that someone was going to pay for what happened,that is the problem he always is trying to get angry at someone for something he did.The last example that I am going to explain is when he said

In the beginning, when Cole is sent to the island he is told of a great spirit bear by his parole officer,

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.

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.

“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.

Joe Strummer, a famous singer, actor and more, once said, “The toughest thing is facing yourself. Being honest with yourself, that's much tougher than beating someone up. That’s what I call tough.”

In the novel Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, the main character,Cole Matthews, who beats up a innocent boy, Peter, Cole who is a troubled kid with the law. In the novel, the author is suggesting about how circle justice can change people. It can cause them to forgive, teach about ourselves from animals in nature, and healing. One way in which Cole transforms while on the island is that he learns to control his anger better.

Have you ever thought about how everything that goes around comes around ending up like a circle? Circles are always connected and so is everything around us. In the novel Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikealson, Cole is sent to an isolated island to reflect on his actions. At the island, he gets mauled by the spirit bear and almost dies. This lets him think about what he has done and allows him to change. The motif of circles that Cole encounters, changes him and influences him for the better.

For my totem pole, I am picking animals that are like me. The animals are supposed to be like me or if they mean a lesson to me. The essay I'm writing is inspired by book Touching Spirit Bear. In the book Cole makes a totem pole referring to himself or a lesson that represents an animal. A totem pole is a lot that has carvings in it to represent things. I made a totem pole because I want something to represent something of who I am.

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’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.

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

A meaningful life lesson in Touching Spirit Bear is that animals can teach people more about themselves. This is presented in the text on Cole’s second trip to the island when he dances around the fire. Every time he dances it is supposed to represent an animal such as a beaver or a wolf and at the end, he learns about the qualities of the animals that help them survive. For example, from the beaver, he learns that it has patience and ingenuity (Mikaelsen,222) and from the wolf; he learns that he needs to accept help and help other people (Mikaelsen,221). From this, it is clear that the animals can help people become more humane.