Cold Mountain

2 Pages 508 Words

Page 1
A Journey Transforms

Charles Frazier’s story, Cold Mountain, is based in the Civil War Era. Frazier uses the main characters, Ada and Inman to represent the hardships of the Civil War. Inman and Ada both overcome obstacles such as, a perilous journey, coming of age, and a search for a each other. Inman is a confederate soldier who decided to desert the war feeling that he has no place in the war. His journey will lead him to his one true love Ada Monroe, the daughter of a preacher who will have to overcome hardships of her own. Ada will face similar hardships of Inman such as hunger, fear, and need for each other. This story uses the triumph of love to overcome a perilous journey, coming of age, and a search for each other.
Inman finds himself on a journey “filled with extreme dangers and hardship, brutal encounters, and colorful characters” (Clerc 2). Inman’s injury weakens him physically but strengthens his animosity towards the flat lands and grotesque battlefields. The struggle to find food and his ability to avert the Home Guard seem to be too much to bear. Inman’s will to survive is all due to what is waiting for him back home, a loving Ada and the picturesque scenery of cold mountain.
Frazier uses the transformation of Inman from a man filled with rage to a slightly softer person to reveal Inman’s need to return home. Inman’s anger is apparent through his journey, “The caps though were damp or otherwise faulty, and the pistol snapped on four chambers before he gave up and beat the man about the head…” (Frazier 75). Inman gradually undergoes a self- transformation as familiar rolling hills begin to appear, and his journey home begins to come closer.
Page 2
Ada also foregoes a change within herself. Ada transforms from a proper
inexperienced lady to a hard working farm girl. With the help of her friend, Ruby Ada starts to learn the ways of the farm. Ada’s transformation is ...