Solitude And Isolation In Frazier's Cold Mountain

A central theme in Frazier’s “Cold Mountain” is solitude/isolation, the loneliness that many characters in the novel experience guides them in their search for meaning in a world that is torn by war and hardships. Inman (a soldier/warrior that is battle fatigued and is trying to get home) feels a sense of overwhelming loneliness and growing confusion with the human world because of his war experiences. He is also plagued by a spiritual desolation that is suggested when he listens to many talk about their tales of hardships, but he rarely shares details of his own past. But through his loneliness he cultivates an otherworldly spirituality, similar to the goat-woman, (an old lady Inman meets in his travels that feeds him and gives advice) that

encourages people to talk. Frazier demonstrates that Inman's solitude is not simply a physical state, but it is a psychic soul-searching that is created from the need to find meaning in what appears to be a cold insensate existence. Even though Inman feels separated from the world, he is not alienated from society. Yet even while he searches nature for an overwhelming spiritual truth, Inman recognizes that he seeks the comfort he finds while in Ada’s company. His journey turns into solitary spiritual quest for a connection with a greater power. Just like Inman, Ada also buries her feelings of isolation, as she tries to internalize her grief, regret and hope for the future. Ada starts to feel content and secure at Black Cove but she remembers the alienation she felt when she first arrived there and immediately after her father's funeral. She also recollects the estrangement she felt from the Charleston society. Inmans and Adas both bury their feelings of isolation, but as they grow closer together physically and emotionally they find peace in each other's company. But as the two lover finally come together Inman dies from a gunshot.

After finally becoming reacquainted with each other they are separated yet again by Inman getting shot by a an army official because Inman deserted from the army.

But this time it is for good. The main conflict that is simply that Inman is on a journey going through these trials trying to get back to Ada. Inman is both the antagonist and the protagonist. Inman longs for his home, Cold Mountain, and Ada who is experiencing her own internal journey towards self discovery. There are multiple antagonistic situations rather than Inman being the only one. Inman demonstrates bravery, cunning and especially endurance as he overcomes challenges to be reunited with Ada. The climax is finally reached when Inman, who has survived being hunted through his travels, finally reaches Ada and thus the main conflict of the book is resolved. The climax does end in a tragedy though. After planning their married BLISS, Inman gets shot by Teague ( a local militia charged with rounding up the deserters), and dies in Ada’s arms. The tragic event unfolds quickly as the novel come to a close. But it is not considered a tragedy story because Ada ends up with Inman’s child and his love for cold

mountain.

The most significant moment moment in the book is when Inman dies. It is right after the climax of the book. As soon as these two lovers have been reunited they are pulled apart from each other. This is really the most significant to the book because it is tied directly to the main theme. The main theme of the book is solitude/isolation, and each person's search for a meaning. The character Ada has to deal with the death of her lover. The feelings that accompany a death of a loved one. The death of Inman has brought back those feelings of overwhelming loneliness and sorrow. She is now back in a state of sorrow, but Ada is not in complete isolation though, she is pregnat with Inman's child. This child is representative of how Inman will always be a part of her life. This child has a part of Inman in it, and that part of him will keep from going into a solitude state.

The crow a mystery of creation, personal transformation, higher perspective and adaptability.

Inman strongly identifies with a crow, looking to it with envy as a creature of independance, freedom from the worldly constraints that are placed upon us. The crow is a shifting and ambiguous symbol, the crow can suggest doom and destruction but it can change to demonstrates the dark instincts troubling man’s soul. Ruby ( a friend and a role model to Ada) points out in the book that crows show resilience and tremendous capacity for survival. All of these characters that we can identify with a crow can also bee seen time and time again in Inman. The war was very traumatic to Inman, the memories of war troubled him. Again the theme of loneliness can be seen. Inman seeing his war friends die, and never seeing them again as he deserts from the army. In the beginning of the book it opens to him sitting alone, in a hospital. He was there for a very long time alone. Both of the soldiers by him were badly injured to the point where they were not continuous. Thus symbolising the doom and destruction that would inevitably lead to Inman getting injured or even

dying.

“Cold Mountain . . . soared in his mind as a place where all his scattered forces might gather. Inman did not consider himself to be a superstitious person, but he did believe that there is a world invisible to us. He no longer thought of that world as heaven, nor did he still think that we get to go there when we die. Those teachings had been burned away. But he could not abide by a universe composed only of what he could see, especially when it was so frequently foul.” This quote comes from the first chapter in the novel “the shadow of a crow,” in witch Inman is recuperating in a hospital before setting out on his epic journey. The quote suggest that Cold Mountain is a spiritual sanctuary, a healing place where he can retire from the worldly sufferings. Frazier shows that Inman believes in some other world other than the one he is inhabiting his existence seems pointless. All that is surrounding him is misery, putrefaction, and partition his view proposes that the only way to accept that there is no order to this world is to know that harmony exists elsewhere. Inmans Philosophy about this is made more clear by the fact that he yearning for spiritual understanding overlaps with his longing to return home. Cold Mountain is both a physical and spiritual haven that helps him escape the loneliness he feels in the world around him