“Touching Spirit Bear”
by
Ben Mikaelsen
“Rolling over, then scrambling to his feet, Cole ran toward the trees, bet
they offered no protection. The bear was on him again, dragging him down, its
breath rotten.. Cole gripped the knife with his left hand and clawed with his right at
some long stalks of Devil’s Cub, anything to pull himself away from the raking
claws of the bear. “ pg. 65
Cole is on an island by his self and now he has been attacked by a bear. He
must survive a certain amount of days before someone comes to the island to
check on him, and he is so severely injured he can only move his left arm, and
cant stand up or crawl. This conflict makes it more interesting because the
readers know that it will be hard for Cole to live.
“Cole’s tortured thoughts slowly gave way to an even worse possibility. What if
death didn’t happen right away?” pg.71
While Cole lies on the ground, helpless, he begins to realize that he will die
if no one comes to his rescue soon. He starts to wonder if his death will be
slow and painful, or quick, and he worries about it and the rest of his future. He
decides he’s not ready to die.
“Gradually a buzzing sound grew in his head, growing louder and louder. The
sound bothered Cole.” pg.97
•
The buzzing sound is the sound of a motor on a boat coming to check on Cole.
Cole has been lying in the same place for days after the attack, and is lucky to be
alive. Now someone will find him and he will be saved.
“Stay away from me!” Peter screamed, scrambling to get up.
Cole backed away. “Peter, I’m not going to hurt you.” He held out the candy
bar. “I just brought you this.”
“Get away!” Peter screamed again. Pg. 218
In the beginning of the book, Cole beat up Peter. It was so bad that Peter has
brain problems now. He has even attempted suicide twice since he was beat up.
Now he is scared to death of Cole.
“ The distant green-black forests were shrouded in gray mist. Cole spotted the
tiny shelter that had been built for him near the trees, above the shoreline.” pg. 16
This is a description of the island Cole was banished to when they first got to
the island. Cole is supposed to survive here for a whole year.
“Because of his vicious attack on Peter Driscal, Cole had been kept at a detention
center while the courts decided what to do with him. His white-walled room was bare except for a
bed with a gray blanket, a toilet without a cover, a shelf for clothes a cement table, and a barred
window facing onto the center group area. The place smelled like cleaning disinfectant.” pg. 7
This is a description of the jail cell Cole has to stay in. It is obviously not a
very nice place to have to stay.
“A searing light flashed, and a deafening explosion detonated beside him. He heard a
cracking sound as the sky crashed to earth with a violent impact that shook the ground. Splinters
of branches rained down. Then came silence and calm, as if the impact had paralyzed the sky. The
rain and wind paused, and an acrid smell like burning wire filled the air.” pg. 77
A vicious storm is going on all night long as Cole lies there helpless. A tree
falls right beside Cole, and he is lucky it didn’t fall on him.
“Nobody crossed Cole Matthews and got away with it.” pg.7
The author knows how Cole thinks and how he behaves. In this scene of the book,
Cole beat up another kid for revenge. The naraorator understands that Cole always gets revenge.
“The world was made up of suckers and fools, and today Garvey was at the top of the
heap” pg. 13
•
This is another example of how the narrarator knows how Cole thinks and behaves. In this
part of the novel, Cole tricks his parole officer into making him believe that Cole was ready to
change his self.