Violence In Cold Mountain

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier is a story about a man, named Inman, who is forced to fight in the Civil War. All the men who are healthy and fit enough have to go fight in the war and they leave their families and loved ones behind. For Inman, this was his beloved Ada. Unfortunately, Inman gets shot in the neck and is transported to a hospital to recover. But, this was not a completely bad thing because when he is well enough to move, Inman leaves the hospital and begins his journey back to Cold Mountain in search of Ada. Along the way violence is a central focus throughout the story. Inman does not want to commit acts of violence, on purpose, especially in the beginning of the book. If he had to commit an act it was purely because of survival; however as his journeys home continues I think he commits them more

because he has been surrounded by violence for nearly 4 years. He also does it out of revenge and anger in some instances. I believe he comes to realize that it is the only way to truly resolve issues.
In chapter 3, Inman decides to stop at a store in a very small town to refuel on supplies and food.

When he first arrives at the store there are two men sitting outside but they don’t seem to notice Inman or take any interest in him. When he goes to leave the town the men are gone from the porch and then they proceed to attack him. One man has a scythe and tried to strike Inman with it however he did not succeed and missed him by a mile, while another man pulled a Whitworth gun on Inman. Inman beat the men and continued on his way, however it would not be the last time he would see them. Inman is walking in the woods and he comes to a river; his only way to cross is by way of a canoe with the help of an Indian girl. They are half way across the river when Inman hears voices, before he could do anything though, the light from the moon exposes their location and a bullet pierces the side of the canoe. Another one shortly follows and Inman can tell that it is from the famous Whitworth that one of the men had back in the small town. As we can see Inman could have easily shot these men back in the town and that could have been the end of

it….
Another instance when Inman tries to do the right thing instead of just relying on using his gun and violence is when he comes across a preacher named Veasey in chapter 5. Veasey is in the middle of the road looking very distraught and contemplating what to do with the woman who he impregnated. He takes the woman in his arms and goes to the edge of the cliff. Luckily, Inman is there and he prevents Veasey from committing the horrible act. They all go back to the town and instead of killing Veasey, Inman ties him up to a post in the center of the town and puts a letter over his head explaining just how bad of a person Veasey really is. Inman could have easily killed Veasey, especially because he was begging him to, but who knows Veasey might have actually ended up saving Inman’s life himself.
An instance of where Inman does not want kill, but is essentially forced to, is when he comes into contact with a bear and her cub when he sets up camp for that night in the woods. Remembering a vow that he made to himself when he was younger, Inman does not want to shoot the animals. Instead he tries talking to the bear and attempts to calm her down, but the bear lunges at Inman and the falls past the cliff below. Now that the cub is motherless, the only thing Inman feels that he can do is to shoot the cub, so it won’t suffer out in the wild on its own. Inman feels very guilty about shooting the cub, in fact he uses the word “regret,” to describe how he feels about his act.
Veasey and Inman come across a man, named Junior, who is trying to get a dead bull out of the river. They successfully help Junior get the bull out and in return Junior offers them a meal and shelter for the night.