Character Analysis: Touching Spirit Bear

Thinking before Taking Action

As a human being, anger is an unavoidable emotion. It is close to impossible to control other people’s reactions, but how you control your reactions depend entirely on you. George Jean Nathan said, “No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched.” Meaning no person can make the correct decision when they are being driven by their anger. It’s difficult to handle strong emotions, but it takes an even stronger person to learn how.
The idea of managing impulsivity is to handle your anger in a healthy way and to express yourself without hurting anybody. Anger isn’t always a bad emotion; it can sometimes even change your life for the better. However, it all depends on how you decide to act with that anger. Not
only can acting on impulse affect the people around you, but it can also hurt you, both your body and your mind. Negative emotions cause hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which produce stress. Stress is known to hurt your health and can lead to things such as diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease, according to R. Morgan Griffin on WebMD. Lecia Bushak from Medical Daily says, “Studies have shown that anger can actually lead to heart attacks and an increased risk of cardiovascular problems — perhaps not surprisingly, as a sudden burst of anger can cause an over-the-top surge of chemicals throughout the body, like adrenaline and noradrenaline” The average heartbeat is 80 beats per minute, but anger can raise that number to a whopping 180 beats per minute. Anger isn’t the only emotion with negative consequences, acting on your stress, sadness, and shock can all be unhealthy. Feeling these emotions excessively can hurt your heart, brain, immune system, and the rest of your body. Remaining calm in tense situations is the best option to maintain a healthy body. In the book Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, 15 year-old Cole Matthews is sent to an island in Southeastern Alaska because of his crimes.
The last straw that got him to that island was Cole beating up one of his fellow classmates, Peter Driscal, to the point of brain damage. Cole’s past of an abusive and alcoholic father show why he acts the way he does. Instead of facing long years in prison, Cole is given the opportunity by Garvey, his parole officer, to join Circle Justice. While he is at the island where the program is located, Cole tries to escape but ends up almost being killed by Spirit bear, a bear that is said to be a spiritual being. Cole takes the time to think about his mistakes, anger, and regrets his decisions. Throughout the novel, he learns how to be at inner peace with himself and how to control his rage instead of using it to hurt other people. Cole focuses on how to become a better person and does his best to fix the mistakes he’s made. Not only does this book display that anger can be powerful and dangerous, but it also demonstrates the importance of controlling your
feelings.
The issue of controlling one’s impulsivity has remained a problem in many people, even 247 years ago.
The Boston Massacre was a crucial event that occurred on March 5th, 1770. At this point in history, tension was high between the British forces and angry colonists. People of the 13 colonies began to become outraged at Britain for passing unfair laws, such as taxes on goods like tea and paper. A group of men whom had lost their jobs and blamed the British gathered around the Customs House in a riot. Eight British soldiers stood their ground in front of the protesters, both sides becoming more and more outraged at each other. The event quickly escalated after young Edward Garrick is hit with the back of a soldier’s firearm. Private Hugh Montgomery is hit with a club and is the first to fire at the colonists, despite Captain Thomas Preston’s command not to shoot. More men are killed as people began to back away from the scene. The Boston Massacre ends with 5 patriots dead and 6 wounded. As the Independence Hall Association says, “The Boston Massacre was a signal event leading to the Revolutionary War.” The colonists were fed up with Britain and acted on their anger without thinking about what could’ve and did happen. The soldiers ignored their orders not to shoot and turned a riot into a massacre that led to the Revolutionary War. Had both sides controlled their rage and not acted without considering the consequences, the death of 5 people would have been
avoided.
Developing in me: Being able to handle the way you react isn’t the easiest thing to conquer. Anger is a natural emotion for us to feel, and it’s impossible to avoid it completely. Controlling my temper and anger has always been a little more difficult for me than other people. When I was younger, I had a very short temper and it took the tiniest amount of anger for me to explode. I wasn’t the only one in my family who had this trait, the majority of my family was the same. Around the age of 9, I remember having to drive with my parents to pick up my eldest brother from school. He had been sitting in the principal’s office for an hour with another one of his classmates after he had gotten into a physical fight with him. My brother had seemed to disagree with the other student’s opinion and decided that it’d be best for them to brawl it out. Unfortunately for both, they had failed to realize that there could’ve been a much calmer, less violent way to fix their issue. Although I was young, I knew I had to find a way to control my impulsiveness and anger before it controlled me. Since then, I’ve become a calmer person and have avoided using my fists instead of my words, which I think is the best way to manage your impulsivity. “The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment,” – Dorothy Nevill. A person’s true strength comes to surface when they prove that even in dire and difficult times, they stop and give thought to what they will say and do. Managing impulsivity is a habit that should be practiced every day because it can completely transform your relationships, friendships, and overall life.