42 pages • 1 hour read
Ben MikaelsenGhost Of Spirit Bear
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2008A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Spirit Bear
The Spirit Bear is carried over from Touching Spirit Bear. It is both novels’ primary symbol. After Cole and Peter leave the island, it comes to represent their connection to nature, as well as their inner strength, kindness, and trust. The boys see the Spirit Bear one last time before they leave the island, with Garvey noting that it can always be found by those who are looking for it. This is proven true when the boys find their Spirit Bear in the man without a home. They soon come to realize that the man carries many of the Spirit Bear’s traits, and that, like the Spirit Bear, he teaches and helps them.
Peter mentions how they likely scare him as much as he scares them, as with a bear. Like the elusive Spirit Bear, the man tends to show up and disappear, watching the boys from afar with curiosity in his eyes. When Peter wants to give the man his at.óow, they find a Spirit Bear statue instead, which serves as a symbol of “gentleness, kindness, and strength” for their school from then on (153). Cole’s hope is that by changing the school mascot to the Spirit Bear he can encourage unification and acceptance rather than violence and hatred.
The Circle
The Circle is used throughout both Spirit Bear novels. It ties them together and brings Cole’s journey full circle, as he uses the knowledge he gained in isolation to effect change in his community and school. After living on the island for some time and interacting with the Spirit Bear, Cole began to feel unified with nature and with all things. When he left the island, he felt like he lost that connection and longed to get it back. He and Peter tried hard to replicate their experiences on the island to no avail until Cole tried looking inward.
Cole finds his inner peace again in the most ironic of places, sitting outside the entrance to the city mall on a busy weekend afternoon:
The wind, the rain, all living things were part of something bigger, part of the Circle. Sitting on the grass, Cole felt important for being a part of something that was so big and so wonderful. At the same time he felt insignificant, smaller than a speck of dust in the universe (63).
In this moment, Cole discovers that it does not matter where he is, because he has it within him to find unity regardless of physical location.
On another occasion, Peter and Cole meditate in the park. By imagining the unity of all things, Cole feels at peace, as if he is Honoring Ancestors by Honoring the Self. He is connected to past and present, to all things living and gone. In the story’s conclusion, Peter and Cole decide to gift the school the at.óow blanket as a symbol of their desire to share this sense of unity.
The At.óow
The at.óow is a special blanket carried over from Touching Spirit Bear. The blanket was originally a gift from Garvey to Cole as a symbol of trust between them, and Garvey’s willingness to risk his own reputation on Cole’s redemption. Cole then gifted it to Peter in an offering of peace, and in the hope that Peter would forgive and learn to trust him. In Ghost of Spirit Bear, Peter keeps the blanket, now a symbol of Friendship Grown Out of Conflict and Forgiveness. Peter, in wanting to give the blanket away to Spirit Bear Man, sees a frightened and vilified person who is attacked and bullied for no reason. As someone who is bullied himself, he empathizes with him, and insists on giving the man the blanket to protect him from the cold. Cole and Peter display the blanket with the statue that the man leaves them at their school as a future legacy “to remind us that we are each important and a part of the Circle” (154).
The Bulldog Mascot
The bulldog mascot is the original mascot for Cole’s school whose meaning devolved into negativity over time. Originally, the bulldog was a proud part of the school, representing strength, stamina, and ruthlessness in sport. By the time Cole and Peter attend the school, however, the school’s values have been replaced by violence, hatred, bullying, and a quick decline into chaos.
The bulldog is everywhere—the center statue, the gym mural, the school uniforms. Cole sees the mascot as a representation of the person he used to and no longer wants to be. Cole rejects this version of himself and inspires the student body to change their mascot to a Spirit Bear, replacing hatred with unity and kindness. In fighting against the bulldog, Cole also battles his inner anger and comes closer to finding inner peace. Along the way, he is faced with opposition from local parents and other alumni, as well as the school district itself, who are not only attached to their traditional mascot, but also to their wallets. Thus, the bulldog also represents the bureaucratic system that Cole must work against to achieve his goals and effect change.
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By Ben Mikaelsen
