In the beginning of the novel, Cole is angry and depressed. In the novel, Cole says this: “All my parents do is drink. They hate me. Do you know what it's like waking up every morning knowing you're not good enough?......You don't know what it's like to be hit over and over until you're so numb you don't feel anything!” Cole is, because of his parents extremely mad. When he reaches the island, he states that he feels deep, internal pain because of the loneliness and hate. …show more content…
He has decided to stop lying, however, Cole still feel flickers of his anger. After returning, Cole says, “His life has been filled with lies, and the more he lied the more he always tried to prove he was right. Never had he been strong enough to simply tell the truth…...Today things would change. From now on he would speak the truth.” Cole realizes that he isn't strong enough to tell the truth and that if he didn't lie, he wouldn't need to prove . During circle justice, he says that he can barely control his anger and that it smoldered. Although he has stop lying and tried to let go of my his anger, he still feels it.
By the end of the book, Cole is forgiving but also stubborn and not willing to give up. When Cole is talking to Garvey and Peter is on the island, Cole says, “I won't give up on him.” Cole isn't going to give up on helping Peter. When Peter and Cole go to the pond for the soak, Peter pushes Cole into the water but Cole doesn't react violently. He now forgives easily. Cole also forgives Peter for getting him not the island. When he is doing his dance of anger, Cole learns that the only way to let go of his anger is to forgive.
In Touching Spirit Bear, Cole changes greatly. The changes are seen all throughout the book as Cole changes both internally and externally. The journey that Cole goes through is life-changing to