overcome it.

Although Cole is an angry kid for most of the book, his experiences on the island as a result of Circle Justice, and especially his interactions with Edwin and Garvey, change him.  Cole realizes that what he did to Peter, the boy he attacked, was wrong.  He also realizes that the anger that constantly bubbles up inside him because he blames other people for what happens to him is stopping him from moving on.  Slowly, Cole changes.

Before Cole goes to the island, no one believes he is ever going to be anything but a juvenile delinquent.

Peter’s lawyer had asked for the feather. “All your life you’ve lied, manipulated people, and tried to avoid consequences,” she said. “There is absolutely no reason to believe that you have truly changed inside.” (Ch. 6)

Even Cole pretty much shares this sentiment.  When he first arrives, he does not expect to change either.  He tries to escape, burns the cabin down, and attacks the bear.  He is angry and hurt.  His parents have been abusive and neglectful, and his life has been one disappointment after another, and he feels that nothing is his fault.  He is incapable of taking responsibility.

After Cole is injured when he tries to attack the bear, everything changes.  For the first time, he has to face himself.  When he throws the bear’s fur away, it is a sign that Cole is a new person.  He no longer cares if anyone believes that he really saw a Spirit Bear.  Cole has a new understanding of himself, and that is all that matters.  He knows he is telling the truth.

Cole becomes a changed man after this.  He rehabilitates himself, and takes it upon himself to make sure that Peter is okay.  He blames himself for Peter’s suicide attempts.  He understands that Peter too needs to face his demons, and only one of those demons is Cole.  Cole also needs to help Peter. It is part of his own healing.

“There’s still something missing. It isn’t enough to be sorry and forgive. Somehow I have to figure out a way to help Peter. Until then, I’ll never be able to carve anything in the blank space. (Ch. 24)

Helping Peter is not easy, and the two boys are never exactly friends.  Yet Cole is able to show Peter, society, and himself that he has overcome his past and become a new person. 

In this book, we learn how ancient traditions can help us solve modern problems.  As a society, we often throw away our children as if there is no hope for them.  Cole is a troubled youth, but he is troubled because of his past.  Once he faced his past, he was finally given a future.  The path he took to face that past was not one that we have available in our traditional juvenile justice system, however!

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen is a coming-of-age story about a young man named Cole who undergoes a healing treatment on a deserted island as punishment for violently attacking another boy. Cole is taken under the wings of two men: 

• Garvey—Cole’s parole officer who got him into the rehabilitation program called Circle Justice.
• Edwin—He is one of the Native Americans in charge of Circle Justice.

It’s not surprise that isolation would become a central theme to the book since Cole is put on an island alone to work out his problems. The ideal goal for Cole is to reflect on his actions and reenter society as a changed person. Isolation is explored in several ways—mostly through Cole’s experiences.

 First, Cole feels social isolation from the community. For example, Cole believes that people in his community try to help him be a better person only because they want to get rid of him. Mikaelsen writes, “He hated their fake concern. They didn't really care what happened to him. They were gutless—he could see it in their eyes. They were afraid, glad to be rid of him. They pretended to help only because they didn't know what else to do.” Do you see how Cole is isolated from society? He does it to himself, but his community also pushes him away too.

Second, Cole experiences physical isolation. He is physically placed on an island alone. The separation from others really gets to him. Mikaelsen says, “Some nights he cried himself to sleep from loneliness. He couldn't help it. The silence became overpowering, and he longed to hear another human voice.” It’s not that Cole even wants to interact with others; he just wants to hear them to know that he isn’t alone. 

Isolation persists throughout the book until the end when Cole returns to society. From there, he must use his new skills to reenter his community.

Touching Spirit Bear conveys ideas about the importance of forgiveness, sincerity, and compassion. The idea that forgiveness is a dual process is emphasized through the characters of Peter and Cole. One key aspect of forgiveness is acknowledging pain within oneself and forgiving people who have inflicted harm. Just as important is forgiving oneself for any negative actions one might have taken and allowing others to forgive one for damage caused to them. Cole has a difficult time understanding that message because he has so deeply internalized the pain that his parents caused him. He continually rationalizes his behavior as a reaction to past abuse rather than taking responsibility for his own actions and moving forward. When he finally understands Garvey’s point about allowing Peter to forgive him, he can move further along with his own healing process.

All four major conflicts of literature are in Ben Mikaelsen's coming-of-age novel.

• Man vs. Society 

 The protagonist, Cole Matthew, a juvenile delinquent has agrees to be part of a rehabilitation program called Circle of Justice practiced by Native American cultures; he does this only to keep from being imprisoned. In truth, Cole does not wish to repay Nature; he simply wants to avoid imprisonment by choosing to stay on an Alaskan island. He is filled with hatred for authority.

