Touching Spirit Bear Analysis

Have you ever heard of a dog who’s so used to dog fighting, that it’s the only thing he knows how to do? Than behind the chain, it’s a life of beating and misunderstandment. No one understands what this dog is going through, then one day he gets loose. This was the life of Cole Matthews. Throughout his whole life he has a big conflict with the world. 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,

Than there’s Cole’s father, he aggressive and cruel because he beats his son and denies the aggression to anyone that assumes anything. You can’t really put all the blame on Cole’s father for beating him because that’s all he knows because his Cole’s father's, father beat him when he grew up so because that's what his childhood was like, he’s making Cole’s childhood the same thing as his, it’s like a chain reaction. Also both of Cole’s parents have a bad drinking problem. For example when Cole in in the Circle, his father is talking about how much he cares about Cole and how much time he devotes to him but then Cole speaks out and states, “You drink until you can’t stand up, and you’re gone all the time. A devoted parent doesn't whip his kid until his shirt can’t hide all the bruises!” (Page 46) After Cole says that his father argues back and it becomes a big riot. When everyone gets settled down and the feather gets moved on to Cole he explains that his father beats him then goes to his mom for back up. “Cole’s mother dusted imaginary specks off her dress, then picked up the feather hesitantly. She opened her mouth to speak, but a quick glance at her

After Cole smashes Peter’s head up against the sidewalk, Peter suffers serious damage to his brain. “‘Because of you, I have a son now who… Has speech and coordination problems. He wakes up at night screaming with nightmares,” (Page 50) Peter’s mother states. Because Cole has made this life changing choice on Peter, Peter is now apart of his healing and forgiveness. As the feather reaches Peter in the Circle he explains that he thinks Cole’s head should be smashed against a sidewalk to see how he likes it. Cole didn’t say or do anything about Peter. Throughout time, the more and more the Circle met, Cole felt worse and worse about what he did to Peter. Then when Cole is on the island, all he could think about was Peter and ways to help Peter forgive him. Since forgiveness is the first step and now that Cole understands that, he invites Peter to the island so Peter can heal and forgive Cole. When Peter is on the island, he doesn’t talk much and he is very distant at first but after his parents leave he acts like he’s the boss of Cole and pushes him around. Cole doesn’t do anything back to defend himself because he wants to prove to everyone that he has changed and if he does anything to Peter than it’s a step backward in his progress and he’s going to lose the trust that he had gained. After Peter got time alone with Cole, he beat him up and tried to pay Cole back for what he did but, when Peter