Even in Two Different Genres, Some Things Never Change

            Author’s note: This is about comparing two different characters, Luke and Cole, in two different books, The Lightning Thief and Touching Spirit Bear. This is going to compare their personalities. The purpose is to show that two characters can have similarities and differences.

            Have you ever found that two characters are really alike, but yet not alike at all? In the books The Last Olympian and Touching Spirit Bear, by Rick Riordan and Ben Mikaelsen, the characters, Luke and Cole, have the two things in common. They are that they both want to change from bad to good and they rely on their friends to help them. The only difference is that Luke didn’t get a chance to change and Cole did. Luke and Cole may be in two different worlds, but they are alike.

            One of the most obvious themes is that Cole and Luke want to change in one point of the book. During The Last Olympian, Luke was in danger and he desperately wanted to run away and become good. When he wanted to go back to normal, he tried to ask a friend. Also in Touching Spirit Bear, Cole at first didn’t want to change, but then he blown his chance and admitted to his friend on page 119. When the characters wanted to change, it also intertwines with the second similarity.

            The second similarity is that Cole and Luke rely on their friends for help. As I said before Luke wanted to change, he thought that his friend could help him on page 159. He asked if he could just run away and be nice again. In Cole’s perspective, he ruined his first chance by destroying his shelter and getting mauled by a bear. After when Cole realized he was a bad person, he really wanted a second chance on page 130. He asked, “I know I had a chance once and messed up, so I don’t expect to go back to the island.”  

           

            Even though Luke and Cole have some similarities, they also have one difference. As I said before, the difference is that Luke didn’t get to change but Cole did. When Luke was in a time of need, his friend denied him on page 159. In the end, Luke lost his chance and died on being a bad person. In Cole’s book, the thing that changed Cole was when he got mauled by a giant white bear, and then he changed by asking if a bird was okay on page 79. After the policemen saved him, Cole asked for a second chance to become good which he got. These two characters are very different in this way.

            It is obvious on how these two characters are alike and different. In the end of Touching Spirit Bear, Cole went to Peter and apologized to him on page 235. That shows on how Cole changed. Luke tried to change, but he did so many bad things that he couldn’t get help anymore. These characters seem very alike, but they are extremely different.