“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart. - Helen Keller” The novel Touching Spirt Bear and the movie Finding Forrester are both great works of art. Both are tales of growing up, learning responsibility, and understanding that there is beauty in our world. I believe that Cole in Touching Spirit Bear and Jamal in Finding Forrester are alike, and yet, very different sorts of people. On the surface it would seem that these two works of art are nothing alike, but their themes are very similar.

Jamal and Cole come from somewhat similar situations, both being part of broken households. However, I believe that their most similar trait is having comparable relationships …show more content…
They are both metaphorical hermits, not trusting anyone and believing that they can get by on their own. William, who wrote the “Novel of the Century” with his book Avalon Landing, quickly tired of fame and never published another book. He lived by himself in a New York apartment, livingwith no friends, until Jamal broke in. Eventually, we learn that William was troubled by the early death of his brother, of which he believes that he was responsible. Cole also lives on his own, as both his parents don’t care for him. He doesn’t have any friends and makes stupid choices because he doesn’t care about the consequences. He eventually turns his life around in Alaska with the help of Garvey, like how William embraces the outside world with Jamal. William goes through an epiphany after he and Jamal fight, and he sees how beautiful the outside world is. He heads to his homeland, Scotland, and soon after dies of cancer. He writes to Jamal that he knew this was coming, and that he is so thankful for helping him realize how wonderful the world is. After Cole gets attacked by the Spirit Bear, he realizes that it was just trying to defend its self, and he realizes that the world is great. Both of these characters are recluses at the beginning, but understand life at the