The Spirit Bear Analysis

If he needs to go to jail, obviously he is very rebellious and needs control. Cole has major anger issues though. For example, according to page 30, when he got mad at Garvey when they were

Cole is already a very troubled kid with a lot of anger issues, attitude, and jail sentences, which, therefore, led him to beating up Peter Driscal and giving him a permanent injury. “Justice should heal not punish” is a quote by Garvey (Mikaelsen 13). Circle Justice is a wonderful opportunity for Cole to turn around and make his life better. If he goes to jail with love,

He is with two men, Edwin and Garvey, who are instructing him on the terms of his banishment to the island. After the first few chapters we learn through anecdotes why Cole was sent to the island. Cole had viciously beat a classmate of his named Peter Driscal, after Peter snitches on him. Peter suffers from various problems as a result of Cole’s attack. Which only adds to Cole’s previous history with the law.

Imagine going through a world where you change everyday. One morning you wake up as happy as can be, the next day mad and depressed as you can be. Doesn’t really happen, but you can change, like Cole did but it wasn’t just overnight. Cole started as a selfish young delinquent, then slowly changed to a caring, understand person.

Furthermore, Cole has changed how he feels about things getting hurt. The old Cole would always say “well they deserved it” and wouldn’t care if things died in the world or not but the new Cole makes sure every things okay, like with the birds at first he said if he wasn’t in such bad condition he would get up and knock the nest down,or, when he beat Peter Driscoll up, at the time, he didn’t care and says Peter wouldn’t be in the hospital if he new how to fight, then after he's on the island for a little while, Peter tries to commit suicide twice but fails both and Cole says he wishes there was something he could do to fix it, and decides Peter should come to the island with Cole because Cole wants to say sorry, and fix what he did to Peter.

Accourdingly, he had no reason to change his actions because there were no consequences for his misconduct. During a football game, a kid punched and disrespected Wes. Shortly after, the author describes “[Wes’s] knife in hand, hurrying to settle the score with the boy who had busted his lip” (34). Wes decided to defend his image and retaliate in a significant way. During all of this his mother was working, and she never found out about Wes’s encounter with the boy and cops until it was too late.

The obstacles he was faced with were tough but he progressed from the erstwhile adolescent to a supplementary rendering of himself. By overcoming adversity Cole augmented himself entirely just like when Chick Benetto comes back from his day with his mom in the book For One More Day. Before Chick sees his mom again, due to his alcohol addiction Chick loses his inducement to keep living; as a result he also losses he family. He promptly tries to commit suicide. Both getting in a car crash and jumping off a water tower do not kill him.

At this point in the novel, I believe that the 'Coming of Age ' motif is becoming very recurring as the book goes on. Charlie is starting to reminisce more and think about things as a mature adult would. Mr. Etheridge made a very good analogy in class the other day, he said that as a kid you do not think about getting your new clothes dirty when you play outside. However, once you start maturing you question if it is worth it or not to get comfortable and sit on the grass and risk dirty clothing or suffer and stand. This really interested my because I can relate to this.

Instead of killing Cole, the bear walks off, leaving Edwin and Garvey to discover him on the brink of death. When Cole finally has the ability to choke out sentences at the hospital, he declares that he is beyond anger. Cole wanted to stop having his destructive fits of anger and was sure that he would stop being mad. Things would change. Edwin, an elder that Garvey asked assistance from while planning Cole’s banishment, countered his statement by explaining that “A person is never done being mad.

Then Cole Foster enters my life with a promise to save me. While Cole is handsome, and the way he looks at me sets my blood on fire, there’s something dangerous simmering in his dark gaze. He says I 've done something wrong. He says I 've been bad. He says he can make me a good girl again...

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).

Even though he doesn’t realize it but, every time Cole does something he’s affecting someone else's life more than he thinks and he’s not only affecting one person, he’s also affecting everyone else that’s involved with that person's life. Throughout the book “Touching Spirit Bear” Coles faces conflicts with Peter, his father, his mother, the Spirit Bear, the island, the Circle Justice system,

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 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