After Garvey departs, Cole rejoices thinking the world is made of suckers and fools and today Garvey is at the top of the heap. It is not until he is mauled by the bear and faced with death that Cole listens to Garvey who rescues him and Rosey who provides medical attention. 

• Man vs. Man

Cole’s family is at the root of his problems: his father beat him severely when he was young, while his mother weakly did not intervene. Consequently, he feels hatred for them both. When he is sentenced in court, he tells the lawyer and his parents, “I never want to see your ugly faces again.” As a result of his background, Cole has no personal respect for anyone. For instance, he contemplates how much he would like to harm Garvey as he is being transported to the Alaskan island. After he nearly dies, Cole begins to have a different perspective; so, too, does his mother, who apologizes to her son, “Somewhere we took a bad turn.” She visits him often in the hospital, telling Cole, “You know I love you, don’t you?” And, as a result of her testimony, Cole’s father is sentence for child abuse, and Cole’s relationship with his mother begins to heal. Also, he realizes that Garvey has meant well toward him all along.

• Man vs. Self

Because Cole Matthews feels unloved, he thinks to himself, 

"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? There are only two things wrong with me--everything I do and everything I say. They'll never be happy until I'm dead."

As a result, he projects this self-hatred onto others and seeks to prove that he is the stronger. It is not until he is on the island and is mauled by the spirit bear and faces death, that Cole has an existential moment in which he wants to live. After he lies helpless and watches sparrows knocked from their tree dying, Cole begins to understand how much life means. When Garvey arrives to rescue him, Cole pointedly tells him, "I am okay."

As he is treated by Rosey and Garvey, Cole displays his gratitude to others for the first time. But, when Cole says he is over his anger, Garvey replies,

“A person is never done being mad. Anger is a memory never forgotten. You can only tame it.”

So, Cole does work to tame his anger, and with the help of his mother, and his return to the island in Chapter 15, where Edwin tells Cole that he will not ever be rid of his anger; he must simply look for the good each time. This advice makes sense to Cole who looks around the island,

It seemed a bizarre dream to be standing alone on this rocky hillside in Alaska...his mind filled with thoughts so totally different from anything he’d known running around on the streets back in Minneapolis. He felt like a new and a different person.

• Man vs. Nature

While the conflict with the spirit bear plays a major role in Cole's character development, Nature figures more as symbolic force and theme than as one presenting conflicts. Indeed, it is from Nature that Cole learns patience (the beaver), strength (the eagle), and whale (search for truth).

Of course, Cole's conflict with the bear is very instrumental in his character change. But, the bear only fights Cole when he is first aggressive as he hurls his spear at it. It is from this conflict that Cole has his existential epiphany as he realizes the value of life and its importance to him and to others. "I'm okay."

Cole was unable to manage his anger and blamed his violent outburst and bitterness on his parents. He blamed his father for hitting him and his mother for doing nothing about it. Cole meted out the same violence on his peers during his moments of anger. During one of his ‘normal’ fits of rage, he hit Peter, one of the other boys, badly enough that he was sent to jail. A probation officer who visited him frequently offered him an opportunity to serve his sentence in the Circle of Justice (an alternative way of helping troubled individuals deal with their deeper issues).

Cole at first believed that this was an opportunity to escape serving the jail time. He believed the banishment was better than the jail time as it also presented him with an opportunity to escape. After he first arrived on the island Cole made futile attempts to escape. He eventually decided to stay on and as time went by he began to change his attitude. Cole’s behavior improved gradually, as time on the island taught him to face his fears including that of anger. Due to his achievements on the island, Cole offered to help Peter face his own fears after he was informed that the boy was deeply troubled after their previous encounter.

The book, Touching Spirit Bear, by Ben Mikaelsen, is full of conflicts for the protagonist, Cole.

Cole is abused by his father, and his mother does nothing to help him. When he gets in trouble, he is turned in by a classmate, Peter. Ultimately, looking for paybacks, Cole beats Peter up. These are all examples of man vs man.

For breaking and entering, Cole's choices are limited, however, his parole officer, Garvey, arranges for Cole to live on an island off the coast of Alaska, completing the Tlingit tribe's Circle Justice, an experience all but Cole hopes will turn his life around. The conflicts represented here are man vs society.

Cole has inner-demons he must deal with as well. He has been abused, shuffled around through the system, and is ultimately left on the island for rehabilitation, angry and alone and very resentful. He has no desire to change. Cole's response to these circumstances are examples of man vs self.

