ColdMountain - Charles Frazier - Characters : their development and impact.

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Cold Mountain

Charles Frazier

Characters : their development and impact

Rhys McKenzie

Section 1

Inman

1.

Inman is left psychologically scarred by memories of war and the ghosts of his fellow soldiers who have died fighting. The war turned Inman into a very violent person, one who is brutal and holds little regard for human life as he resorts to violence a great deal through out his travels. His meeting with Sara results in violence when he kills the three Federals who stole her pig and trashed her house. Whilst being ashamed of the killings he is able to deal with having the following thoughts,

“Inman decided to view what was before him in this context: next to the field in front of the sunken road at Fredericksburg or the accumulated mess at the bottom of the crater, this was nothing. At either place he had probably killed any number of men more satisfactory in all their attributes than this Eben. Nevertheless, he figured this might be a story he would never tell.” (Page 306)

As the war draws on he becomes disillusioned with the idea of patriotism and longs only to return home to Cold Mountain as he finds his surroundings to be vile compared to his homeland.  

2.

Swimmer, the Cherokee boy Inman met when he was sixteen, encourages him to explore the idea that the mountains are gateways to a world above heaven where a "celestial race" live as well as explaining about the nature of the soul. From this, Inman believes that the mountains are a link to happiness and well being, especially in the case of Cold Mountain. He told Inman that he thought Cold Mountain was the chief mountain of the world.

“Inman asked how he knew that to be true, and Swimmer had swept his hand across the horizon to where Cold Mountain stood  and said, Do you see a bigger’n?”(Page 17)

Because of Swimmer’s teachings he held to the idea of another world and he thought it may as well be Cold Mountain as anywhere. Swimmer had claimed that at the top of the highest mountain you would come to the lower reaches of a forest where lived a celestial race and it was here that the dead spirit of man could be reborn.

Swimmer had said that , “a man’s spirit could be torn apart and cease and yet his body keep on living.”(Page 19) and Inman, after his time at Fredericksburg was quite prepared to say that Swimmer was right.

3.

The journey Inman takes home to Cold Mountain is not only a geographical journey but also a psychological one. Through his travels back to his homeland Inman is transformed into a gentler and more compassionate man than he was when he started his trip. This advancement is far more important that that of his physical journey as without this he would have returned to Ada as a man that she would not have loved and thus been a mostly wasted journey.

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4.

Inman meets a lot of different people on his way to Cold Mountain that help him change to become a more humane and compassionate person. The first time one can see that Inman is changing is his run in with Veasey who was about to throw a girl off a cliff. Though Inman considers the preacher damnable and can see merit in killing him Inman chooses to let him live and chooses to let the community choose the penalty for Veasey. This shows that Inman has changed and become more kind-hearted since his confrontation with the three men ...

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