Essay On Life Is Made Of Choice

During Cole’s 2nd trip to the island, he learned that he have a choice to be happy or mad. Cole always looked at life in a negative way and would get angry at almost everything at any time. Anger was something that made Cole a bad person even though Garvey and Edwin are guiding him to be a better person . Garvey and Edwin are two wise Tlingit elders that helped Cole get on the right track and to live a brighter and better life. When Garvey brought the cake ingredients to the detention center, Cole kicked and threw the ingredients, anger blinding him.

By the end of the book Cole changed 3 things about himself: he learned how to respect others and nature, he learned how to take responsibility for his actions , and he learned that his life has meaning and he should be grateful for it.

No matter how ordinary a human being could be, no one has lived their entire life in someone’s shoe. Everyone stumbles upon different decisions in life, causing different but unique life experiences. However, one’s life can only be changed with one’s decision. Life is about making decisions, whether it’s right or wrong, it all comes from the decision maker.

That Garvey and Edwin’s ways were helpful. As he starts using their ways he soon begins to feel enlightened and able to control his anger and to stop blaming others and accept responsibility. Along with this he learns how to be able to accept other people’s personalities and ways of doing things like Garvey and Edwin with their mysterious yet wise advice. All these previous events leading up to the acceptance of Garvey and Edwin’s advice showed that they were key to his acceptance but if he were to accept their ideas and ways in the first place there wouldn’t be any affect because he would still have the stubborn personality and just wanting to avoid jail. With the help of the spirit bear attack plus previous and later events Cole was able to accept Garvey and Edwin along with their

Instead of killing Cole, the bear walks off, leaving Edwin and Garvey to discover him on the brink of death. When Cole finally has the ability to choke out sentences at the hospital, he declares that he is beyond anger. Cole wanted to stop having his destructive fits of anger and was sure that he would stop being mad. Things would change. Edwin, an elder that Garvey asked assistance from while planning Cole’s banishment, countered his statement by explaining that “A person is never done being mad.

The incredible change in young rebellious Cole was the result of Circle Justice. Circle Justice is a healing form of justice that was beneficial for Cole because he learned to be selfless, he gained a deeper understanding of himself and others, and he learned various symbols that allowed him to understand how to control his anger. Through Cole’s journey he starts to care about others such as the sparrows and Peter. He learned more about himself and his life and why his father beats him and treats him the way he does. Various symbols such as a random stick and rolling the ancestor rock also allowed Cole to understand his anger.

When Cole arrives on the island, he is consumed by anger, bitterness, and an unwillingness to change. As soon as Edwin, a Tlingit elder, and Garvey leave, Cole sets fire to his constructed shelter and supplies, and jumps into the ocean to swim to freedom. Caught by the rising tide, he is unable to escape the island. In his first few days on the island, he has several encounters with a majestic, white bear called a Spirit Bear, and he is determined to kill it out of anger. One day, when he sees the bear, he stabs it with his knife and a makeshift spear.

At the beginning of the novel, Cole Matthews is a vicious teenager who thinks he is superior to everyone, but is, in fact, hiding behind a shield of anger, the result of being brutally abused by his drunken father. Cole’s father, Mr. Matthews, drinks non stop until he becomes a monster, and then ruthlessly beats Cole up. When talking to Garvey, a proud, Tlingit indian, who is also his parole officer, Cole opens up about his father’s abuse saying, “‘You don’t know what it’s like being hit over and over until you’re so numb you don’t feel anything!” (Mikaelsen 28).

Cole Matthews was a sarcastic and a dishonest fifteen-year-old that was always angry and looking for trouble. He had a problem with blaming people for his troubles, when really that main problem was himself. Cole had parents that didn’t even care about him, his father always got so drunk that he didn’t even remember half of the beating that he gave Cole, and his mother was always too drunk to even notice, or even care. Even though the struggle with his parents is really hard for him, Cole’s most immense conflict in his

First of all, Cole was able to overcome his adversity because he wanted to change into a better person. At this point of the story, Cole is in Rosey’s hotel and Cole, Garvey, and Edwin are talking about what happened on the island. “Cole nodded. ‘I do, but it’s okay.

Edwin instructs him to do this, saying that it helped him release his own anger when he was left alone on the island. Cole also carries this "ancestor rock" up a hill on the island each day, in honor of his own ancestors and the unity of all human life. When he reaches the top, he is supposed to roll the rock back down the hill, symbolizing his anger. Hiking has also helped him to clear his mind and to let go of his anger. These examples show us that his anger can not takeover him anymore.

Cole was beaten by him throughout his childhood. This pain and anger gave him the personality and characteristic to inflict pain on other people. The two final themes have a very strong connection. In order to heal, mentally and physically, you have to learn to forgive and receive forgiveness. This was a lesson the reader and the main character, Cole, experience throughout the book.

Cole’s attitude, relationships, and environment develop into positive counterbalances that help him overcome adversity. For starters, Cole’s attitude was a big counterbalance for him that helped him overcome hardships. In the beginning of the book Cole acts like he doesn’t care and

This paper describes and analyzes a life review interview with an older adult. The purpose of this paper is to discuss, record and reflect on an older adult’s life in order to evaluate them on the last stage of Erik Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development; integrity versus despair. This paper will also focus on the elements of a life review as well as the reflections of the interview on the part of the author. JC is a seventy-seven year old white male who lives by himself in New York City. He was born in London, England, and was an only child.

‘Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening,’ ‘Birches,’ and ‘Mowing’” (Rukhaya). The woods can also dually represent self-reliance and nonconformity. By acknowledging his choice in the woods alone, the traveler shows that he is willing to “oppose social norms” (Rukhaya) and rely on his own instinct to come to a decision. As an extended metaphor for choice, it makes sense that the roads represent the journey of life and decision. There are two roads, two choices, and two representations of decision.