Touching Spirit Bear By Cameron Gillis Touching Spirit Bear is an intriguing and breathtaking novel by US author, Ben Mikaelsen . The genre of this book is adventure and coming of age because we, as the reader, understand the difficult journey the protagonist, Cole, goes through as he matures and changes. The book is carefully written from the first and third person point of view to help see and understand the events from different perspectives. The other main characters are Edwin, Garvey, Cole’s parents, and the Spirit Bear. The main themes of the book are the power of nature, anger, forgiveness, and healing. The setting takes place on an Island off Alaska and in Indianapolis. The message the author, Mikaelsen, wants the reader to understand …show more content…
The power of nature is the most influential force in the book because nature teaches Cole about growing up and makes him notice that there are things more powerful than him. For example, in the book after he gets mauled by the bear, he starts to notice what’s around him. The irony in this book is that he never saw what nature was really about, and then when he was ripped apart he couldn’t move and enjoy what he had just discovered. The next theme is Anger, I thought that this was important because the whole story is about a boy who can’t control his anger. Anger isn’t only related to Cole but also his father. Cole was beaten by him throughout his childhood. This pain and anger gave him the personality and characteristic to inflict pain on other people. The two final themes have a very strong connection. In order to heal, mentally and physically, you have to learn to forgive and receive forgiveness. This was a lesson the reader and the main character, Cole, experience throughout the book. For example, in the final chapter, Cole and Peter undergo the process of forgiveness and healing. As Cole said in the end of the book “This morning, when we forgave each other, we also forgave ourselves....” This shows that they have taken an enormous step of becoming older and wiser person. Therefore the concept of growing up includes the theme of forgiveness and
In the book Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, a boy named Cole who beats up this kid name Peter because he told on him for robbing a hardware store. Cole was about to go to jail for what he did but then his parole officer named Garvey told him about this thing called the Circle Justice. The Circle Justice is a native american form a justice where they seek more for healing then for just having a normal punishment.
“Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” -Ray Bradbury. I believe that Fahrenheit 451 can still be relevant to today’s society, even though it was written almost 65 years ago.
Has anyone ever called you an animal? Have you been compared to a sloth because you were lazy, or a mouse because you were quiet? In my Language Arts class, we read the book “Touching Spirit Bear” by Ben Mikaelsen. In this novel, a troubled teenage boy named Cole is banished to an island to find and heal his soul after he severely beats a kid. During his stay on the island, Cole realizes that he is similar to several different animals.
The book Ghost of Spirit Bear is a sequel to the book Touching Spirit Bear. I enjoyed this book because it has a good story and plot. While this book is not as adventurous or moving as the first book Ghost of Spirit Bear still has a good plot and creates vivid pictures in your mind while reading. I prefered Touching Spirit Bear over this book because it has more adventure and a more shocking story. The book consists mainly of the same characters but more were added when Peter and Cole go to school.
At the beginning of the novel, Cole Matthews is a vicious teenager who thinks he is superior to everyone, but is, in fact, hiding behind a shield of anger, the result of being brutally abused by his drunken father. Cole’s father, Mr. Matthews, drinks non stop until he becomes a monster, and then ruthlessly beats Cole up. When talking to Garvey, a proud, Tlingit indian, who is also his parole officer, Cole opens up about his father’s abuse saying, “‘You don’t know what it’s like being hit over and over until you’re so numb you don’t feel anything!” (Mikaelsen 28).
Cole Matthews was a sarcastic and a dishonest fifteen-year-old that was always angry and looking for trouble. He had a problem with blaming people for his troubles, when really that main problem was himself. Cole had parents that didn’t even care about him, his father always got so drunk that he didn’t even remember half of the beating that he gave Cole, and his mother was always too drunk to even notice, or even care. Even though the struggle with his parents is really hard for him, Cole’s most immense conflict in his
Everything will turn out right in the end, and Cole exhibits this. The whole reason that Cole ended up o the island in the first place is because he made bad choices. These choices led to more bad choices and then Cole had a traumatic experience. This changes Cole’s life forever.
In the novel Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, the main character Cole Matthews demonstrates he is reckless on several occasions. Cole exhibits this trait on page 65 when he throws a wood spear at the spirit bear. He does not think things through and does not realize the fact that a bear could could kill him with ease. On pg 50 “Peter's lawyer said “we don't know all the reasons for clues anger,but we do know he is out of control , any solution found by this circle justice must protect society and make Cole fully responsible for his actions”. This statement by someone else reveals that Cole is reckless and does not think things though because he beat up a kid and thought he would get away with it with our any consequences.
There were moments where you could feel sad for Cole, angry at Cole, happy for Cole, the list goes on and on. “As if finishing it’s attack, the Spirit Bear placed it’s huge pawson Cole’s chest and gave a single hard shove. Air exploded from Cole’s lungs. Ribs snapped. Mouth wide open, Cole gasped but could not catch his breath.
That’s what’s important’”(285). This shows the trust and close bong that has grown in their relationship. One of the steps to overcoming adversity is fixing a broken bond and Cole did that which had a big impact on him overcoming his adversity. Cole’s relationships have impacted him and helped him overcome his challenges, identical to his environment and how that helps
The theme in the novel “All Fall Down”is not to judge people without knowing the full truth about them. One way the reader is led to the theme is by observing the conflict and resolution of the story. Another way the reader is led to the theme is by the authors use of figurative and descriptive language that makes the reader feel different feelings towards the scarred man. Finally, the character development helps lead us to the theme throughout the way Alli Carter makes people feel towards the main characters Grace and Dominic the Scarre Man. Ally carter’s novel “All Fall Down” displays the conflict of human vs self.
Cole emphasizes in his lyrics that “life can’t be no fairytale, no once upon a time; but [he’ll] be God damned if a n***a don’t be tryin’”. Despite all the shortcomings of his city, that won’t stop Cole from trying to make something out of himself. In comparison, I always had to learn things the hard way, and I always failed at what I tried to achieve. However my mistakes never stopped from moving forward and I continue to overcome any obstacles that stand in my way. Living through the hard times motivates me to continuously work hard, and never settle for
For example, when Cole purposy bothered the Spirt Bear and later on ended up getting mauld by the animal. It is obvious that Cole’s decisions and actions against banishment lead him to fail the act. Cole’s consistent negative attitude made him dislike the idea of meaning humane. Since the beginning of the book, Cole has satisfied himself with anger. Cole believes that he can concor anything with his anger.
This letter is meant to convince you to introduce Kate McCaffrey’s novel ‘Destroying Avalon’, a book about cyber-bullying and prejudice, into the Australian English Curriculum for year 10 students. I believe that this novel is beneficial to year 10 students as the characters are mostly year 10s, the graphic, colloquial language and the realistic struggles of high school students would connect the readers to the morals and messages of this novel. I believe that some of the most important themes explored by McCaffrey in this novel are ambition and jealousy. A year 10 reader would connect and relate to these themes by the fact that every character’s, in every social group, actions is based off of these attributes.
During the novel the reader can notice that there are copious different lessons the characters learned. The principle theme in the novel is that love and forgiveness are essential aspects in a family. The ending of the book seemed quite sudden and leaves you asking a great deal of questions. What happens