In the book Touching Spirit Bear, Cole does many things with major consequences. His anger mainly controls these things, but when Cole finds himself lying on the ground as good as dead, he realizes that he's not a good person, and he realizes what he has done. Here are some consequences and mistakes that Cole has made in the past to get to this point. In the first few chapters, Cole was ruthless. He always had a second chance at everything. He ended up robbing a store, thinking to just get away with it. He told everyone at school about his store robbery, and Peter snitched on him. This boy named Peter Driscal was a ninth grader Cole had picked on many times before just for the fun of it. This caused Cole to be furious. After school, Cole approached Peter. “you're a dead man”, Cole punched him with his bare fists one after the other, and when Peter tried to escape, Cole pounded his head on the sidewalk repeatedly. No one ever messed with Cole Matthews. But the consequence of this is he had to start circle justice to find out what they were going to do about Cole. …show more content…
Of course, Cole did not take this seriously, so he let his anger in control and burned down his only shelter with food, and everything he needed to supply him on the island. His wild laughter had mocked the world, and everyone he had ever known. He thought of every time his dad has beaten him, and every time his mom never cared. But now Cole was on his own, and he was in control, no one was stopping him. But after he felt a slight mood of loneliness, Cole started to feel emotional. The consequences of burning down everything were, sleeping in the rain on the cold ground, forcing himself to eat really bad food, and causing him not having any weapons or supplies to defend
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, Cole Matthews is quick to anger, which is like me. And by looking at Cole’s interactions with others and his background I can say that it is a little bit similar to me. And in my opinion, Cole is just a broken child who needs love and light in his life, and by doing that he breaks the law and has anger issues. My opinion of Cole is that is because I know that having a childhood full of trauma and despair, will have long-lasting effects on you and will forever change. And I know this because I know someone who changed after their grandmother died, suddenly became quiet and quick to anger and was never the same.
Edwin gives Cole the ancestor rock which he pushes up the hill which is his ancestors and when he lets it roll down the hill it represents him letting his anger go which helps him deal with his anger management. Edwin gives Cole a second chance and lets him come back to the island. Edwin makes rebuild the shelter which teaches him valuable lessons. The main thing that helps Cole was the anger dance that Edwin has him do and after he is not controlled by his anger but has to live with it. Edwin changes because he helps Cole, and can share his culture with Cole, and it helps Cole control his anger by doing some of their costumes.
On the island, Cole learns to heal and improve his poor habits by dealing with the trauma from his parents and facing the guilt from his past mistakes. He
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.
Cole has a troubled history with the outdoors that likely stems from his need to control everything around him. Upon his arrival to the island, Cole burns down his shelter and his only supplies as a way of feeling powerful. Soon after, Cole attempts to stab the Spirit Bear. The Spirit Bear is a large, white bear that periodically appears on the Alaskan island. Cole feels intimidated by this bear, so he attempts to frighten it.
One of the members decided to beat up Peter, Cole did not take this lightly and punches him in return. Unluckily a teacher sees Cole and sends them all to the principal’s office. Cole tries to explain what happened but his effort falls upon deaf ears. This is not the only encounter with the bullies that the two have. This time the gang tries to beat them up but this time they have a new strategy.
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.
Cole’s attitude, relationships, and environment develop into positive counterbalances that help him overcome adversity. For starters, Cole’s attitude was a big counterbalance for him that helped him overcome hardships. In the beginning of the book Cole acts like he doesn’t care and
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.