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Touching Spirit Bear Analysis

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Touching Spirit Bear Analysis
The theme of Touching Spirit Bear is that you can always change yourself for the better. Cole went through some rough times as a child which caused his actions to be pretty dumb as he was nearing adulthood. Cole repeatedly slammed the head of one of his peers into the sidewalk for telling people he robbed a hardware store and left it a disaster. Afterwards, the Circle sentenced him to live in isolation on an Alaskan island. Cole had to chose between changing his ways or potentially going to prison for the rest of his life. In Cole’s young life, he was beat by his father quite often, and his mother always turned her back and never interfered. Both of his parents were alcoholics and his father was convinced that everything bad going on in his …show more content…
He thought that he must be really close, and looked back only to discover that he was still in the bay. The tide had been pulling him back in as he swam. Left on the island, he had no supplies and no shelter.
Within the first few days, he was mauled by a mysterious solid white bear, which the locals called the spirit bear. He had thought that he was tough enough to kill it. He was in really bad condition and could not move. He laid on the ground for what seemed like weeks, unable to move. He was dehydrated and hungry and had gotten bug bites on almost every inch of his body. Bugs crawled in his open wounds. The next time the boat came to the island, they found Cole, almost dead. They took him to the hospital and Cole recovered, although he would never regain full strength in his arm.
Cole was taken back in front of the Circle, and was told that he had ruined his chance and they did not believe that he wanted to change. At this point, Cole really did want to go back to the island and prove that he wanted to change. He begged for them to give him another chance, and after much persuasion, the Circle gave in. He was taken back to the island but was told he would not be given a shelter and supplies this time. He would have to help build his own shelter and only receive the most essential supplies. When that was done, Cole was again

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