In Touching Spirit Bear, Cole deals with some pretty serious isolation and loneliness, which makes perfect sense since he has to live on a deserted island in Alaska for an entire year. But being banished to an island to reflect on his crimes is only a part of Cole's isolation—he's felt alone since childhood. He's felt ignored and unimportant because his parents, who are both alcoholics, don't show him the love that he needs.
It's this lifelong isolation that lands Cole on the island in physical isolation. His response to his parents epically failing him has been to constantly lash out. And now that he's beaten up an innocent boy, Cole has to face his crimes by spending time literally alone, reflecting long and hard on where he went wrong and how he can make amends.
Questions About Isolation
- Why do you think being alone is a part of Circle Justice?
- How do Cole's parents abandon him emotionally? How significant is this abandonment?
- Why does Cole choose Circle Justice over being in jail?
- How does Cole cope with his loneliness when he's alone on the island? Does this change over time? If so, how? If not, what does this tell you?
Chew on This
Though Cole is technically more alone than ever before while on the island, it's during this time period that he starts making actual connections in his life—and he starts learning how to rely on other people.
Cole has always resented people in his life for not paying attention or caring about him, but when someone comes along who does care about him—like Garvey—he pushes them away. Ultimately, he's isolating himself just as much as other people are isolating him.