Touching Spirit Bear
By Ben Mikaelsen
Garvey:
Edwin:
Peter:
Cole:
The Spirit Bear
The Never Ending Circle of Life
Cole's Totem Pole
1.Symbol; The Spirit Bear
2.Motif; Anger
3.Symbol; The Ancestor Rock
4.Symbol; The Soaking River
5.Motif; Circle
Thematic Quote
“A strange thought occurred to Cole: the world was beautiful. Yes, the world was beautiful….He wondered why he had never noticed this all before. How much beauty had he missed in his lifetime? How much beauty had he destroyed?” p 114
In this thematic quote from the book, Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, Cole is thinking that there is a lot of beauty in the world, if you just stop for a second and allow yourself to look around. Ironically, at the point in the book when this realization occurs, and Cole sees that there is beauty all around him, he is badly hurt and cannot get up to take in all the beauty he has just discovered. In this particular quote, Mikaelsen shows that Cole has truly discovered a world that was previously unknown to him.
I Am...
I am depressed and hurt
I wonder if Cole will ever just leave me alone
I hear the sounds of bones breaking replaying in my head
I see a gathering pool of sticky, red blood out of the corner of my weary eyes
I want to exist no more
I am Peter Driscal
* * *
I pretend that everything is fine
I feel undesired from the world
I touch the thought of death often, in my ever-scarred mind
I worry about sleeping on the same ground as Cole Mathews
I cry at the thought of how i used to be: Happy
I am Peter Driscal
* * *
I understand Cole is attempting to change
I say things to Cole to try and act tougher than i feel
I dream of what i would be like if i hadn't snitched
I try to understand soaking and the ancestor rock
I hope i will get better
I am Peter Driscal