Reynolds
Touching Spirit Bear
Life is akin to a book… alone the ideas are useless but together they create a masterpiece.
In Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen a troubled boy named Cole Mathews has been beat by
his drunken father and is ignored by his fragile mother. Cole has become violent himself and has
been sent to a detention center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Because of his assault and beating on
a fellow classmate, Peter Driscal, Cole’s punishment is to either to go to prison or be banished to
a Southeast Alaskan island for a year. So Garvey, Cole’s parole officer, and Edwin, a Tlingit
elder trying to help Cole change, take Cole to the island even thought he was reluctant to go but
he thought it was better than jail. After Garvey and Edwin get Cole ready for his long
banishment, they leave. After a few days into his banishment Cole is mauled by a Spirit Bear.
After his mauling he has committed to changing his attitude towards life and other people and he
is sent back to the island as a new person. After staying on the island he thinks that apart of his
healing is to heal other people so he decided to ask Peter if he would heal with him and come to
the island. While on the island, Peter lets out his feeling on Cole and they eventually become
friends. Their healing is complete. Ben Mikaelsen wrote this composition to examine reflect
and even change the human experience.
To begin, Ben Mikaelsen examines the human experience by scrutinizing carefully human
behavior. Cole’s father physically abuses because he gets drunk.
He hasn’t been taught
anything else in his life and that’s all he knows what to do. Cole was on the island thinking
about his life. “He laughed at all the times he had been beaten by his drunken father”
(Mikaelsen, 30). The text reflects the human experience because there are 900,000 innocent
children being abused every year. Those children will either have anger and use that anger to
become violent or they will think that violence is a positive thing because they have seen it all of
2
Reynolds
their life. No one told them it was wrong. Those people then will abuse their children and the
cycle keeps going on until it is stop complete and that will be very difficult because we can’t stop
at the root because it’s grow out all over the world, so we have stop it leaf by leaf. Through his
examination of the human experience, Mikaelsen is trying to convey that abuse is not a good
way to expel anger. People can expel their anger verbally. It lets out the same amount of energy
that has been bottled up that cause anger as physically letting it out, but there is a major
difference: no one gets hurt. Also, so no one gets hurt emotionally, the banishment of the anger
can be done it private were the other person doesn’t know it happened. It’s not that we should
always talk about people behind their back it’s just that it is a better alternative than physical
violence.
In addition, Ben Mikaelsen reflects the human experience by showing an image of human
behavior. Edwin tells Cole why he and Garvey are helping Cole because Cole asked Edwin why
he is even cares about him at the beginning of his banishment. Cole thought that they were only
helping him because it they were forced to but Edwin confesses the true mean of their dedication
to his healing. They thought that helping Cole heal will help themselves heal and relieve the
guilt they have from their past. They think their good deeds will redeem them from their other
bad deeds because they think a positive cancels a negative. “Maybe Garvey and I want
redemption for our own mistakes in life. We were never able to help those we hurt” (Mikaelsen,
157). Through his reflection of the human experience Mikaelsen is trying to express that some
people can find healing and happiness from helping other people. They’ve adapted to helping
others so much, that they have found pleasure in it. This is like the philosopher, Moses
Maimonides. He believes that you should be able to find happiness in helping others and Garvey
and Edwin have already done that.
2
Reynolds
Furthermore, Ben Mikaelsen wonderfully changes the human experience by changing the
future course of human behavior. Cole had grabbed the hair from the Bear when he had met the
Bear before. Later, he throws the Spirit Bear hair into the water when he is on his way to get
medical attention after getting mauled by the Spirit Bear. He wanted his words to be his only
proof to show his commitment to change himself. “Beginning today he would tell the truth. His
words would become his only proof” (Mikaelsen, 112). While changing the human experience,
Mikaelsen is trying to convey that one should make their words their only evidence. If they
believe in what they have done, then that will be their only defense. They should not let try to
convince anything to anyone because they know what they did and no one can change that.
Before this text I always was trying to convince everyone that my opinion and statement was
right. I would try so hard to get them to believe me. I would give them physical evidence at the
scene and still when they didn’t believe me, I would continue to try to persuade them. Because
of this text, I will absolutely, make my words the only thing I have to defend my opinion. If
anyone says I’m wrong, I won’t care because I know what I did and no one can change that.
This will help me have confidence when others put me down because I will believe myself.
In conclusion, writers create text to reflect examine and change the human experience.
Cole learns that physical abuse is not a good way to expel anger. Also, he realizes that it is
possible to find healing and happiness from helping other people. Lastly, he has discovered that
he should make his words his only evidence. To sum it all up, as someone reads a book they
can find the open emotions and thoughts of the writers heart and mind, and then change their
attitude towards all things eternally.
2