Character sketch
Cole Matthews is a boy that lives and goes to school in Minneapolis and is the main character in the book Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen. Cole is freakishly tall but was as skinny as a tooth pick or a saw blade. He had a baby face that made him look like “he was a good innocent fifteen year old” page 5, school boy but he wasn’t so good. But Cole wasn’t so good. Cole was in trouble most of his life. He was always getting into fights and in trouble with the law. People didn’t like Cole they don’t like their kids being around Cole at all because he is a bad influence or they might get beat up like peter and get there head smashed in the cement. Cole’s dad is real Pease of work, he is always drinks and when he drinks he likes to beat on Cole but doesn’t admit it to anyone while Cole’s mom just drinks a lot to try and block it out instead of saying anything or trying to stop it. Cole’s mom is looks like a Barbie; she looks good and wears dresses, but never does anything to help Cole.
Cole is very stuck up and doesn’t like to tell people his problems or show even a slight amount of emotion. He is the kind of person that likes to keep everything to himself. He likes it when his parents get him out of going to jail and when people are scared of him, he loves that. But Cole doesn’t like anymore things in his life than he likes. He hates people that aren’t afraid of him and or those who won’t stand up to him bravely. Most of all Cole hates that his dad beats him and blames him for every little thing. Both his dad and mom ignore when he talks to him or wants help with something. He really fears his father because he is scared that one day he will beat up Cole really bad or even kill him.
Cole is the kind of kid that is rude and sarcastic when most people try talking to him especially if it’s about him getting into trouble. He hates it when people try to help him to stop being bad and rude. He is extremely nasty most of the time and thinks he’s really strong and made of steel especially when he is at school or around people his age. A good word to describe Cole is belligerent. In the start he was a big talker, he would brag that he would escape the island and if the the bear showed up he would try and kill it. Most of the time he would he would talk about how much he didn’t like his parents and peter, or the people trying to help him with his life. But after he had come back from the island he talked different. He was more polite and wasn’t always angry or belligerent. It was like he was a whole new boy that was calmer and understood way more than he did before. He didn’t talk about how much he hated his father or that his mother would stay silent when Cole would get beat.
Cole had many problems in his mind that he had to overcome to get better. For one thing he had to forgive his father for beating him and his mother for trying to block it out by drinking and ignoring what was going on right in front of her. He really needed to get over his anger because it was really pulling him down a hole because of these things.
So Cole goes to a freezing cold pond early every morning to sit in the water and meditate. This teaches him to forget about his own problems and focus on the world around him. Then he carries a heavy rock up a steep hillside to teach him he must care for others to help himself. At the top of the hill, he pushes it back down to get rid of his inner anger. Every night he dances around the fire, imitating animals that he has seen that day. This helps him to act out hid feelings in a meaningful way that doesn’t hurt anyone or anything else. Because of his time spent on the island getting in touch with himself and the world around him, Cole learned to be more patient and not so angry. He learned to control his anger and feel for others. He even let peter beat him up and did not fight back. He had sympathy for him instead. He also became friends with Edwin and Garvey. He told them that he appreciated everything that they had done for him. He repaired his relationship with his mother to, and felt sorry for his dad because he had been beaten as a child.
By Brady Fraser
Cole Matthews is a boy that lives and goes to school in Minneapolis and is the main character in the book Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen. Cole is freakishly tall but was as skinny as a tooth pick or a saw blade. He had a baby face that made him look like “he was a good innocent fifteen year old” page 5, school boy but he wasn’t so good. But Cole wasn’t so good. Cole was in trouble most of his life. He was always getting into fights and in trouble with the law. People didn’t like Cole they don’t like their kids being around Cole at all because he is a bad influence or they might get beat up like peter and get there head smashed in the cement. Cole’s dad is real Pease of work, he is always drinks and when he drinks he likes to beat on Cole but doesn’t admit it to anyone while Cole’s mom just drinks a lot to try and block it out instead of saying anything or trying to stop it. Cole’s mom is looks like a Barbie; she looks good and wears dresses, but never does anything to help Cole.
Cole is very stuck up and doesn’t like to tell people his problems or show even a slight amount of emotion. He is the kind of person that likes to keep everything to himself. He likes it when his parents get him out of going to jail and when people are scared of him, he loves that. But Cole doesn’t like anymore things in his life than he likes. He hates people that aren’t afraid of him and or those who won’t stand up to him bravely. Most of all Cole hates that his dad beats him and blames him for every little thing. Both his dad and mom ignore when he talks to him or wants help with something. He really fears his father because he is scared that one day he will beat up Cole really bad or even kill him.
Cole is the kind of kid that is rude and sarcastic when most people try talking to him especially if it’s about him getting into trouble. He hates it when people try to help him to stop being bad and rude. He is extremely nasty most of the time and thinks he’s really strong and made of steel especially when he is at school or around people his age. A good word to describe Cole is belligerent. In the start he was a big talker, he would brag that he would escape the island and if the the bear showed up he would try and kill it. Most of the time he would he would talk about how much he didn’t like his parents and peter, or the people trying to help him with his life. But after he had come back from the island he talked different. He was more polite and wasn’t always angry or belligerent. It was like he was a whole new boy that was calmer and understood way more than he did before. He didn’t talk about how much he hated his father or that his mother would stay silent when Cole would get beat.
Cole had many problems in his mind that he had to overcome to get better. For one thing he had to forgive his father for beating him and his mother for trying to block it out by drinking and ignoring what was going on right in front of her. He really needed to get over his anger because it was really pulling him down a hole because of these things.
So Cole goes to a freezing cold pond early every morning to sit in the water and meditate. This teaches him to forget about his own problems and focus on the world around him. Then he carries a heavy rock up a steep hillside to teach him he must care for others to help himself. At the top of the hill, he pushes it back down to get rid of his inner anger. Every night he dances around the fire, imitating animals that he has seen that day. This helps him to act out hid feelings in a meaningful way that doesn’t hurt anyone or anything else. Because of his time spent on the island getting in touch with himself and the world around him, Cole learned to be more patient and not so angry. He learned to control his anger and feel for others. He even let peter beat him up and did not fight back. He had sympathy for him instead. He also became friends with Edwin and Garvey. He told them that he appreciated everything that they had done for him. He repaired his relationship with his mother to, and felt sorry for his dad because he had been beaten as a child.
By Brady Fraser