Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

1026 Words3 Pages

Everyday people across the world embark on incredible journeys. These journeys, however big or small, can greatly change a person. They can define who that person is and how that person acts. In Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, many characters go through changes or have their true character tested. Ada realizes that all of her learning through books will not really help her in the real world circumstances that she becomes surrounded in. She has to change adapt to her new life with the help of Ruby. Inman constantly battles good against evil. He struggles through physical and mental weakness to ultimately try to do good. His life is traumatized by the horrors of the war, yet he must continue his strenuous journey. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier explores the concept of a dynamic character in Ada and a consciences character in Inman and how they deal with their separate, difficult journeys. Both characters also try to find their own sense of home and struggle with their own kind of isolation.
Inman’s character is a confusing one. Inman seems like everything he is doing is a task and not necessarily what he wants. The idea of his whole journey stems from his moral obligation to return to Ada. Inman’s moral perspective rules his actions throughout the novel. Inman also cannot stand death, yet he will do anything to protect those who are innocent. He becomes disillusioned with the world and hopes fore the world to become a better place. However, throughout his journey he does grow into a more self aware individual. He begins to understand where he stands in society and starts to comprehend how the world around him behaves. The way Inman matures is greatly influenced by the other characters he encounters on his journey. A common typ...

... middle of paper ...

...es in Ada’s arms shortly after returning back to his home. However, this might even be Inman’s best outcome. His long journey has been filled with suffering and turmoil. Therefore, Inman’s only real way of escaping the demanding natural world is death. He is relieved of all his duties and disgust for the world. It almost seemed like Inman was dead on the inside for the majority of this novel. The war definitely caused this dead feeling inside of Inman. The things Inman saw and experienced during the war made him dead inside and therefore almost zombie-like.
To conclude, Cold Mountain tells the journeys of many characters. These characters all react differently to their changing settings. One thing that the main characters have in common is that they all mature through the hardship. None of them give up on their life and they all persevere to their respective goals.

Open Document