Touching Spirit Bear Character Analysis

Cole Matthew’s Character Analysis

By: Rio

The novel Touching Spirit Bear with the main character of Cole Matthew, who is very temperamental, shown by his actions throughout his life. As the starring character is fifteen and is an innocent-looking, baby-faced fifteen-year-old from Minneapolis who had been in trouble with the law for half of his life. Interestingly, in Cole’s lifetime, he has shown great physical prowess, I know this information because, on page seven of Touching Spirit Bear, it states in page seven: “Peter was no match and soon Cole had pounded him bloody” this proves that he is someone that you should not mess with especially for a fifteen-year-old.

Right now you might think Cole had no childhood, was abused, and is mad and

We are going to talk about something related to both of these topics, Cole’s behavior. Looking at his background and attitude, you are probably thinking that he is not going to have the best behavior. If you thought that then great because at this point it is really obvious and expected. Unfortunately, after Cole has been hit by his father and has a mother that acts like a barbie doll, One of the main characteristics of Cole’s behavior is that he has trust issues. There is one time when the text just says it and I found the text evidence on page four and it states: “Cole didn’t trust Garvey. He didn’t trust anybody who wasn’t afraid of him.” This shows that Cole didn’t trust anybody and therefore has trust issues unless they were afraid of him because Cole probably trusted his dad and then his dad ended up hitting him with the belt, which led him to never trust anybody ever again cause he will think that they will end up betraying him just like his parents did. In addition to Cole having trust issues, he has another trait that is also important and that is Cole has autophobia, which is also called the fear of being alone. And I know this because on page 171 it states: “..I’m not scared of the bear, but I am scared of being alone.” This proves that Cole has autophobia and does not truly realize it until he is banished to the island. So in summary, Cole’s behavior is not the greatest but not the worst,

In the novel, Touching Spirit Bear, Cole Matthews is quick to anger, which is like me. And by looking at Cole’s interactions with others and his background I can say that it is a little bit similar to me. And in my opinion, Cole is just a broken child who needs love and light in his life, and by doing that he breaks the law and has anger issues. My opinion of Cole is that is because I know that having a childhood full of trauma and despair, will have long-lasting effects on you and will forever change. And I know this because I know someone who changed after their grandmother died, suddenly became quiet and quick to anger and was never the same. Wait, I think I'm going too far and putting my life here, so now Cole is banished to an island and mauled by the Spirit Bear. And I honestly think that Cole deserved it, because it changed him to become better and not worse, and he has found meaning in life and has changed for the better. And I think Cole will be able to change, because after he has touched the Spirit Bear, he feels trusted and he trusts the Spirit Bear in return, and he finally views the world as beautiful unlike before. Lastly, I think after Cole returns from his banishment, the people in circle justice will want him to undergo normal justice, and then Cole does some crazy things to prove that he has changed, for example pushing a rock up and down a hill. So in summary, I think Cole is broken, Cole