Preview

Touching Spirit Bear Character Analysis

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1025 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Touching Spirit Bear Character Analysis
Most Important Lessons

In the novel Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen he discuses the idea of morals. As the reader reads the novel it is filled with many important lessons from many perspectives. Understanding that all these lessons made Cole a better person. The most important lessons learnt from the book are life is what you make it, forgiveness, and that people can change. The lesson “life is what you make it” was a big part of the novel. But also this lesson was reflective. When Edwin asked Cole to go to the freezing pond, he gave him a stick and says that the right end of the stick represented happiness while the left end represented anger. Cole broke the anger side of the stick, until he recognized that everytime he broke
…show more content…
He was even known and portrayed as a very angry person. As Cole gets to understand the idea of forgiveness and the beauty of life he changed to become a better and a peaceful person. There are no bad people in the world just people who make bad choices. Cole made several mistakes in his life but has learnt from them and is going through taking dips in the freezing pond, rolling the ancestor rock to get rid of his anger so he would not make the mistakes of anger taking over him again. The Cole first sent to the island was feeling consumed by anger, bitterness, and the feeling to unwillingness to change. While the Cole at the end on the novel is a normal boy that is trying control his anger problems and trying to earn forgiveness from others. After Cole had changed he seemed to think that the island could change anyone. Cole thinks to himself that he has really changed. “He felt like a new and a different person.” (Pg.198) That’s why he wanted to bring Peter, the boy who had tried to commit suicide twice after Cole had beaten him up to the island to see if he can change on the island and have another chance at life, like Cole had received. At the end, both Peter and Cole changed spiritually and mentally. The lesson “People can change” is an important lesson from the book because even Cole the juvenile delinquent had changed into a normal teenage boy controlling his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “Ghost of Spirit Bear”, the sequel to “Touching Spirit Bear”, is about Cole coming back from the island after his sentence. He returns to Minneapolis to live a normal life of going to school. But his school is filled with gangs, violence, and drugs. When Peter gets beat up and a girl commits suicide, Cole realized that he needs to make something change in this school. So he started a movement to change everything. But if the students don’t take it seriously, there will be more bloodshed to come. Will Cole be able to overcome this?…

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the book “touching spirit bear” Cole learns how to control his anger and be more patient. He learned to blame himself for him problems instead of other people, he learned about carrying the ancestor rock and soaking in the pond, which helped him learn to release his anger. He understood from his first encounter with the spirit bear that anger doesn't solve anything. Being nice creates…

    • 345 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Chapter 1: The 15 year old Cole Matthews is a real criminal. He has been stealing a lot and now he also beats up Peter Driscal. He doesn’t go to trial but he has to go to Circle Justice. He has to go to an island and think about the things he had done and most important, change.…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    How do the animals in Touching Spirit Bear help Cole heal and accept his anger throughout the book?…

    • 155 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “I'm so blessed. The challenges of my past have made me immensely strong inside. I adapted quickly, learning how to survive from a bad situation.I learned the secret of internal motivation. My experience gave me a different outlook on life, that others may never know”, page 86. This quote opens up a whole new meaning compared to the rest of the book. It shows a drastic change on giving up from before to being fortunate to being a whole new person again. From having no one to hold his hand throughout the years, Stephen his son, having him maintain his dignity and wiping away his tears. Nothing is more better to Dave than knowing that he had finally let go of what was no longer good to him on his mental and physical health. Learning is a big…

    • 245 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I believe that the story with the most powerful moral lesson was The Devil and Tom Walker. The tale of Tom Walker teaches the important message of working hard for items that you desire such as money. Washington Irving, the author, uses the Devil to show all of the bad parts of humanity and how they are brought out in Tom Walker. Additionally, this theme is still very important today. Throughout the story, Tom is a very greedy man that tries to take the easy road through life, and this is shown by him taking a shortcut home.…

    • 184 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Spirit Bear

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Cole Matthews is an abused child who turned into a troubled kid because his parents abused him every day. He became an angry person who was willing to take anybody out in his way. When he got into trouble he would manipulate everyone into thinking he was sorry but he never really meant it. Cole hated everyone because anytime he didn’t get his way he would resort to the same violence and anger his father used on him. Cole thinks everything is a game, he thinks he should never be responsible for his own actions. Cole managed to get away with everything with no issues until he assaulted Peter. Cole thought he did no wrong because Peter told on him and anyone. Cole thought he could talk his way out of the assault charges like the other events when he got into trouble. The only reason Cole joined circle justice is because Garvey told him he could avoid going to jail. If Garvey hadn’t gotten Cole to join Circle Justice he wouldn’t have changed his bad ways. Being alone on the island, getting attacked by the spirit bear, and learning ways to relieve his anger through soaking in the pond and pushing the rock taught him to view the world in a new perspective. Cole realized that staying angry was the worst thing he could have done. He finally accepted his actions and saw the error in his ways. I saw the change in Cole’s character when he wanted to help Peter channel his anger. Cole never cared about anyone besides himself throughout his entire life. He was actually trying to help and wanted to be forgiven by Peter. Cole deceived everyone in his life and never cared about it. It was now in his best interest to become a better person, and rid himself of the evil he did in his life.…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Some short stories are designed to teach lessons to the people who read them. They teach lessons about life, love, and growing up. People can learn lessons by reading short stories that where the main characters discover something about life and about themselves. There Character and the way the use of actions, words, or thoughts carry throughout the story can relate to many realistic personas. In Toni Cade Bambara's short story, The Lesson, the author presents a lesson to be learned. The narrator, Sylvia a young, self minded, lack of vocabulary, strong feminist African American from a poor neighborhood in New York is in for a great awakening, with her cousin Sugar always by her side their world was untouchable until a black woman named Miss Moore stepped in. They find her unusual because she is a black woman who has, "...proper speech..."(42). Miss Moore was educated and, "...been to college and said it was only right she should take responsibility for the young ones' education" (42). Miss Moore is not the typical black woman in the neighborhood. She is well educated and speaks well which can be found different in the neighborhood she lives in. Mrs. Moore climbed up against the odds in a time where it was almost unheard of for a black woman to go to college. She is a role model for the children who encourages them to get more out of life. When Miss Moore takes the children to an upper class toy store in the city the children see a, "Handcrafted sailboat of fiberglass at one thousand one hundred ninety five dollars" (44). The children are not sure what to make of the high price but they do realize that for, "That much money it should last forever" (45). They understand that people who make more money can afford higher quality things, and that in order to make more money they have to get an education like Miss Moore. They have to strive the best in life. At the end of the story Sylvia's cousin, Sugar, realizes that even though they are not the wealthiest…