Finally, Cole confronts the Spirit Bear, trying first to frighten it and then to kill it. The enormous creature mauls him, and a major storm hits the island as Cole lies wounded on the ground. Cole is near death, struggling to stay alive. These are examples of man vs nature.

By the story's end, Cole wants to change, but has also formed a bond with nature which will save his life by diverting him from his former path. Having a sense of oneness with nature provides Cole with a sense of peace, something that came to him when he nearly died. By the end of the story, Cole wants to "fix" things with Peter, as well as help Peter help himself (because he is suicidal), and it is on the island, in nature's embrace, that Cole believes the two young man can succeed, with the aid of the Spirit Bear.

The theme is the importance of forgiveness.

Forgiveness is important in this novel because Cole has to forgive his parents, Peter has to forgive him, and he has to forgive himself.  The novel’s events occur because Cole is an angry young man.  His father is abusive and his mother is alcoholic.  He attacks a classmate, Peter, for telling on him when he tried to rob a hardware store.  This just makes him hate himself more.

Cole agrees to take part in Circle Justice because he thinks that he will get an easier sentence.  It has nothing to do with feeling bad about what he has done.  Cole blames everyone else for his own problems.  Garvey tries to explain the importance of the process to him.

Garvey spoke patiently. “You don’t have to be Native American or First Nation. Anybody can love, forgive, and heal. Nobody has a corner on that market.” (Ch. 1)

Cole’s response is to ask what’s in it for him.  However, he gets immense benefits out of forgiveness.  It takes Cole a long time to forgive his parents and himself for what he has done.  The first time he is on the island, he makes no effort to forgive.  He attacks the Spirit Bear and almost dies.  However, after that experience he realizes that Peter can’t forgive him if he doesn’t forgive himself.

Garvey explains the importance of Peter’s forgiving Cole.

 “How come everything is always about you? This forgiveness isn’t for you. Until Peter forgives you, he won’t heal.”

“Maybe if he forgives me, everyone will forget about what I did and I can get out of this pit faster.” (Ch. 3)

It takes Peter a long time to forgive Cole.  He comes to Cole’s island and hates him at first, but he eventually realizes that Cole has changed.  Peter’s forgiveness helps Cole forgive himself.

Cole gives up the resentment he has toward his parents.  The important part is that Cole has come to understand himself better, and he has let go of his anger.  He no longer blames other people, and he is ready to move on.

One of the book’s themes is that you must forgive yourself in order to move on with your life.

Cole was a very angry kid.  His anger was a result of self-loathing.  His parents were both negligent and abusive.  His father hit him and his mother was an alcoholic who did not seem to care what happened to her son.  Cole turned his anger outward, trying to rob a hardware store and attacking his classmate Peter. 

Garvey explains to Cole that Circle Justice is harder than jail time in some ways, because a person has to change.

Everybody is a part of the healing, including people from the community—anybody who cares. But healing is much harder than standard punishment. Healing requires taking responsibility for your actions.” (Ch. 1)

Circle Justice did not seem to be doing Cole any good at first.  They left him on an island for introspection, but instead he tried to escape, burned down his cabin, and attacked a bear.  It was a turning point for Cole when the Spirit Bear almost mauled him to death.  Part of the long road to recovering was coming to an understanding that he was one small part of the world, and only he could forgive himself.

Peter is an important part of Cole’s journey.  Even if Cole can’t forgive Peter and Peter can’t forgive Cole, understanding why he did what he did to Peter is an important part of Cole’s path to success.

“I don’t care if he forgives me.”

Garvey rubbed the back of his neck, then glanced up toward the ceiling. “How come everything is always about you? This forgiveness isn’t for you. Until Peter forgives you, he won’t heal.” (Ch. 3) 

Cole becomes a different person when he returns to the island.  This time he actually tries to introspect.  He follows advice, including exercises like soaking in a spring and carrying a heavy rock up a hill.  It is through his time in nature that Cole learns to forgive himself. 

When Peter arrives on the island, it is hard for him to be around Cole at first.  The boys never become friends, but they do come to an understanding.  Peter realizes that Cole is not the boy he once was.  Seeing this in Peter, Cole makes a full transformation into a much less angry person.

The main conflict is an internal conflict Cole has with himself.

Cole is a very angry kid.  It is because Cole is so angry that he gets into trouble.  Cole is at war with himself.  He is trying to find a way to handle his father’s abuse and his mother’s distance.  He lashes out at pretty much everyone.

