Touching Spirit Bear Analysis

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In Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen (2001), one of the main conflicts is Person vs. Person. The person vs. person conflict is between Cole Matthews the main character and his dad William Matthews. Cole’s father is an alcoholic and beats Cole for everything he does. When Cole is beaten by his dad, he develops anger towards his dad overtime. Cole’s dad never has never shown any affection towards Cole which causes makes Cole realize that the only way he can get his dad’s attention is by causing problems. When Cole’s dad beats him it causes Cole’s anger to smolder, and make the hatred in him to grow which causes Cole to make bad choices that he learns to regret. The conflict between Cole and his dad beating him causes Cole to get angry and make bad choices which end up causing bigger problems. The conflict going on between Cole and his dad is the cause of …show more content…
Garvey asks Cole what he doesn’t like about his life, Cole responds with, (pg.27) (2001), “Nobody cares about me. All my life I’ve been dumped on.” “Last year I went out for wrestling. I had to beg my parents to come watch me. It was like they were ashamed of me.” “Did they ever come to see you?” “Yeah after I got mad enough. And then I lost. You’d have thought I lost on purpose the way dad acted.” This shows how Cole realizes that the only way he can get his dad’s attention is by causing trouble and getting angry at him. Cole explains to Garvey that he has tried so hard to get his parents to notice his existence, and when he finally does the only thing he gets back in return is an angry dad and a failed attempt of being noticed by his mom. I think that the only reason that Cole is in the detention center is because the crimes he committed were caused because his dad was so ignorant that he didn’t teach Cole the right way to act and hardened Cole’s personality by not showing any affection towards Cole since he was a

Touching Spirit Bear Literary Analysis

Literary Analysis of Touching Spirit Bear and The Devil’s Arithmetic Devil’s Arithmetic and Touching Spirit Bear are very similar and different because of characters, setting, conflict, and theme.Touching Spirit Bear and Devil's Arithmetic are two books that have many different similars and differences. While Touching Spirit Bear and Devil's Arithmetic share the same theme of survival they still so very different. because of their characters, and plots.…

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Touching Spirit Bear Analysis

Many people around the world believe in karma. Karma is another way of saying what goes around comes around. The theme in Touching Spirit Bear is also karma. Throughout the book, there are several scenarios that prove karma exists. The first piece of evidence is when Cole is mauled by the Spirit Bear. Cole is a fifteen year old, juvenile delinquent who has created a raucous in Minneapolis. Cole trashed and robbed a hardware store. A kid named Peter Driscal told on Cole. Cole was outraged by this…

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Touching Spirit Bear Analysis

deep novel called Touching Spirit Bear. Cole is very dynamic because his entire personality changes throughout the book. He goes from saying,” I ever see you again, you’re dead,” he vowed. “I’ll teach you to be afraid of me (45).” This is Cole talking about the spirit bear. If Cole wants to kill the bear just so he can make it be afraid of him, he definitely has no respect for nature whatsoever. However, Cole’s view on nature changes after his “incident” with the spirit bear. He starts to see the…

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Touching Spirit Bear Analysis

In the beginning of Ben Mikaelsen’s Touching Spirit Bear, Cole Matthews is an angry and troubled 15 year old. Cole's parents are alcoholics, his dad beats him, and his mom rarely sticks up for him. Cole has been in trouble with the law numerous time before. This all started when cole stole something from a hardware store then bragged about it in school. Cole smashes Peter Driscal’s head against the sidewalk repeatedly when he could out Peter told on him. Cole was put into a detention center but…

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Touching Spirit Bear Analysis

I am currently reading Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen. I am still enjoying this book. Cole has not been very happy since he has been at the island, he has been very angry towards everything. On his first circle of justice meeting, the judge that been hearing the case the first time Cole played gilty went, his parents, his lawyer, and Peter the boy Cole had beat up were all at the circle of justice meeting. During the meeting “ Cole peeked and caught Peter peeking back” (37) This tells me it…

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Touching Spirit Bear Analysis

Driscal bloody, he is given a choice between jail and banishment. Wanting to do anything to stay out of jail, he chooses to be sent to a remote island in Alaska for a year. During his stay, Cole meets a spirit bear, and barely makes it out alive. His life, will never be the same again. Touching Spirit Bear, by Ben Mikaelsen, proves that one can only change if they truly want to. Upon first arriving at the island, Edwin tells Cole, “you can find yourself here, but only if you search” (Mikaelsen 20). Edwin…

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Touching Spirit Bear Analysis

According to the Collins Canadian dictionary, the word reconcile means to “harmonize” or “bring back into friendship.” In the book Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikealson juvenile delinquent, Cole Matthews must learn to face his anger. The hurt victim of his crime, Peter Driscal has a hard time healing. Cole eventually sees himself needing to help Peter heal in order for himself to heal. Although it wasn’t a short journey, the two boys eventually come to a place of reconciliation. The circle seemed…

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Analysis Of Touching Spirit Bear

In the beginning of Ben Mikaelson’s Touching Spirit Bear, the protagonist, Cole transforms greatly. At the beginning, cole is filled with rage and hate. By the middle of the book, Cole has begun to let go of his anger. Cole is very different person by the end of the book. 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…

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Touching Spirit Bear Analysis

Touching Spirit Bear was about a very disrespectful, unkind, and pretty much just an all-around really really bad kid; his name Cole Matthews. Cole was disrespectful to every adult (pg.5-6), and lacked many character words such as the ones he lacks the most are integrity and humility. He has many anger issues; and he gets in loads of fights and wins most of the time (pg.6). He wants to be and think he’s better than everyone in every way (pg. 10-13). Cole Matthews is a bad rude kid and he may never…

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Touching Spirit Bear Analysis

The quote “man becomes his worst enemy” is relative to both “Touching Spirit Bear” and “The Monsters are due on Maple Street.” This quote relates to Cole in “Touching Spirit Bear” when he burns the shelter and all of his supplies that he need to survive, but also relates to the neighbors when they turn against each other in “The Monsters are due on Maple Street.” For “Touching Spirit Bear” this quote, “man becomes his worst enemy”, explains that Cole lets his emotions and anger get the best of him…

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