Character Analysis: Touching Spirit Bear

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Transformation of a person starts from the inside, if successful it starts to show on the outside. In the novel Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, Cole Matthews, a fifteen-year-old delinquent is in trouble for his biggest mistake yet, hurting Peter Driscal which causes him pain and trauma all because Peter had turned Cole in for robbing a store. The Circle of Justice offers another option instead of sending him to prison. Cole can be sent to an isolated island and try to survive a whole year to understand his mistakes. Between those two options, he selects the island looking for the easy way out of punishment. Cole goes on to change his past by turning aggressive to passive and careless to understanding and trying to earn trust from others on his way to transforming into a better person, which …show more content…

Edwin, the Tlingit elder who oversees Cole's sentence on the island, and Garvey, Cole’s parole officer, are the only two people who truly believe Cole can change. Because of this belief, they help him by setting up a shelter and providing him with essentials to survive such as food and clothing. Edwin reminds Cole about the reason he came to this island by saying, “ ‘Anger keeps you lost," he said, as he started back toward the shelter. "You can find yourself here, but only if you search’ ” (Mikaelsen 18). The first time Cole arrives at the island Edwin and Garvey both tell him that this is the perfect place to find himself and become a better person. Cole later gets angry and burns down the shelter along with all the supplies that Garvey and Edwin provided for him. He doesn’t listen to anyone and thinks he can do it by himself and not with anyone else’s help. Towards the end of the book, Cole becomes more settled on his second trip back to the island. Edwin teaches Cole some rituals to heal his anger such as soaking in a freezing pond to clear his head, carrying a large rock up a hill and

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