“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
Cole notices how bad his Point-of-view is with his parents and how it changes with his mom but not his dad, and how it changes on the island and with Peter. In the first place, Coles
One of these would include Wes’s short relationship with Cheryl. The only thing keeping them together were the circumstances that were set. Even though we don’t know much about Cheryl as a person, she was of the many who dealt with serious drug problems. She was so desperate to ‘score’ to the point that she started stealing from Wes. Around the midpoint of the book, we start to see Wes getting better with staying away from the culture of the streets; On page 110 Wes starts to reevaluate himself, “The sight of her coming of her high...disgusted Wes.
Has anyone ever called you an animal? Have you been compared to a sloth because you were lazy, or a mouse because you were quiet? In my Language Arts class, we read the book “Touching Spirit Bear” by Ben Mikaelsen. In this novel, a troubled teenage boy named Cole is banished to an island to find and heal his soul after he severely beats a kid. During his stay on the island, Cole realizes that he is similar to several different animals.
Strength develops in someone through their experiences which have the ability to make them an emotionally stronger person. A quote by Ernest Hemingway presents that “the world breaks everyone, then some become strong at the broken places.” Even those who suffer the most will have the ability to bounce back at a stronger state. This theme reveals its relevance in A Separate Peace by John Knowles as we analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the main characters, Finny and Gene. Although some may insist that Finny’s emotional state fits the mold of a weak character, I have confidence that Finny has the most inner strength out of the two boys given his description and actions throughout the novel.
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).
Everyone grows up eventually, and each person passes through childhood and into the adult world in their own way. By the River, by Steven Herrick is a novel which shows how Harry Hodby grows and matures into a young man. The story is a ‘coming of age’ novel, Harry’s growth creeping up on the reader. Harry experiences death at a young age, with his mother passing away. As a result, he gains extra responsibilities in his youth.
During his time on the island, Cole undergoes a physical and emotional transformation. Initially, he reacts to
When Cole finally forgave, he allowed himself to move on and allows us to find happiness
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.
I’ll Obey! Please, Dad, don’t life’s not a game! Please stop!”(pg 54) Cole's father beats Cole often, over little things. Such as coming home late. Cole’s Father isn’t a stranger for taking out his problems on other people he is known to sue people and he also beats Cole, because of this, this is why Cole is so troubled and messed up.
Cole has changed how he feels about nature from the beginning of the book, exactly like how the first and final haikus differ from each other. The following statement shows how he has changed and realized he is a small part of a big circle, and is what inspired the “realizing life’s a circle” part of the haiku: “Standing beside the totems, explained to Peter that being invisible was being a part of life’s circle and accepting it. ‘This morning, when we forgave each other, we also forgave ourselves,’ he said. ‘We allowed ourselves to become a part of the big circle. . . .’” (Mikaelsen 239), whereas in the beginning Cole hated the idea of the circle and only thought of
First of all, Cole was able to overcome his adversity because he wanted to change into a better person. At this point of the story, Cole is in Rosey’s hotel and Cole, Garvey, and Edwin are talking about what happened on the island. “Cole nodded. ‘I do, but it’s okay.
There were moments where you could feel sad for Cole, angry at Cole, happy for Cole, the list goes on and on. “As if finishing it’s attack, the Spirit Bear placed it’s huge pawson Cole’s chest and gave a single hard shove. Air exploded from Cole’s lungs. Ribs snapped. Mouth wide open, Cole gasped but could not catch his breath.
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
Cole makes those points obvious when he says that he prefers people having fear in him. Cole infact gets offended of someone/something doesn’t get startled by him. Cole likes control of the situation (when he thrashed Peter, for example.) Throughout the book Cole made it clear that he was infact thinking out failing banishment, when he atemped an escape. Every action Cole took on that island was to prevent change, and what the act of banishment was meant