Review of Cole Matthews' Character in 'Touching Spirit Bear'

 Cole Matthews is a stubborn and hurtful character at the beginning at least. He didn't have the best family background, with an abusive dad and an uncaring mom. Cole Matthews is a round and dynamic character. His character has many side and complex personalities. You can tell he is a round and dynamic character because of his way of thinking and how he can be so submissive when his dad abuses him. But when Peter had made him angry dominance took over him and he started to beat up Peter. His stubborn personality is one of his side personalities. It takes over him when someone offers help. His submissive side takes over when his dad beats him and he can't do anything to stop it. His mother is usually too drunk to stop such madness. At the same time Cole is very hurt inside, his mother ignores him and his dad abuses him. He can't help but react in such an impulsive way when he is angry due to such events. He only knows the fact to hurt people when he is mad because of how his dad reacts to such things. He takes notes and causes trouble for everyone because of it. All of this makes one very complex persona. Luckily the Circle of Justice helped cole change up this complex personality, which brings me to the reason he is a dynamic character since he changes dramatically throughout the story.

Cole Matthews was a careless, aggressive, and a rude person before all of the healing began. “‘Cole jumped on him again and started smashing his head against the sidewalk.’”. You can see that Cole is careless based on the quote above from the book. He carelessly smashes Peter’s head against the sidewalk as if he does this daily. ‘“Something terrible must have happened to you to make you want to kill a poor, small animal.’” . Cole states that he would also be able to kill a small poor animal as well. Most people would have mercy for a weak and small animal, but Cole thinks otherwise. He thinks that if anything or anyone is scared of him the better. He would just kill the small, poor animal effortlessly, like a heartless person. He says this in such a careless way. Cole is also a very aggressive person. ‘“With anger that had been brewing all day, he attacked him’”. Instead of putting anger in a different method, Cole decided to put it all on Peter. This makes him very aggressive for he brutally beaten Peter. He could have solved it in a different way, but he decided to put all of him problems on Peter instead. After Peter’s beating and when Cole was pulled off from other students Cole still decided to be aggressive and spit and laughed at Peter. “‘Cole laughed and spit at him even as he was held back.’”. It was like as if Cole had wanted to do more and smashing Peter’s head against the sidewalk wasn’t enough. And the fact that Cole had the audacity to laugh at Peter’s state. Cole was obviously held back from harming Peter any longer, as six students had to hold Cole back. Cole is last but not least, rude. Cole being rude is something you can pick right off the bat as you read the first few pages. He calls anyone who is older than him ‘old man’. “‘Get real old man’”. It is extremely rude and immature to call your elders old man. Cole does this in such a rude matter. On page eight it states that Cole didn't really care about Peter’s health after the beating. ‘Serves him right.’ Cole mumbled when he was told of Peter’s condition.’” How could Cole say such a thing after all the treatments and traumas Peter is going through after the beating!? Instead of being just a bit kinder and being apologetic about Peter’s condition, Cole just honestly doesn't care about anyone or anything. He is rude to nature and the others around him, which eventually led to the punishment of staying at the island.

Cole had gone through multiple experiences that led to Cole’s healing. The first experience that caused a change was getting mauled by the Spirit Bear. Cole yells at the seagulls that are pecking on his skin. He felt so weak that the seagulls did nothing but grunt instead of leaving. This has an impact on Cole because it shows that he isn't some big tough guy after all. He’s just human. Cole is not used to the feeling that others aren't afraid of him. In fact, Cole can’t seem to get rid of this angry feeling that has been brewing in him. This led to the little lesson he learned from Edwin. The stick was also something that had made an impact on Cole. The stick showed that anger will always exist no matter what. Cole starts to understand that no matter what he does anger will always be there. Anger is always gonna be a feeling that can't disappear. Every once and a while anger is gonna be a feeling, but it is best to not always be angry. After the day ended Cole would do a dance that he saw, the wolf dance probably made a big impact on Cole. After the wolf dance, Cole learns that you should accept help and that you need others. Cole used to not want help from others ,so when he learned that sometimes you need to accept help. It really helped Cole realize that he can't do everything by himself. He used to not want to receive help, but then he learns that he needs help to survive, like a pack of wolves. This shows how Cole learned from his mistakes from his experiences.

Cole became an honest, generous, and regretful after all the healing. Cole showed his honest through the totem pole. “‘Cole said, ‘I started making a canoe, but I knew that was wrong, so I cut this deep groove so I couldn't try again.’” Cole was being honest that he at first attempted to make a canoe ,since the log was perfect for a canoe. This showed improvement in Cole’s personality since before he would just lie. Cole also admits to doing the routine to get rid of anger every morning. ‘Been soaking in the pond every morning?’ Cole nodded.” Cole would usually not admit to such doings. He would probably lie just to get out of jail the easy way in the past. Cole also had shown his generosity when Peter came to the island. For example, Cole decided to let Peter have the cabin. ‘You don't have to sleep in this cabin with me if you don't want to,’ Cole interrupted.’” (Mikaelsen 216). Cole offers the bed in the cabin where it is warm instead of where it is cold outside. Cole would usually just want the best for him and not do such a generous offer for someone else. He also offers things to Peter. ‘How about you, Peter?’ Cole offered’” . Cole offers a warm drink to Peter on a cold day. Like what I had stated earlier, Cole shows an act of generosity by willing to give something to Peter. Peter sadly thinks that Cole doesn't regret what he did to Peter. Cole does feel deep regret though. ‘He’s so scared of me,’ Cole said’”. Cole gets a hint of regret when he sees that Peter is drop dead scared of him. Cole just wants to make amends with Peter and go back to life feeling better. It is hard to do this because Peter is just so scared, which is why Cole gets a hint of regret. Cole even offers help just to make sure Peter will forgive him. ‘I'll do anything to help you and make things right…’ When Peter and Cole are fighting towards the end of the book, Cole wants to make sure he can do whatever he can to make sure Peter won't turn into his past self. This shows that Cole is starting to care about nature and others around him.

This brings it all down to my conclusion. Cole went through many experiences and hardships to get to what he became at the end of the book. All of this effort showed how he is a dynamic character. All this change was most definitely worth it. He became a better person to others around him and showed that a person can change for good. His good side became such a main personality at the end, which is why he is a round character as well. He may have his angry side as well, but Cole learned that anger will always be there no matter how much you try to get rid of it. You just need to make sure you know how to control it. All of this brings down to how Cole came to be the person he became at the end.