The biggest conflict in the book centers around Cole’s attack of a classmate named Peter.  Peter told on Cole when he broke into a hardware store, and Cole beat Peter up so badly that there was brain damage.  Cole’s attack on Peter was self-loathing turned outward.  Cole was not really a bad person, but he was out of control.

The kid, Peter Driscal, was a ninth grader Cole had picked on many times before just for the fun of it. Still, no one ratted on Cole Matthews without paying the price. (Ch. 1)

Cole blames everyone for his problems.  He thinks that those who try to help him are stupid.  He plays along with the Circle Justice hoping that he will get a lighter sentence, but he does not really want to reform.  He just wants to play everyone else, deceiving them into getting what he wants.

When Cole is sentenced to a period of self-inspection on an island, he accepts it but makes no effort to actually change.  The conflict he faces with himself comes to a boiling point when he attacks the bear.  Again, in attacking the bear he is attacking himself.  The external conflict is a proxy for the internal one.

The mauling didn’t make sense. In the past, everything had always been afraid of him. Why wasn’t the bear scared? A bear with half a brain would have turned tail and run. Instead, this dumb animal had attacked. (Ch. 8)

The bear’s attack makes Cole realize how small he is in the scheme of things.  As he is suffering, incapacitated and close to death, Cole evaluates his life.  For the first time, he can see the bigger picture and his place in the world.

Cole’s injuries are serious.  For the first time, he begins to change.  It is a difficult journey for him.  He has to struggle with his feelings of low self-worth and anger.  In healing himself, he has to face the conflict with Peter and with people like Garvey.

The character versus nature conflict is symbolic in this book.  The struggle against the elements mirrors Cole’s inner struggle.  This is why he gets nowhere when he tries to swim off of the island.  Cole is not really ready to face his inner demons.  By the time he does, he has forgiven Peter, the bear, and himself.

Fifteen-year-old Cole Matthews is the main character of Ben Mikaelsen's novel Touching Spirit Bear. He is the protagonist of the story, but for most of the novel he is busy antagonizing anyone he can, any chance he gets. 

Matthews is a troubled boy whose parents (who both have alcohol problems) are divorced and his father is abusive, prompting his bad behavior. Though his home life is not ideal and his father is impossible to please, the boy clearly makes his own bad choices which get him in serious trouble. He robs a hardware store and gets caught; it is certainly not the first time he has been in trouble, but it is the first time he has not been able to get out of it.

The boy's next crime is murder; he nearly kills another boy.

[A]fter school, Cole cornered Peter outside in the parking lot. With anger that had been brewing all day, he attacked him and started hitting him hard in the face with his bare fists. Peter was no match, and soon Cole had pounded him bloody. A dozen students stood watching. When Peter tried to escape, he tripped and fell to the ground Cole jumped on him again and started smashing his head against the sidewalk.

The only thing that keeps Matthews from having to spend much time in prison is the belief two men have in him and in a kind of healing process called Circle Justice. 

Matthews is dropped off on an isolated, uninhabited island in Alaska; he must stay there alone for one year. He is given basic supplies and some help building shelter, but the rest is up to him. He lies, saying he was ready to change, just to escape being locked up; once he is on the island, he unsuccessfully tries to escape by swimming away.

The legend of the Spirit Bear says that whatever anyone does to the white bear (or any of the animals on the island) is what that person does to himself. If he chooses to, Matthews can become a better person during his time on the island. The boy has several encounters with the Spirit Bear, one of which nearly kills him. He is removed from the island so he can heal, and Matthews determines to make a change.

He goes back to the island after spending some time in prison and without the full use of his right arm. While in prison, he learned how to release his anger in less destructive ways. This time he goes to the island willingly and with a good attitude. He is sorry for what he did and tries to make it up with Peter. Things change so dramatically that he is able to make a kind of peace with Peter, the boy he nearly killed. 

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson is a novel that resonates with young adult readers. Cole Matthews is filled with rage, and he steals and fights as a result of it. When he catches Peter Driscal in the school parking lot one day, he beats him so severely that Peter could be left with permanent brain damage. When trying to decide Cole’s punishment, it is decided that Cole will experience a Native American custom known as circle justice which is intended to bring healing to all involved. Cole plays along, but has no real intention of allowing himself to learn from the experience. Cole is banished for one year to a wild and remote Alaskan island, during which he struggles against dealing with his rage against an alcoholic mother and a father who is abusive. When he is attacked and left for dead by the mysterious spirit bear, he comes to many realizations. He is rescued and his life is saved, but his interaction with the spirit bear saved his soul.

Enotes has some good resources related to this novel, so you might try checking out the link below.