Review of Brother Bear (2003) by Trish J — 13 Apr 2014

Kenai hates bears because his brother was killed by one. Kenai goes in search of the bear that killed Sitka and upon finding her he kills her, which upsets the spirits. Sitka's spirit turns Kenai into a bear to show him the error of his ways. Along the journey he befriends an orphaned cub Koda who shows him the way to the mountain that Kenai is trying to get to so he can be changed back into a human. During the journey Kenai realizes that the bears are not monsters but are just like humans, Kenai realizes he is the one who killed Koda's mom. The more that Kenai learns from the bears and other animals in the world the more he understands what Sitka was trying to teach him. When they finally reach the mountain and Kenai is returned to his human form he decides that he needs to return to being a bear so he can protect and raise Koda as his own brother, with Sitka's and the other brother's blessing.

The story relates to world by way of how the Indigenous Religions of the United States see life and death. They believe that everything large and small has a spirit that lives on forever and can teach the mortal world how to live and act. As our text book tells us on page 33: "Such religions, like the religion of the Lakota. May also teach that all elements of creation, both animate and inanimate, contain the spiritual essence of the Great Spirit... Spirits or lesser deities, however, may be more active in everyday human affairs.".

This story shows us that every creature large and small has a place here and should be regarded with love and respect. You should never kill anything out of anger or grief, because you never know the real story behind it. Just like Kenai learned, the mother bear did not kill Sitka on purpose she was scared and only trying to protect her young son Koda. There is always to sides to every story.

Works Cited.

Brodd, Jeffrey, Layne Little, Bradley Nystrom, Robert Platzter, Richard Shek, and Erin Stiles. Invitation to World Religions. Oxford: University of Oxford, 2013. Print.