“Something very beautiful happens to people when their world has fallen apart: a humility, a nobility, a higher intelligence emerges at just the point when our knees hit the floor.” (Marianne Williamson). Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, focuses on a boy named Cole who doesn’t care about anything and does whatever he wants. He ends up beating up a fellow student and goes to jail for it, but has a chance to get out by going to an island to “change” for the better. In fact he does end up changing for the better and overcomes some of his big challenges. 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 …show more content…
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. Then at the end of the book when Peter and Cole see the spirit bear together, the relationship developed into the beginning of a friendship. “Peter insisted. ‘Will anyone believe us?’ ‘It doesn’t matter what other people think or believe,’ Cole said. ‘It’s what you believe. 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