Touching Spirit Bear by Ben details of the character, Cole Matthews. Cole is a young boy struggling with intense emotional turmoil. His emotions were anger, fear, sadness, and loneliness. Cole sought refuge from these intense emotions by fleeing to an Alaskan island to avoid going to jail because he beat up a boy. However, by going to Alaska Cole denied himself the opportunity to work through his issues and develop healthy coping mechanisms. Instead, he suffered as a result of his choices in life. Cole has been lonely all his life, and this has led to him to start doing things that have hurt and harmed others as well as himself for attention. Cole's feelings have been written on chapter 8, page 73 as "every action worked against him and hurt him deeply, a bitter loneliness swept over him as tears clouded his vision." Cole felt alone, but only recognized it when he was on the brink of death. This, in turn, led to Cole trying to fill the loneliness with other things like violence and theft, which nearly lead him to his death. …show more content…
His father is abusive and has a drinking problem. It is mentioned on page 51 of the book that Cole has a left hand that is "on his left stood a liar who had beaten him numb," showing that his father is abusive. Cole's mother is always scared and does not help Cole when he needs it. It is mentioned on page 51 of the book that Cole has a right hand that is "on his right stood a dressed-up puppet, afraid of her own shadow," showing that his mother was afraid to help Cole. Cole's emotional problems likely stem from the abuse he experienced in his home life, with both his father and mother indicating that Cole has been deeply affected by the abuse he
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen is a novel in which the main character , Cole Matthews, finds himself struggling with his own downfall. He also finds himself fighting his own spirit. Cole is banished from Drake, Alaska because he has committed a crime. His classmate Peter Driscal had told on him for breaking into the school. Now, if someone told on Cole Matthews, they were going to have to pay the price.
Coles Journey with Healing and Forgiveness Stephen Richards said, “When you forgive, you heal”?Cole is the protagonist in the book “Touching Spirit Bear” Garvey was Cole’s parole officer who helps Cole. Cole's Dad beat him so Cole beats up Peter at the beginning of the book, but he ended up helping him at the end. Cole's Dad, Garvey, and Peter affect Cole’s healing in negative or positive ways. Garvey helped with Cole's healing and forgiveness by sending him to the island.
He shows an unrelenting and uncompromising determination. For example, to stay afloat Cole begins to swim aggressively and passionately against the tide in hopes of getting to the neighbouring island.[5] Although, he perseveres and continues regardless, "Every minute counted now, and he needed to swim hard", these words that were stated relate to how he suffers severe physical and emotional pain as he swims across the water.[3] Surprisingly, despite his efforts, Cole eventually realizes he lacks the necessary power to reach the mainland because he is indirectly forced to return. [2]To conclude, Cole has incredible bravery in the face of emotional and physical suffering, proving his ability to endure pain and come out the other side stronger. He is also observant, and knowledgeable, and has a unique awareness of what causes others to react.
In the novel Touching Spirit Bear, by Ben Mikaelsen, Cole overcomes his anger and problems in many ways. Three ways that Cole manages to overcome his anger is through family and friends, through daily exercise, and through nature. These are just some of the ways that Cole has managed to overcome his anger and problems. Cole overcomes his anger and problems with the help of family and friends. Cole’s mother and father help Cole to overcome his anger by being the reason that Cole learns to forgive, Cole’s mother also helps Cole to get over his anger by changing and finally standing up for Cole and herself.
Additionally, it is evident that Cole does not own up to his actions and refuses to take responsibility. However as the story progresses, he faces a near death experience when he is mauled by the Spirit Bear. Due to this particular event he becomes significantly more empathetic than depicted previously. When it is brought to Cole’s attention that Peter has attempted to commit suicide he is rather discomposed and even proves to have had astounding growth within his ability to feel empathetic. Moreover, Cole even offers to do what it takes in order to help his wounded peer, Mikaelsen writes, “‘Would you be willing to stay here longer if it meant helping Peter?’
But maybe we can change things.’ ... Cole clung to his mother even after she let go, then turned away to hide his misty eyes,” (Mikaelsen 122). When Cole tells his mother that it’s okay and hugs her voluntarily, it truly illustrates the contrast between Cole at the beginning of the book versus his character towards the end. Before, he had always blamed his actions on the trauma brought from his mother and father instead of forgiving anyone and moving on.
When Cole was mauled by the bear he spotted a nest full of baby sparrows and he saw their mom. You might be thinking about how baby sparrows affect his anger. Well, let's see when he found the birds. I believed it was the day before the big thunderstorm. In the big thunderstorm, the tree with the babies got struck down and Cole realized how jealous he was of the sparrows because they had a mom to feed and clean them and he never had that type of mother.
The circle decides to isolate him on a remote island to help him change. When on the island Cole is mauled by a spirit bear. After months of rehabilitation, he is sent back to the Island. After a long time of hard labor, he finally sees that he needs to let go of his anger. The one character that I think made the biggest difference to Cole was Garvey.
In his past, Cole was beaten by his abusive father and neglected by his mother. The adversity in his past contributes
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).
Nobody ever trusted me. I had never loved anybody, and nobody had ever really loved me.” In this moment, Cole is reflecting over what happened after he was almost killed by the Spirit Bear, and how it affected him. Cole changed during his time after the attack, by taking time and focusing on the little things, the nature around him, the sparrows in the nest as seen on page 80, and the true beauty of everything. After he looks at the little things, he realizes that he has no real power, and how there is a balance in everything.
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.
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.
The relationships in Cole’s life all had a different impact on him but specifically his relationship with Peter affected him a lot. Especially the part of the book when Cole found out that Peter told on him. “‘You’re a dead man,’ he warned... He laughed when he saw fear in Peter’s eyes”(7-8). This shows the relationship at the beginning of the book and clearly it wasn’t good.
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.