This week’s blog response will also be done in two places. YOUR BLOG you must post on a topic that you have researched and applied to the book, and then I would like you to post your opinion on ONE of the two following topics RIGHT HERE: Don't forget to respond to eachothers' posts!
(1) At the end of Chapter 15 of Touching Spirit Bear, Garvey says, “We still believe in you and think there’s hope…because of that, we’ve stuck our necks out so far, we feel like two giraffes. Last night we convinced the Circle to release you to our custody.” After everything Cole has done, would you, as a member of that circle, make the same decision? Why or why not? Support your answer with details from the story.
(2) One of the themes of Touching Spirit Bear is “Justice should heal, not punish” (12). Do you agree with this theme? Why or why not? How could or should this principle be applied in mid-Maine?
Happy Fourth of July!
18 comments:
I have been at my camp in Greenville all week and im going to soccer camp sunday-thursday. I'm going to try and get this stuff done. How do I tell Mr. Vigue? Can I email him through the school e-mail? I had to take a trip to my gradmothers house to tell you this so I don't know if I will be able to email him in time anyways. Well I will get my stuff in A.S.A.P!!
I think as a member of the circle it would be a hard decision. As a reader I have seen the change in Cole and so it would be an easy decision for me. Cole hit his all time low when he was on his death bed and that was the life changing point for him. As a member of the circle, Cole has lied to them so many times that how can you believe that he has changed? I think I would still have to let him go back to the island. You would be loosing nothing by letting him go and there is a chance that he would change whereas in jail you know nothing is going to change.
Its hard to decide. In one way I would be very angry and not want to give him a chance again. Especially after all the disrespect to them, but to their property (the cabin) and to nature. Also, to himself.
But, in a way if I had gone through what Garvey had, then I would know he deserved another chance. I would be extremely cautious, but not give him a chance to hurt my feelings if he failed.
I would of done the same thing if I was in the circle's place. Cole had shown great progress from when he originally enter the circle, and broke out in argument with his father (page 46); he was blatantly disrespectful, and obviously only trying to get out of a jail cell. If you compare that to after the mauling and Cole is in the circle once again, (page 128) Edwin gives him a huge push that sends him flying onto the floor, Cole only reaction was to say "I wasn't expecting that". That is just one of the examples of Cole's change, another appears on the page 120, where Cole settles into his cell instead of harboring his anger like on page 22. I would of made the same decision that the circle made, taking those examples into account, and his overall improvement in attitude at the circle meetings.
As a member of the circle this would be one of the hardest choices. Cole has made many mistakes and he has only tried to fight the help that they have provided for him. The circle looks at what would be the best punishment for a person. I would choose releasing him to Garvey and Edwin. In the beginning Cole was only trying to get out of going to jail, he was not interested in helping himself or others. When Cole reappears in front of the circle after he has been attacked by the bear he has changed, he now wants to help himself get better. Edwin helps Cole show this change in himself, Edwin walks into the middle of the floor and Edwin shoves him down on the floor. Cole's reaction in the beginning of the story would have been to get back up and hit Edwin back but Cole doesn't he stays on the floor and asks Edwin what he was doing. This shows that Cole is making a change in his life. I must say that even seeing the change in Cole, Garvey and Edwin pleading his case would make the choice easier for me to let him go back to the island.
So like nobody is doing the mini reports....unless they have made new blogs....its kinda hard to comment on them if you can't read them....i made a new blog...
http://ashleeplawrence.blogspot.com/
so yeah...i thought touching spirit bear was a really good book though. im glad i read it. i dont think i would have if it wasn't required.
Hi, Laura, that's okay, and I'll pass your message on to Mr. Vigue, but you can always email him at wvigue@msad48.org.
I would still want to help Cole because I would feel that it was my responsibility to help this boy out. They say that justice should heal not punish, therefore by giving up on Cole, it would punish him. He would have to live the life he started with, filled with pain, anger and violence, instead of a normal teenagers life. I would of done the same thing as Garvey, because it would seem that Garvey knows what Cole was going through, and wants to help him.
I agree with the theme that justice should try to heal instead of punish criminal offenders. I think that helping someone to realize their mistakes and setting them on the right path is more important than some kind of vindictive closure that victims or their families might want to see. I understand how the parents of someone like Peter Driscal would want Cole to be punished for his actions, but I think that in the long run, helping him to heal and really become a better person is probably the more beneficial route for everyone. If a person has really changed, they aren't going to want to repeat their mistakes when the healing period is over, as opposed to doing their time in jail and then acting out again. I think there should be opportunity for this kind of justice in Maine, and that we should have some kind of Circle Justice of our own. While obviously neither system of justice is perfect, I definitely think that helping someone to get their life back on the right track is the better option to justice that is exclusively disciplinary.
I agree with abby, justice should heal, not punish. And even though the victim and family would prefer a harsher punishment, sometimes, it would help more to over come the problem, instead of repressing it. Abby was right when she said helping to set someone on the right path is better than some type of vindictive closure.