    • 2043 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cole does not seem to have any control of the unforgettable emotions. “Edwin told me once that anger was a memory never forgotten. He’s right” (Page 130). The main cause of his anger is his own angry and alcoholic father and shy hopeless mother. Cole is beaten up by his angry father without any mercy, and his shy mother only watches him getting beaten. She does not even attempt to stop her husband from beating her own son. These irresponsible actions by Cole’s parents, made him feel that he was worthless and lived his life for no reason. “You don’t get it do you? My parents are divorced and don’t give a rat if I live or die. All they care about is themselves. Nobody cares about me. All my life I’ve been dumped on” (Page 27). As a result, the anger that was building inside of him eventually got out of control.This anger causes Cole to commit crimes. Cole robbed and trashed a hardware store. Peter, a boy at Cole’s school, found out that Cole did this act of violence. So, Peter told on Cole. Cole found out, in which he got very angry and mad. Instead of confronting Peter, Cole decided to smash Peter’s head against the sidewalk, very badly.Once Cole was sent to the island of Drake in Alaska, Cole felt depressed and angry at the same time. Cole eventually burnt down his cabin. Another example of his anger is dealing with the Spirit Bear. The Spirit Bear was calmly looking at Cole. Cole realized that this bear was not afraid of him. So, Cole let out his anger and tried to kill the bear. Instead of Cole hurting…

    • 509 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Isolation from society results in the boys learning to make the same mistakes as mankind. They learn to commit evil deeds as they permanently damage animals, each other, and nature. Although the tropical island provides food, water, and adventure for the boys, some undermine their surroundings and focus on violence and bloodlust. The scar from the crash will disappear in time, yet the children, through their inhumane actions, leave a deeper mark on the island. Through displaying the horrors of evil in humanity, no one remains safe; therefore, nature does not stand a chance against the malevolent instincts of…

    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In particular the first life lesson Eliezer learns is that life is fragile. Eliezer first learns that life can change at any moment when he is uprooted in the transportations to Auschwitz. “On the table a half-finished bowl of soup. A platter of dough waiting to be baked.” (Wiesel page 20) When brought to the small ghetto the Wiesel family stays in the house once occupied by their uncle, they find it in a state of chaos. The food left unfinished gives Eliezer the understanding that his uncle’s family was caught by surprise, and that their lives changed without moment. Furthermore in his Noble Peace Prize Acceptance speech Elie Wiesel talked about how dramatically his lifer changed. “It all happened so fast. The ghetto. The deportation. The sealed cattle car”. (page 118) Years after his liberation in his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize Wiesel states that he now knows that life is too fragile and fleeting to miss use. He talks about how important it is to take advantage of you time, how he truly understands that lesson. Eliezer learns from the life altering and split second events that life is indeed fragile and can change at any moment.…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cole Quotes

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “My theory on life is that life is beautiful. Life doesn't change. You have a day, and at night, and a mouth, and a year. We people change - we can be miserable or we can be happy. It’s what you make of your life.” (Brainy Quotes) Cole is a 15 year old boy from Minneapolis. He has dealt with the police for half of his life because his parents don’t care about him.The reason why Cole beats up other kids is, he doesn’t care about his life at all. Why Cole needs to change is, he’s constility beating up kids for no reason. When he is older if he doesn’t stop, he will be in jail for a long time. The three reasons why I think Cole has shown a change is, he owns up to things, Cole wants to go back to the island and Cole wants to help Peter through…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For example, he starts to show selflessness and sympathy for the others in the circles. He never used to care about anything or anyone except himself. He shows the first sign of change when Corbett tells Allen what makes up the island. Corbett explains this wretched island when he says, “We on the island, we killed people, just like you in the swimming hole. But we all had some excuse, some reasons we had to kill. Like me. There was a range war going on. We wasn’t even the ones that started it”(126). Allen reacts to Corbett’s description by saying, “The islands people? Live people?”(127). He doesn’t comprehend why people would be destined for that abuse. This leads back to his character development and shows his changing persona. Another example of Allen’s changed conscience is shown when he stops to talk to his nephews teachers, Mrs.Herrnstein. Allen shouted, “Mrs. Herrnstein! Why?”(172). This quote reveals how Allen does care for others but never realized until his journey through…

    • 1336 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    By getting a second chance Cole because more considerate and caring for other people and put them first, rather than always putting himself first. Cole Matthews wouldn’t have been the same person he is at the end of the book if he didn’t get a second chance. Peter, a boy Cole beat up before changing, came to the island to learn from Cole. Cole showed Peter how to carve a totem pole and carry the the ancestor…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nidich, R. J., Nidich, S. I., & Alexander, C. N. (2005). Moral Development and Natural…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics