COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles FrazierREADING PROJECT / MR. MURRAY

COLLEGE DE L ESPLANADE 2004

COLD MOUNTAIN

BY Charles Frazier

1

http://www.hipfidelity.com/photos/wallpapers/week382003/cold_mountain_brook.jpg

KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS

SETTING

The novel is set around the fictional town of Cold Mountain in the southern Appalachians. The town is analogous to the area around the present day Waynesville, North Carolina, which sits in the shadow of the 6000+ ft. Cold Mountain. The people in the story run their farms the old nineteenth century way, by hand and with animal power.

2

The time is the mid-1860’s, one of the most transformational periods of American history. It is toward the end of the Civil War. The people in this setting have been absorbed into the conflict and exhibit the uniquely Appalachian response to the war. They first rally out of loyalty to homeland, but then see a war about politicians that want to start a new country. (see Historical Information) The farms in the setting have been devastated by the war and the women, children and old folk that remain fear the Union and Confederate marauders equally.

LIST OF CHARACTERS

Major Characters

Inman

He is a Confederate soldier who deserts from a hospital after being severely wounded. He walks toward Cold Mountain, his home that he loves, hoping that when he arrives the beautiful Ada will have him as her husband. He meets danger of every sort along the way.

3

Ada Monroe

She is a brilliant, Charleston society woman who finds herself helpless on her father’s farm in Cold Mountain after her father’s death. She has feelings toward Inman and awaits his return. With the help of Ruby she learns the ways of the land and begins to plan her future.

Ruby

She is a nature-wise young woman that helps Ada learn how to run the farm. Her mother is dead and her father did not take much care of her so she is fiercely capable and independent.

Cold Mountain

4

Though it may seem absurd to list the setting as a character, the mountains are a primary force in the novel. The other characters interact with the land and are influenced in their feelings and actions by the land as much as they are by any other character. This is particularly true for Inman who was moving away from not only the war, but also the landscape that he considered vile, and moving toward not only Ada, but also the mountains he considered home.

Minor Characters

Esco and Sally Swanger

They are an old couple whose sons have gone to war. They facilitate Inman’s meeting Ada, and later, Ada’s survival on the farm. Until Ruby shows up, they are the epitome of the old farm ways to Ada who cannot fend for herself. They offer Ada both food and advice.

Teague

He is the ruthless leader of the Home Guard, a group that tracks down Confederate deserters. He is more likely to kill the men he finds than to bring them back into service. The Home Guard is a constant threat to Inman and any other travelers or outliers.

Stobrod

He is Ruby’s father who seems to have been transformed by the circumstances of the war from a drunk into an inspirational fiddle player. He did little to raise Ruby, but reappears in Ruby’s life to be cared for by Ada and Ruby.

Veasey

He is a preacher who Inman prevents from murdering a young girl that Veasey has gotten pregnant. He quits as a preacher and takes to the road where he meets Inman once again. They travel briefly together with Inman having to cover for Veasey’s greed and lack of character

CONFLICT

Protagonist - The protagonist is Inman, around whom most of the struggle and action centers. Cold Mountain is about his journey home from the ravages of the Civil War. He can be compared to Homer’s Odysseus as he meets trials along his way, wanting to return to his love. He longs for his home, Cold Mountain, and Ada who is experiencing her own internal odyssey toward self discovery.

5

Antagonist - The antagonist of Inman is the series of dangers he must survive. These come in the form of man (most notably, Teague), animal and nature. There are multiple antagonistic situations rather than a single antagonist. Inman exhibits cunning, bravery and especially endurance as he overcomes all challenges to reach Ada.

Climax - The climax occurs when Inman, who has survived being hunted throughout his travels, finally reaches Ada and finds himself at gunpoint rather than in an embrace. The climax lingers as Inman and Ada, both considerably changed by their recent circumstances,

become reacquainted and consummate their love.

Outcome - The climax ends in tragedy. After planning their life of married bliss, Inman dies in Ada’s arms after being shot by a young follower of Teague. The tragic events unfold quickly as the story comes to an end. The novel cannot be described as a tragedy though, because Ada ends up with Inman’s child and his love of the idyllic lifestyle on Cold Mountain.

PLOT (SYNOPSIS)

Cold Mountain is at once a Civil War story, a magnificent love story, and the story of two parallel odysseys. The first is the odyssey of Inman, a wounded, disillusioned Confederate soldier who has failed to die in the hospital. He deserts and begins a lonely, dangerous walk across the devastated southern Appalachians. The thought of being reunited with his beloved Ada helps him endure the perils that hinder his way. He meets rogues and outlaws, and

6

survives Teague’s Home Guard more than once. In addition, he survives severe weather, rugged terrain and a close encounter with a bear. Along the way he helps people whose lives have been destroyed by the war. In return, he is saved from starvation by what meager

offerings they share.

The second is the odyssey of Ada, a cultured outsider to the mountains. Her father has died and left her helpless on the farm he bought as a pastime. Esco and Sally Swanger, Ada’s closest neighbors, direct a drifter named Ruby to Ada’s farm to help. Ruby agrees to stay on with Ada provided Ada treats her as an equal rather than as a slave. With Ruby’s knowledge of nature and self-sufficient attitude, the two women are able to get the farm into working order.

Eventually, Inman makes his way to Ada, completing his journey. Ada accepts him and completes her journey toward a new understanding of herself. Where they meet is an old abandoned Indian village in the mountains. They take shelter against the winter cold, and the bitterness of the war, inside one of the huts. They make love and plan their future.

On the way back to Ada’s farm, Inman is shot by a boy from Teague’s Home Guard and dies in Ada’s arms.

The epilogue finds Ada, nine years later, with a child by Inman. They live happily on Ada’s farm with Ruby and her family. Ada has grown to love Cold Mountain as Inman did.

Themes

The primary theme is the desire for home. For Inman it is a journey to the home he knows and remembers. For Ada it is a longing to find one’s place and establish a home.

There are two other major Themes. The first is endurance, without which the characters would not have been able to fulfill their destinies. The second is an elegy for the old life ways of the mountains and man’s relationship with the land. Great detail is used describing how everything is done by hand or with animal power.

The minor Themes involve the dangers of solitude and the ways lives are transformed by the war.

MOOD

7

The mood of Cold Mountain is one of struggle and melancholy. There is a sense of another world where, though the geography seems familiar, the times are unfamiliar and lives are tough. Everyday farm activities involve toil and sometimes pain. Inman’s daily activities are fraught with hardship. The gloomy tone however allows moments of pleasure, a good harvest, a good meal. The melancholy at last turns idyllic, but not until the epilogue.

Chapter 1 the shadow of a crow Summary The chapter opens as Inman, a Confederate soldier, awakens in the hospital with a severe neck wound. It was expected that he would die in the field and was taken to a field hospital where he was again placed with the dying. Failing to die within two days he was sent to a regular hospital. Here, in a room full of wounded, Inman gazes out a tall window, a portal to thoughts of the past.

A memory of his school days comes to mind. On this particular day the young Inman was not paying attention and flipped his hat out of the window of the classroom. It landed far outside like the shadow of a crow at the edge of a field. The teacher told Inman to get the hat and come back to be paddled. Inman stepped outside, retrieved his hat and walked away from the school for good.

Throughout the summer Inman has spent much time gazing and reminiscing. He decides to go outside and talk with a blind peddler who he has seen daily parking his cart across the road from the hospital. Inman is surprised to learn that the man has been blind from birth rather than as the result of some misfortune. The blind man explains that it would have been worse to have been able to see the world and then lose that gift. The man does not wish for a chance to glimpse the world. He challenges Inman to cite a time when one would wish for blindness. Inman responds with a recounting of the gruesome slaughter of the battle of Fredericksburg.

Inman returns to the hospital and seeks comfort, as he has done many nights, in his book. He keeps the coverless book, Bartram’s Travels, curled up into a scroll. The images of nature he reads therein calm him and bring thoughts of his home, Cold Mountain.

Days later, his neck painful but healing, Inman walks into town. He buys clothing, ammunition for his pistol, knives, and a small pot and cup. He sits with a cup of coffee and a newspaper and once again recalls pleasant events from his past. He writes a letter about coming home then returns to the hospital.

When he reaches his room, Inman sees that Balis, the man who occupied the bed next to Inman and spent time translating ancient Greek, is gone. Balis has died. Inman flips through Balis’ papers only to discover a confusing mess. There is but one line of Balis’ writing that Inman is willing to accept, “The comeliest order on earth is but a heap of random sweepings.”

That evening Inman double-checks his packs which are already filled with food and makeshift camping gear. He goes to sleep but awakens during the night. He dresses in his new clothes, takes up his packs, and steps out the window.

Notes

8

Inman has imagined throughout the summer that the window in his ward could lead him to other places. He often visits these places in his mind. His memory of walking away from a whipping at school foreshadows Inman’s intent to walk away from the carnage of the war.

The multi-page description of the battle at Fredericksburg not only exemplifies this carnage, but also personalizes the historic massacre and draws the reader into Inman’s mind. We come to understand how men cope with such atrocities by losing a part of themselves, and how Inman pines this loss.

The tonic for Inman’s brooding is the writing of William Bartram. The poetic descriptions of the profusion of natural beauty in the mountains eases Inman into recollections of the features of his home, Cold Mountain. Inman will carry this book on his journey.

Bartram’s Travels is the first of several works from the Civil War era that Frazier incorporates into his novel. In future chapters we will see other works through the eyes of the characters, which add credibility to the time setting of the story.

Chapter 2 the ground beneath her hands Summary Here we meet Ada, the second main character, writing a letter. She lives alone and helpless on a farm in the village of Cold Mountain. She had come there six years earlier with her father, Monroe. He was ill and they moved to the mountains for “cool fresh air and exercise”. Monroe assumed the position as preacher at a small mountain church. Though it took some time for him to realize that the mountain people were not ignorant as he expected, he was eventually tolerated and them accepted by the community. He didn’t need to run his property as a real farm because he had money coming from his investments in Charleston. So it was that after Monroe’s death Ada was “frighteningly ill prepared in the craft of subsistence”.

Ada sees that the farm has been neglected but is powerless to remedy the problem. Not knowing how to tend the garden or keep chickens, she finds herself going hungry in the fullness of the growing season. She decides to go in search of eggs. Crawling under a bush where she remembered seeing a hen, Ada is hidden away. Though she finds no eggs, she finds childlike comfort in her shelter. When the hen, followed by a rooster, returns Ada is chased out of her sanctuary in the shrubs.

Scraped and dusty, Ada returns to the house, puts on somewhat clean clothes and sits down near a window to read. She finds the view of the landscape gloomy and misses the sights and sounds of Charleston.

Still hungry, she goes for a walk to visit her father’s grave and stop at the post office. She then takes a “shortcut” toward home to pass by the Swanger place hoping that they, her nearest neighbors, might offer her some dinner. The Swangers are an older couple, very familiar with mountain ways. Their sons are off to the war, which the Swangers are opposed to. Esco Swanger talks of the brutality of a man named Teague and his Home Guard, and the looting done by the Federals. He doesn’t understand the war and sees the devilry of both sides. Esco and Sally Swanger just want their boys “home and out hoeing the bottomland.”

The conversation changed to omens of a bad winter. From caterpillars to mules the forces of nature foretell the evils of the war fouling the mountains. Ada listens intently to Esco’s predictions. He explains that Ada could see her own future if she takes a mirror and looks backwards into a well. Ada tries this and thinks she sees the silhouette of a man walking. The

9

experience dizzies her, but she tells the Swangers that she saw nothing. Sally gives Ada a crock of blackberry preserves and Ada is on her way.

Close to home Ada opens the letter from Monroe’s solicitor that she had picked up at the post office. The letter explains the hard times imposed by the war and their effects on Ada’s income. She could realistically expect nothing. When she reaches her farm she settles into her favorite corner next to a stone wall. She falls asleep reading and does not awaken until the middle of the night. She then eats the entire crock of preserves and walks back to the house.

Ada tries to consider her options. The times are too hard to expect to find a buyer for the farm. It would be humiliating to return to Charleston and be compelled to marry for support. As she sits wondering and confused, a girl approaches from the road.

The girl’s name is Ruby. Sally Swanger sent her. Ada sees that though Ruby is uneducated, she is bright and capable of farm tasks. She is there to help Ada, not as a hired hand, but as an equal, or in her words, “with both us knowing that everybody empties their own night jar.” Her first undertaking is to pull the head off the rooster that had chased Ada out of the bushes earlier and serve up a chicken and biscuit dinner.

Notes

Ada’s letter at the beginning of the chapter seems to answer the letter Inman wrote in Chapter 1. Though both letters are unsent, the reader gleans that Inman is coming home to Ada and Ada is waiting for him. Both characters also have the view through a window to ponder. Ada’s perception when gazing out of her window is a sharp contrast to Inman’s window. It is difficult for Ada to like the fields and ridges of Cold Mountain whereas Inman sees in them home and comfort.

Brilliant and cultured in art and academics, but clueless to the ways of nature, Ada strikes a deal with the drifter, Ruby, her opposite, not only out of necessity but because of a feeling of happiness Ada feels with Ruby. Ada resolves that she must find her true self here in the mountains.

In this chapter Frazier brings reality to the setting with more 19 th century literature. Sword and Gown, written by G.A. Lawrence a Southern sympathizer, George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss, and a “troubling tale by Hawthorne” which we assume to be The Scarlet Letter are on Ada’s reading list and underscore her crushed spirit. In addition, Ada’s father twice quotes lines from Wordsworth that were likely influenced by Bartram’s lyrical prose. These point to the mountains as the fundamental force behind the old life ways that Frazier elegizes in this novel.

Chapter 3 the color of despair Summary Inman feels that after days of traveling he has not gotten very far from the hospital. Bad weather, dogs from the farms he passed, and the threat of the Home Guard, plus his wounded condition leave Inman tired and partially lost.

He comes to a town at a crossroad and stops in a store to buy food. Two men who were sitting in rockers on the porch of the store when Inman arrived are gone when he comes out. Inman

1

had noted that one of the men had a fine rifle, the kind snipers use. At the edge of town the same two men block Inman’s path. A third man, a smith carrying a scythe, joins them. The three jump Inman. Inman is able to grab the scythe and sweeps it across near the men’s ankles. He beats them down with the handle. The smith pulls out a gun. Inman takes the gun, places it to the smith’s head and pulls the trigger four times. The gun does not fire. Inman beats the man, flings the gun away and walks off.

Inman avoids the road as he continues. He recalls a spell against enemies taught to him by a Native American friend. The spell reminds him of a sermon Monroe gave the day Inman first met Ada. But his thoughts do not distract him from the foulness of the area where he is walking. He is between a forest overgrown with poison ivy and a great brown river, which he cannot cross.

He comes to a sign marking a ferry crossing. Rather than a ferry and a ferryman, Inman meets a young girl with a canoe. She haggles with him for a $20 fee and they begin to cross the river. Suddenly they hear voices and gunshots. It is the men from the crossroads town. They shoot holes in the canoe forcing Inman and the girl into the water holding on to the far side of the canoe for cover. They are finally carried out of range by the current. Once on land, Inman gives the girl more money and she gives him directions to the road that goes west.

Inman is bruised from the fight, blistered from poison ivy, and his neck wound has opened up. His food is tainted with the taste of the river. Yet after only a few hours sleep he sets off again.

Notes

Inman so loves the flowers, ridges, coves and clear water of Cold Mountain that his current surroundings are vile to him. He hates the flat land, the pinewoods and the disgustingly brown river. The war was fought over ground like this “country of swill and sullage, sump of the continent.” Still he continues, soul-sick, and despairing that there is not even a hope that Ada will be with him in Cold Mountain. Tired, sore and injured he chooses to continue his journey. The theme of endurance is strong in this chapter.

1

Chapter 4 verbs, all of them tiring Summary Ruby moves into the old hunting cabin on Ada’s farm. She and Ada take stock of the farm and Ruby seems to have plans for each bit of the property. There are parts of the farm that are still in good working order. Ruby explains how they could trade cider and tobacco for items they could not produce themselves. She trades Ada’s piano for pigs, sheep, corn grits, ham and bacon.

Watching the piano being carried away, Ada reminisces about the Christmas party Monroe had where, as the result of too much champagne, she ended up briefly in Inman’s lap. The memory makes Ada think there might still be some champagne in the basement but she finds coffee beans instead. Ruby is able to barter these for an impressive amount of food and supplies, including the most valuable commodity, salt.

Ruby’s routine is to wake before dawn, complete some farm chores, then make breakfast. She expects that Ada be there for breakfast. It is clear by Ruby’s actions and expressions that she will not be treated like a servant.

Ada learns to work constantly at farm chores. She and Ruby rest only in the evening. They sit on the porch and Ada reads aloud from Homer’s Odyssey. Then Ruby tells stories of her life as a poor, neglected, motherless child.

Notes

Through Ruby we get a picture of the extreme independence and earthy spirituality necessary for survival in the mountains. She is master of the old ways and takes charge of the daily routine on Ada’s farm. Until Ruby’s arrival, Ada had not a hint of the processes behind food, clothing and shelter. Ada feels Ruby’s plans use too many verbs, all of them tiring, yet she knows Ruby will not let her fail.

There is another reference to 19 th century literature here, Charles Dickens’ Little Dorrit, which Ada retells over coffee to Ruby who was heretofore a stranger to books. There is also the reference to Homer, hinting that this story parallels that epic odyssey.

Chapter 5 like any other thing, a gift Summary Inman continues his journey along a narrow road at the edge of a cliff. He feels he could not make a stand against Home Guard here so he hurries. Ahead there is a man with a horse standing in the road. Inman approaches carefully and stops beside a boulder with his pistol drawn to observe the man.

1

The man lifts the body of a woman off his horse and is about to drop her over the cliff into the river. Inman runs out and stops him. He is rough and threatening with the man. The man is a soon to be married preacher who has gotten the woman pregnant. She is still alive but has

been drugged.

Inman makes the man lead him to the town where the woman lives. When they arrive Inman gags the man with a kerchief and ties him to a tree. The woman is barely regaining consciousness as Inman carries her into her house. Her long dark hair and soft body make him think of Ada. He places her in her bed and tells her the preacher is no good. Then he goes back outside and writes a note about what happened and tacks it to the tree near the preacher.

Inman leaves, walking hard, but covers little ground before morning. He sleeps, and then begins walking again, extremely fatigued. He comes upon a camp of gypsies who take him in and feed him. Being entertained, Inman stays with them the remainder of the day. There is a dark-haired woman there and again he thinks of Ada. He goes off beyond the camp to read from Bartram and sleep. He dreams of Ada and the flowers he had just read about.

The next day Inman discovers that the gypsies had cleared out during the night. He then walks the entire day, cheered by the memory of his dream.

Notes

We see a slight softening of Inman in this chapter. As the terrain becomes more rolling he does not seem so bitter. In Chapter 3 he was full of despair and tried to kill the smith four times. Now, though he considers the preacher damnable and sees the merit in killing him, Inman chooses another solution. In addition, Inman’s spirits are comforted with his memories of Ada.

Chapter 6 - ashes of roses Summary

Ada and Ruby are working in the field when three women, six children and two slaves approach with their mule drawn wagon. The women’s husbands are off at the war and the Federals have raided and burned their house down. Ruby and Ada give them a hearty dinner and a place to sleep. In the morning they share breakfast and draw up a map so the travelers can continue their journey.

That noon, Ada and Ruby go to check on the apple orchard, bringing along a picnic lunch. Ruby quizzes Ada, a habit she has recently developed, to show Ada how lost and confused Ada is in the natural world. Ada envies Ruby’s knowledge and is slowly learning from her.

1

Ruby explains that she learned much from older women such as Sally Swanger. But she has learned the most by paying close attention to the workings of nature. Ada thinks Ruby has given a mind and a plan to each life form. As Ruby dozes, Ada walks to the edge of the woods watching and listening. She feels good about her world.

That evening Ada reads more from Homer’s Odyssey and recounts to Ruby the story of a party in Charleston. Ruby scoffs at the characters from both tales thinking that they wasted their lives on useless things.

Ada is just beginning to realize that within the landscape around her is “all the life there is” and she is a part of it.

Notes

As history shows, the women travelers have become stronger as a result of the war. They are beginning the process of self- knowledge and independence. Ruby, the epitome of self- sufficiency, is the role model for depending on those things opposite of things the other women have learned to live by.

Even Ada is coming around to the mountain ways. She does not understand, but still respects how Ruby behaves “in accordance with the signs”. Though she works in the fields and does her share of tending the animals, the reader still sees Ada in her Charleston finery, an anachronism not only in time but also in place. Her modern dress and hairstyles postdate the methods she must live by in the mountains.

There is also another reference to the Odyssey as we compare Ada’s situation with Penelope’s and Inman’s with Odysseus.

Chapter 7 exile and brute wandering Summary The days are becoming cooler and Inman is still walking, often having to ask his way. He runs into Veasey, the preacher he had left tied to a tree. The preacher had been beaten by the people of his town and is now wayfaring west. Ignoring Inman’s discouraging remarks, Veasey walks along with Inman.

They find an abandoned house surrounded by beehives. Inman gets them honey and honeycomb to eat. Later they see a huge catfish trapped in a narrow part of a creek. Veasey tries unsuccessfully to wrestle the fish from the creek. Inman shots the fish through the head and fries it up for the two of them. As they eat Inman explains what Veasey has “missed” by not serving in the war. He tells Veasey about the battle of the Crater at Petersburg, another gruesome slaughter in the war.

The next day they eat more off the fish and cook some to take along. At a country store on their way, Veasey starts trouble by threatening the shopkeeper with a stolen gun. Inman knocks Veasey down and carries him out of the store. They find a roadside inn where Veasey again starts trouble by drawing his gun. Inman is able to settle things and Veasey exits with the immense black whore over whom the conflict began.

Inman pays for a meal and a place to sleep. He ends up sharing a hayloft with a traveler named Odell who claims to be very wealthy. The two men drink together while Odell tells his story about falling in love with the slave, Lucinda, his father’s subsequent disapproval, and

1

his search to find Lucinda after his father sold her off to someone in Mississippi. Odell tells of the horrors he’s seen in his travels, the savage punishment and murder of slaves.

Come morning, Inman leaves. Veasey catches up with him. Veasey is cut and bleeding but tells Inman that his night with the black whore was wonderfully memorable.

Notes

More and more Inman is recovering from the violent habits of war. Though the atrocities are still vivid in his mind, as exemplified by his retelling of the battle of the Crater, his own aggression has mellowed. Even the repugnant, vulgar Veasey does not move Inman to violence.

Chapter 8 source and root Summary Ada and Ruby are walking into town for pleasure and to pick up a few things. The two women had spent the previous day scything, loading and unloading hay that turned out to be barely usable, so Ada is tired and gloomy. Ruby tries to lift Ada’s spirits by relaying all manner of bird lore about every type of bird they pass.

In town they do their shopping and eat dinner. They then stop by to see the old, wealthy widow, Mrs. McKennet. She has a secret store of ice, salt and sugar and serves Ada and Ruby ice cream. They speak of the war. Mrs. McKennet believes what the newspapers report and her opinion is that the war is glorious and heroic. Ada expresses that she finds the war brutal and morally ignorant on both sides. Mrs. McKennet dismisses Ada’s opinion as naïve. Ruby tries to fill the awkward silence with more talk of birds, but Mrs. McKennet presses for Ruby’s opinion on the war. Ruby says that the war does not interest her but she has heard stories that the people from the north are a greedy, morphine-crazed, befouled culture.

Later, on their way out of town, Ada and Ruby join a crowd that is listening to a prisoner urgently explaining his story of capture. He was a Confederate volunteer who had been shot at Williamsburg, killed many Federals, and then “unvolunteered” when he became homesick and disillusioned with the war.

He was staying at his father’s farm with two other outliers when a group of men came on horseback. His father tried to stop the men but was clubbed, beaten, stabbed, then skewered to the ground and left to die. One of the horsemen was the notorious Teague. He and his Home Guard, among them a young boy, routed out the outliers and killed all but the prisoner because they thought it would look better if they “brought somebody in now and then”.

When the prisoner is finished narrating the bloody tale, Ruby and Ada start walking home. They discuss what they had heard. There is some argument as to whether the world is a place to fear or a place to strive for joy. When they reach the fork of the river, they see a majestic great blue heron. Ada sketches it in her journal. Ruby tells Ada a story that Ruby’s father used to tell. He said that Ruby’s mother claimed that he was not Ruby’s father. Rather, Ruby was conceived as the result of her mother being raped by a great blue heron. Ruby thinks the story is a lie, but wonders.

Ada occupies the rest of their walk home with a detailed account of her own parents’ courtship. While courting, Monroe assumed he and Ada’s mother would be married but she ended up marrying someone else, with whom she was unhappy and childless. When that

1

husband died, she and Monroe reunited. For the two years they were together, until Ada’s mother died in childbirth, they were happy.

Notes

Two more examples of 19 th century literature are mentioned in the chapter. George Eliot’s Adam Bede is a story of simple, people with descriptions of nature. The Conduct of Life, by Ralph Waldo Emerson is his views on ethics. These two works match well with this chapter - Ada and Ruby as simple folks and Ruby’s descriptions of the behavior of birds, then discussions of the war with a strong ethical motif.

Notable in Ruby’s bird lore is her opinion of crows, birds with neither fine plumage nor a fine reputation. She respects the crow’s ability to “relish what presents itself” thus overcoming any natural leaning toward meanness.

The chapter also illustrates the diversity of opinion on the war that was historically the case in North Carolina.

Chapter 9 to live like a gamecock Summary As Inman and Veasey are walking, they see a fine crosscut saw, apparently left while the woodcutters break for dinner. Veasey steals the saw expecting to sell it. They meet a man who is trying to figure out how to get a bull carcass out of the creek, which is his water supply. The man has Inman and Veasey help him try to pull the bull out with a rope. They cannot. Then Veasey has the idea to use levers to move the bull. Veasey and the man use the stolen saw to cut poles to use as levers. With the levers they could lift the bull a bit, but could not move it. Finally, Inman used the saw to section the bull and remove it from the creek piece by piece. The man invites Inman and Veasey to have supper and sleep at his home. In return, Inman insists the man take the saw.

The three walk down the road, Inman, Veasey, and Junior, as the man is called. Junior tells stories about his prize gamecocks and about how women used to fling themselves at him. He shares a bottle that he has stashed in the woods. The liquor goes to Veasey’s head and he begins to think that to live like a gamecock sounds grand. Junior explains that now he is married to a known slut and he lives with her, her two sisters, and three children of unknown paternity.

Junior’s house has partially fallen off its foundation and sits at a slant. Being inside is disorienting for Inman and Veasey, the latter who is so drunk he falls asleep on the bed. Junior goes off and Inman is left with Junior’s depraved wife, Lila, who leads him out back to a huge fire circle. She and her sisters offer Inman a strange drink that all but incapacitates him. Lila then takes Inman back into the house and offers herself naked to him on the table. At that moment Junior returns. He has brought the Home Guard. They force a mock wedding between Lila and Inman who can barely form words. They then turn Inman and Veasey over to the Home Guard.

Inman and Veasey are tied to a string of fifteen other prisoners and walked eastward for several days. In addition to being given no food, Inman despairs over the loss of the westward miles he had accomplished. One night they stop and the Guard decides the prisoners are a waste of time. The prisoners are all shot.

1

Inman is struck in the side of the head with a bullet that has passed through, and therefore been slowed by, Veasey’s shoulder. Inman falls to the ground barely conscious and is buried in a shallow grave with the rest of the murdered prisoners.

In the wee hours, Inman is unearthed by wild boars plowing around. He is able to cut his bindings on a sharp stone and, though barely able, walks westward once more. He tires quickly and unable to choose a direction, sits to rest at a crossroad. A slave passing by offers Inman a melon and a ride to a hiding place on his master’s farm. Fed by the slaves and resting hidden under the hay for days, Inman regains some strength. He is given a fine hand-drawn map and some advice about how to avoid Federal raiders and sets out.

Inman returns to Junior’s slanted house. He finds his pack and gun right where he left them. Junior is in the smokehouse when Inman enters. Inman clubs him with the gun and leaves him bleeding on the ground.

Inman walks on following the map from the slave. Eventually he stops to rest and falls asleep while watching crows taunting a snake.

Notes

Inman feels no particular sorrow over Veasey’s death. He has seen so much random killing that he views death insensitively. Out of respect he turns Veasey’s body face down. Finding himself back in the pine flats where he thinks ill of both the landscape and the people, Inman goes after Junior. His attack seems more a matter of duty than vengeance. He fears he has become no less base than other men.

At the chapter’s end we again see the symbol of the crows. This time it is Inman noting the crow’s ability to escape or stay to taunt their enemies at will. Like his hat that was as the shadow of a crow inspiring Inman to freedom as a boy in Chapter 1, crows once again cause him to dream of escape. Though Inman dreams of being like the crows he is left only with his ability to endure.

Chapter 10 in place of the truth Summary Ada and Ruby lay a row of fence rails, and then they set a trap to catch whatever has been eating in the corncrib. Though the corn loss has been low, in time it could amount to a lot. Next, Ruby goes to see Esco Swanger with the intention of trading apples for cabbages and turnips. It was Ada’s task, in Ruby’s absence, to make a scarecrow for the winter garden. The crows have picked at the plants only a little, but again, over time, they could eat the whole garden. Ada chooses to attire the scarecrow in her own gown and hat fearing that the image of Monroe in the yard would be too disturbing had she used his old clothing. When Ruby returns, the two women bury the cabbages as store for the winter.

They sit together on the porch taking turns braiding each others’ hair as a sort of contest. While they are sitting they observe that the image of Ada in the garden is effective in warding off the crows. When the braiding is complete, Ruby insists that Ada is the winner, but before she goes off to do the chores assigned to the loser, she asks Ada to read some pages from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which Ada does.

1

The sky darkens and Ada goes off to complete her chores. There is just enough light for Ada to read and reread a letter she received from Inman. She has no way of knowing when or where it was written. She recalls the pleasant memory of the last days before Inman left. He had come to say goodbye to her and told her a story he had heard from an old Native American woman. The Indian people were told of a land near the top of Cold Mountain called Shining Rocks where they would be safe from the enemy that was to come. In order to find and enter the land they would have to fast for seven days and never raise the war cry. One member of the tribe deceived the rest and slipped out at night to eat. After seven days of fasting, the tribe went up to the designated spot at Shining Rocks. The mountain opened up for them and they could see the new land. However, the deceitful one panicked and let out the war cry. The rock turned solid again and the tribe had their land taken from them, as was prophesized. They were driven away except for those who remained hidden to be hunted like animals. Ada dismissed the tale as folklore, unintentionally offending Inman who then said goodbye and left.

Ada’s reverie continues to the following day when she went into town and to Inman’s surprise showed up at his door. They spoke their true feelings and bid each other a much fonder and more promising goodbye.

Notes

This chapter presents crows once again, but Ada proves resourceful even against the adaptable birds. Ada and Ruby, two motherless women, have developed a warm and intimate relationship. Despite their differences in upbringing - Ruby, a lonely, abandoned child, Ada privileged and doted upon -they are one in their present situation. Ada has become competent with farm chores. Ruby requests Shakespeare. They both are being won over to each other and to the belief that there is nothing they need to survive that they could not make, grow, or find on Cold Mountain.

More literature references: Dickens’ Bleak House, a 19 th century drama is added to Ada’s reading list. She purchases three volumes of Trollope, who writes of Victorian society, but she does not desire to read them. Rather, Ada’s interest seems to lie in the more tragic Themes so prevalent in 19 th century literature. Of course Ruby fancies A Midsummer Night’s Dream with its pastoral setting.

Chapter 11 the doing of it Summary Inman continues through the hill country, spending much time hiding from horsemen he presumes to be Home Guard. Following the map from the slave has led him to higher altitudes, which makes it feel like winter. He is wet and cold from the weather and his footpath is becoming faded and overgrown.

He comes upon a scrawny old woman who is all alone, setting bird traps. Inman speaks to her. She observes his wounds and ragged condition. He offers to pay her for a meal. She declines the money and takes him in for a few days.

She lives completely self-sufficiently in a sideshow type caravan that has been parked on top of the mountain for twenty-six years. She keeps many goats, the descendants of eight goats she had purchased decades before. They provide milk, meat, cheese, etc. and for other necessities she sells homemade medicines and pamphlets on health and salvation.

1

The old woman gives Inman salve and herbs to heal his wounds. They enjoy each other’s company. Inman tells her about Ada. They discuss the war. They also talk about what it has been like for the woman to live alone for so long with nothing but her goats and her drawings and notations about the life around her.

Before he leaves her, Inman offers to pay for the food and medicine. Again the woman declines, but advises Inman to watch himself on his travels.

Notes

Here we again see the theme of endurance and the effect of the landscape on the mood of the characters. Inman is cold, wet and possibly lost but he still keeps putting one foot in front of the other on his journey. Inman likens the gradient vista to the “tapering of pain from the neck wound as it healed.”

We also read a true and honest accounting of the meaning of the war to the mountain people. For the most part, it wasn’t their fight. Few if any of them owned slaves. It was as if they were fighting so that their homeland would not be invaded by change, by a strange economic system. The mountain people got caught up in the social and political savagery in a system of which they were barely a part.

Chapter 12 freewill savages Summary Ruby is on her way to Ada’s house to make breakfast and notices someone near the corncrib. She gets the shotgun and approaches him. It is her father, Stobrod. He seems an old man but is unusually well dressed. Ruby is cold toward him as she looses him from the trap.

Ruby leads Stobrod to the porch but does not allow him inside the house. She tells Ada that their trap worked, and that it is Ruby’s daddy that they caught. Ruby allows Stobrod to eat outside then shoos him away.

The next day Ada and Ruby go to the barn to check on the tobacco. Hesitantly Ada joins Ruby who is sitting straddling the hay door of the loft. They relax chewing on pieces of hay and swinging their legs ‘like boys”. Ruby covers Ada’s eyes and asks her what she hears. Ruby is disappointed that Ada hears only the wind in the trees. “Just general trees is all? You’ve got a long way to go.” Ada understands that she has only begun the process of getting to know the mountain.

They eat their supper outside that afternoon. Stobrod reappears. Ruby does not speak to him but Ada talks to Stobrod about the war. Stobrod produces an unusual fiddle with a carved head of a snake on the front and an actual snake’s rattle inside. He proceeds to tell them a long story about how his old fiddle was stolen and he hand made this one from his memory. Stobrod explains that his life has been changed by the war, and changed by his music. He played once for a dying little girl and was inspired to make up and play his own music. He lost interest in the war and stopped showing up for battles. He paid attention to the words and music of slaves and developed his own talent. Stobrod claims he now knows nine hundred tunes. He plays a tune for Ada and Ruby. They are amazed, not only at the magnificence of his music, but that such a wretched, deplorable man could find and create such beauty.

1

Notes

Ada truly appreciates Ruby as a friend now. Ada is an eager student of the land and Ruby forever marvels at Ada. When Stobrod arrives Ada is gracious toward him, but does not compel Ruby to alter her own feelings.

The conversation between Ada and Stobrod naturally turns to the war. This is a common topic of discussion throughout the novel even though the novel is not specifically about the war. Most times we are left with ideas about how savage the war is. However, this time, Stobrod is a symbol of deliverance. He speaks of what he has gained as a result of his experiences rather than what he has lost. He has found himself some salvation.

Chapter 13 bride bed full of blood Summary Inman is wandering, lost, unable to glean any sense of direction because the sun, moon and stars have been concealed by storm clouds and fog for days. He has used the goat woman’s medicine and his wounds are well toward healing. His thoughts, however are still grave. He is out of food, living on creek water and wild cress. He cannot even bear to look upon his own image reflected in the water. He sees a hunched crow and wishes he could fly out of his situation.

He meets another man, briefly, who like Inman, does not take sides in the war. The man, Potts, explains that his son was killed at Sharpsburg. They exchange a few words about the battle at Sharpsburg. The man comments on Inman’s worn out condition and directs him down the road where he says there is a girl that will give him some food without asking any questions.

Inman finds the cabin and after stating that Potts sent him, the girl lets him come in out of the sleet and rain. The cabin is sparsely furnished, but clean. There is a baby in a cradle made of sticks. Inman feels uncomfortable about his own filthiness and smell in the tidy room.

The girl gives Inman a seat by the fire and feeds him beans and cornbread. Inman is unable to control his hunger and eats rudely, but then apologizes. The girl’s name is Sara. As they talk she tells Inman that her man was killed in the war and had never even seen his baby. She lives on her own eking out what living she can. Raiders have come and stolen her cow and burned down her barn. Then they killed her dog just to scare her. She has only a hog now to last the winter and fears slaughtering it by herself.

Inman feels the anguish of this young girl’s life and feels almost trapped by a responsibility to help her. He offers to kill the hog for her. In return, she has him wash and gives him clothes that were her man’s. In the stranger’s clothes, Inman feels like a ghost of this poor desperate girl’s past. He goes outside to sleep in the corncrib and the sky finally begins to clear. In the middle of the night Sara comes out and asks him to come inside.

Inside the cabin there is a fire, blazing and warm, near which the baby sleeps. Sara is in her own bed and asks if Inman could lay with her, but do nothing else. He obliges her stiffly and as the two lie together she cries. She tells him her life story and does not allow him to speak or try to console her. She ends her tale commenting on how good the hog will be.

2

In the morning she wakes Inman urgently. He runs out the back and hides in the woods. Three Federals ride up and stop Sara from releasing her hog into the woods to escape. One holds her at gunpoint while the others go into the house, trash it, and bring out the baby. They tie the girl to a post, unwrap the baby and leave it on the frozen ground. They sit waiting for her to tell them where her money is.

Meanwhile, Inman is sneaking back toward the house knowing that Sara, the baby and he will be killed, but hoping he can at least kill one of the Federals first. Just then, the Federals give up thinking that the girl has any money, untie her and hand her the baby. They gather up her chickens and tie a rope to the hog, riding off with all that she had.

Inman runs out and tells Sara to go inside, warm the baby, and then build an outdoor fire on which to boil a cauldron of water. Then he runs off after the Federals. He follows them a few miles to where they stop to camp. Inman hears the men speak of wanting to be home. He too wishes they were not all in their present situation.

It is fairly easy for Inman, at home in the mountains, to stalk these city boys. He is able to kill the Federal that goes off from the rest and approaches the tree where Inman is hiding. When the other two come to find the first, Inman comes from behind and shoots them. Inman is not pleased with what he has done, but reasons that compared to Fredericksburg or the Crater, this is near nothing. He hides the Federals bodies and their gear in a cave, dispatches the horses, reclaims Sara’s hog and chickens (two of them already cooked, and one that had been eating on the first dead raider), and returns to the cabin.

Sara had done as Inman said and has a huge cauldron of water boiling over a strong fire. The two eat the cooked chickens and spend the rest of the day killing, scalding and butchering the hog. They clean up, go inside and eat. They rest, and then eat again.

Sara offers Inman a razor and strop. Inman takes it outside to a rusted metal mirror and shaves. He had grown to dislike his own reflection as a result of the war and also, hot water had been hard to come by so he grew a beard. He had not shaved for two years. When he finishes shaving he sees his face as sinister. However, he knows that this is not the true Inman and believes he can eventually look better again.

He goes back inside and he and Sara sit by the fire. She rocks her sickly baby and forces herself to sing to it. Her voice sounds one hundred years old, carrying despair, resentment and panic. That night they lie in bed together again.

The next morning, Inman has breakfast, which includes an egg from the hen that had been eating on the dead raider, then leaves.

Notes

The crow that appears in this chapter is wet and looks ills. This can be compared to Inman who is again wishing he could fly off from his situation, perhaps from humanity all together. His solitude has become a threat to his spirit.

The girl, Sara, is the embodiment of endurance. There is little reason to hope that her situation will ever improve, yet she goes on.

2

The Federal raiders behave no better than the Home Guard. This gives us insight to the author’s viewpoint of the war. The killing and brutality was senseless, especially to the mountain people. This chapter punctuates the senseless loss - Potts’ loss of a son, Sara’s loss of her man, and Inman’s loss of himself. But it also gives a glimmer of hope. The melancholy, hopeless tone of the beginning of the chapter is lifted by the end. Inman brings some warmth and some needed help into Sara’s life. He even begins to believe that his own face “could in time be altered for the better.”

There is also some irony in this chapter. Sara sings Fair Margaret and Sweet William, a centuries old Scottish song popular in southern Appalachia. The song is about the death of a newlywed yet it soothes the baby to sleep and calms Sara and Inman. Second is the almost grotesque irony at the chapter’s end where Inman eats hog brains scrambled with the egg formed of nourishment the hen got from eating off a man Inman killed.

Chapter 14 a satisfied mind Summary Ada and Ruby work at harvesting and processing apples for most of the autumn. After picking the apples they make dried apples, applesauce, pie, stewed apples, apple butter, hard cider, etc. They feed the leftover apple pulp to the hogs to sweeten the meat.

Ruby goes out to trade cider for beef and instructs Ada to split the oak logs and burn the brush from the lower field while she is gone. Following the method Ruby showed her, Ada splits the pieces of oak trunk until she is soaked with sweat. She goes back to the house, rinses off and begins a letter to her cousin, Lucy, in Charleston. The letter explains how Ada has changed, both physically and in character, as a result of her life on Cold Mountain. She is serene and satisfied with her new situation.

Ada then goes out with a pitchfork and the third volume of Adam Bede. She piles brush together and as it burns she sits down to read. She is not engrossed in the book and gets up often to tend the fire. Ada enjoys this time and the view of the mountains. She owns the entire span of ridge before her.