Overall, whether or not Justice should heal, and not punish is almost completely dependent on the reality of how plausible it is to "heal" someone. Obviously, if it is possible for someone who has committed some sort heinous act with full intent beforehand on committing said act, to be changed in such a radical way that they would regret their previous actions deeply, and wish to make up for them... then of course that would be the way to go about dealing with people who commit atrocious acts.
The problem comes with trying to realistically implement this in a way that would ensure that society would not be endangered by those who before going into this "healing process" had a mindset which allowed them to be a threat to society. If, and this is my overarching opinion, it were possible to put in place a system that was as close to 100% effective as anything in the world is, then yes I would have to agree healing should be used as opposed to punishment. However, that is a completely unrealistic goal, and even being the utter idealist that I am, I couldn't possibly see such a system actually functioning. Punishment in my mind is simply a way of removing those who are a threat to society from said society, as well as making would be threats to society hesitate before their decisions. If a healing form of justice could not ensure that people who have proven they are capable of wounding those around them in whatever way, then I could not possibly support it's use.
To ways it could possibly be implemented... I'm assuming if we were to try to change the mindsets of the very far gone, completely without a decent moral compass, one of the only plausible options that would come up would be that of altering their thought processes through measures that wouldn't actually be what the people wanted (Watch a Clockwork Orange, please)... which would bring in an entirely different, much more heated moral debate in itself.
So... Overall... I think Justice should heal... but the thing is, it would be completely unrealistic to think we really could make justice heal in a reliable, every time fashion that would protect the portion of society that has proven it isn't capable of causing the need for healing.
I truly believe that justice should heal not punish. If you punish repeat offenders then they will do something worse when the are done paying for their last crime. If you try to heal someone then they are less prone to commit future crimes. There are a lot of instances that you need to punish someone rather than try to heal them. This concept can be applied to our area. I see a lot of youths that get punished for something and they do the same thing a week later. They need to see how their actions affect other people.
I agree that justice should heal not punsih. Showing people their wrongs and helping them making them right is more effective than placing them in a jail cell. if someone is sitting in a jail cell it's only going to harden their hearts and they're going to keep doing the same thing.In TSB I saw a huge change in Cole and the circe of justice did him well.In mid-maine you can't desert on a random island, but I do think that we should try and help people change themselves rather than having them doing the same thing over and over because sitting in a jail cell isn't helping them learn from their mistakes.
Sorry this post is late...my computer has not been able to get online recently.
For me, if I were in the circle, I do not think that I would want to give Cole another chance. Though, I do not think that all of the members know Cole well enough to judge if he has changed at all or not. As a reader, I know Cole's thoughts and things he does, thinks, and says that no one else knows about; and this shows me that his thought process is different and that he does want to change him ways.
For example, if I were part of the circle and people were telling me that there were no (white) bears around the area that Cole was, and then he was saying that one of them was the bear that attacked him, I do not think I would believe him; just like Peter's lawyer. But, because as a reader I know what happens to Cole, I believe him and think that the circle members are being tough on him.
I also think that, if I were a member of the circle, I would be sypathetic towords Cole because that is my nature; also if I didn't know him well enough I do not think I would be able to sentence him without knowing the whole story.
I'm not sure if I would give him another chance if I was part of the circle. I think it would depend on how well I knew Cole. As the reader, it is easy to see the change in Cole. But in reality, it is much harder to recognize a change in a person. That's why it would depend on how close I was to him. If I didn't know him very well, I wouldn't trust him after all the lies he's told. However, someone like his mother should be able to recognize the change. Also, I think I might trust Garvey and Edwin when they testify about his change. In fact, it seems that's what the circle did.
I think that the idea that justice should heal and not punish is a great idea. And that it should be tried in most cases, but like most good things probably doesn't work every time. Not every person is going to be will to be healed, and in those instances, I think that punishing should be used. I mean we'd all like it if we could just explain to a little kid why they can't do something and have them get it so they won't do it again instead of putting them in time out, but, sometimes they need a time out to get the point across.It is always best to use healing over punishing, I deffinately think it is much better. I just don't think it always works out so you can.
Well I know this is a little late.. But camping held me up.. and if it's any consolation I finished reading this and decided it is my favorite book ever! A little below reading level.. but favorite nevertheless... If you don't believe me and think I'm sucking up then ask Emily. She was camping with me and can atest for just how excited this book made me. As for circle justice healing instead of punishing.. I'm not sure that's necessarily true.. In my opinion it would appear that it's when they do take a punishment approach that they are effective. They just punish in a constructive manner and help the people to heal in the process. Sometimes if the punishment is appropriate then it can prove to be just what the person needs. I would hardly call throwing a minor in prison an appropriate punishment. There should always be some alternative that is a punishment but won't end up doing more damage than what's already been done.
I would have done the same thing as Garvey and Edwin in taking Cole into thier custody and convincing the circle to give him another chance. Since the start of the book up to when Garvey and Edwin said this Cole has changed a lot. If he has changed that much willingly then why wouldn't he change more with some more help? Garvey and Edwin were absolutly right when they did what they did. The only way Cole will heal completly is if he has people behind him and people willing to let him try.
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