how does the author develop the theme of healing in the final chapter?

The symbol of the circle itself is important, as indicated by its place as the final etching on the totem pole. When Cole first entered the freezing pond, Edwin asked him to grab a stick where one end was anger and the other was happiness. As many times as Cole broke off the anger side, there was always another anger side that would emerge on the smaller stick. While Edwin leaves this question unresolved back at that time, in the final chapters we see the resolution to this philosophical problem. In other words, by integrating anger into part of the “circle” of emotions and life experiences, Cole is able to harness it for the good of others and heal himself in the process. This was the insight that Edwin said that only Cole could discover himself. His path was certainly circuitous and Peter, Edwin, and Garvey, for example, likely followed different paths, but the connectedness of all aspects of life and healing is an unmistakable element of the symbol of the circle, which united all of Cole’s knowledge and experiences.