As potrayed in many stories perserverance can almost always bring the best out in someone. One factor that is necessary in perserverance is hope because without hope there wouldn’t be anything to work towards. In order for someone to want to perservere they need the initiative to achieve something after their hardship.

Just as many other novels Touching Spirit Bear depicts a character who has to overcome great obstacles in order to achieve his goal. This novel describes a Juvenile Delinquint known as Cole who tries to doctor his mistakes throughout the story after making one vital decision that could have him locked up for years. Although Cole doesn’t regret the mistakes hes made, Cole still fixes his mistakes for the better.

After taking vengeance on another student in school by brutally beating him, Cole seeks a way out of his possible jail term. As an alternative Cole’s parole officer offers the native American method known as the circle of justice.

Although Coles’s parole officer Garvey knows the circle of justice could change Cole’s attitude towards others permanently, Garvey questions Cole’s sincerity after Cole tells him he doesn’t want to change. Cole is later sentenced to one year on an island off the coast of southeast Alaska.

Upon the island for a short amount of time Cole remembers his parents and everyone who wanted to “get rid” of him. This upset Cole and as his anger fermented he started to destroy all that he had for supplies on the island. A short amount of time later Cole starts to have encounters with the spirit bear. Cole tosses multiple rocks towards the bear in hopes the bear would grow fearful of him. When the bear shows little interest towards Cole he decideds that he must kill it. As Cole awaits the bear for his next encounter he fashions a spear to kill the bear. In Cole’s attempt to kill the bear the bear ends up brutally mauling him. With broken bones and internal damage Cole lays near a tree awaiting his death and as he slips out of consciousness a violent storm occurs so strong that it pummels the tree nearly crushing Cole. When Cole awakens from loss of consciousness he quickly becomes hungry and scambles to find what he can to survive. Soon enough Cole comes to accept his death because he is happy that he trusts and was trusted by nature in his last moments. Shortly after his decision he encounters the spirit bear and attempts to provoke it in hope is will end his suffering. Though the bear didn’t take Cole’s life, Cole was rescued by Garvey on the brink of death. After six months of recovery Cole returns to the island to finish his sentence.

As of Febuary 24th it was reported a volunteer firefighter from Illinois extinguished a massive building fire all alone for 35 minutes due to budget cuts in the fire department. He struggled to keep the fire contained but had difficulty due to the wind and an occupied home next door. Eventually help had arrived from neighboring district and luckily no one was injured. The department has only six volunteers and its not unusual for atleast one to be on duty at virtually any given time.

These two different situations have great relation because they both describe an American pushing to achieve a goal with no support of others. They both show how even someone who is insignificant to the entire world can have significance on a smaller scale with greater meaning. They both describe perserverance and the will to achieve what many couldn’t do. What these two did took enormous amounts of focus and hope for a better future.

In conclusion I feel as though both stories depict a hero in the midsts of action achieving the impossible. Although their lives may not have much meaning their actions mean the world through the eyes of others. Both persevered no matter how hard the challenge was and ended up better people afterward.