As she relaxes, waiting for Ruby, Stobrod and another man approach. Stobrod carries his fiddle; the other man carries a banjo. Stobrod introduces his simpleminded companion as a son of the Pangles, though the Pangles won’t claim him. The Pangle boy had lived in a cave, which has since been occupied by Stobrod and other outliers. Pangle took a liking to Stobrod and his fiddle playing. Stobrod further explains that he had been part of a raid on a wealthy farmer against whom an outlier held a grudge. The other outliers stole food and valuables, but Stobrod took only an old banjo from the tool shed. He gave the banjo to Pangle and taught him what he could. Pangle has a natural talent and now he and Stobrod are a duo of sorts.

Ruby returns with a disappointing amount of meat. She seasons it and cooks it in the brush flames. As the meat cooks Stobrod and Pangle play impressive music. The four then eat and Stobrod explains he needs a place to stay. He does not want to be part of the outlier raids and does not want to be caught by the law. Ruby replies that Teague is too much of a threat for her to consider taking in an outlier, but defers the decision to Ada. Then Stobrod and Ruby each

2

tell their own versions of Ruby’s childhood, and Ruby storms off. Ada dismisses Stobrod and Pangle with a vague idea of compromise.

Alone again, Ada gets quilts and a spyglass so she can sit outside and watch the lunar eclipse. She thinks about the lyrics to one of Stobrod’s songs, “Come back to me is my request”. She writes these words and addresses them to the hospital in the capital. She falls asleep, her quilts covered with frost.

Notes

This chapter opens with the feeling that there is a rhythm to the days on the farm. As throughout the novel, there are descriptions of procedures and chores done the old way without any powered equipment. Nothing goes to waste. Fallen, faded and inferior apples have a use. Even the pulp left from pressing the cider is not wasted.

While Ruby is away, Ada is now completely self-sufficient. She cuts wood, burns brush, milks the cow, etc. This is a powerful contrast to the helpless, hopeless Ada of Chapter 2. Ada is finding herself. She is losing interest in the simple people of Adam Bede. She has found new depth and contentment in nature. The new Ada is evident in the letter to Lucy and in Ada’s musings about the setting sun. Ada feels in place.

Chapter 15 a vow to bear Summary Inman is following the trails through the mountain country and sees an older woman crying over her dead daughter. Inman offers to help make a casket and bury the girl. To repay him, the woman cooks Inman a meal - corn grits, steak, eggs and butter. Inman is near tears as he searches his memory for an appropriate blessing to give thanks for the food, the likes of which he hasn’t had since he began his journey. The woman also gives him provisions for the road.

For the next several days, Inman walks in the rain, taking shelter in bird homes. He reads Bartram and allows Bartram’s vivid descriptions of the landscape to replace his own memories of the mountains. He continues southwest, passing the skeletons of three hanged men, then an old Cherokee rock cairn. He eventually climbs to the base of a cliff to make camp. At dawn a mother bear comes sniffing around near him. Recalling dreams from the past wherein Inman was a bear, happy and strong in the forest, and a final dream where he was slain by hunters, Inman remembers his vow to bear and will not kill the bear. He is trapped and speaks calmly to the bear. She charges him, but when Inman steps aside, the bear goes over the edge of the cliff. Inman feels bad, especially for the cub that will die of starvation or be attacked. Mercifully, Inman kills the cub and rather than have it be a waste, cooks and eats the meat.

As depressing as the situation is, Inman is cheered because he is nearing home. He recognizes the ridges before him. He surveys the landscape as he eats the bear meat with regret.

Notes

Inman’s encounters with human death in this chapter are not obstacles for him. He helps bury the dead girl and moves on. He sees the three hanging skeletons and the cairn, examines them

2

and moves on. He takes comfort in Bartram and once again, the elevation of the terrain parallels the elevation of Inman’s spirit.

The chapter title has a double meaning. Inman has made a vow to bear, meaning a promise not to kill the animals. It becomes a vow to bear because he is driven to break the vow and must bear the regret, which to Inman, feels like sin.

Chapter 16 naught and grief Summary Stobrod, Pangle and a boy from Georgia are walking in the cold to find the hiding place where Ruby had agreed to leave food. They are able to find the food, but don’t know which way to go from there. They make a fire and sit for a while. The Georgia boy walks off to relieve himself and Stobrod falls asleep.

Teague, the young boy who travels with him and a bunch of Home Guard ride up. Teague asks Stobrod if he knows anything of the outliers who have been robbing farmers. Stobrod says he may have heard of them but thinks they live on the opposite side of the mountain. Pangle appears perplexed at Stobrod’s response. Teague repeats the question to Pangle who gives the real answer and directions to the outliers cave. Teague thanks him and calls his men over to join them at the fire.

They all have breakfast together and share a drink. Teague asks Stobrod and Pangle to play some music. They make music such as the Guard had never heard before. When they finish, Teague stands them in front of a tree and has them shot.

Notes

This is a short chapter and the only one that is not about Inman or Ada. The characters here, Stobrod and Pangle, likely stem from a double grave the author came upon during his own walk through the Smoky Mountains. The grave Frazier found is said to contain a fiddler and a retarded boy killed by Teague’s Confederate Home Guard. (See Historical Background) Much of the characterization of the novel is based on fact, like the bushwhacking outliers who rob farmers. Stobrod and Pangle add color and evoke pathos. They are used to illustrate the senselessness of the killing that historically occurred.

Chapter 17 black bark in winter Summary The Georgia boy, after witnessing the killings from behind the trees, runs to tell Ada and Ruby. The women feed the boy and give him directions to get home to Georgia. Ruby instructs Ada what to pack and tells her they should dress in “britches” to avoid the cold. They outfit themselves in Monroe’s old clothes and hats, rub beeswax on their boots and set out to find and bury Stobrod and Pangle.

They walk through the snowy woods well into the night. Ruby urges Ada on saying there will be better shelter up ahead. They come to a covering where three large flat rocks had fallen against each other to make a small chamber. Ada and Ruby build a fire and eat. As the fire heats the rocks Ada is able to fall asleep. At first light they make breakfast and set off again.

When they reach their destination they find Pangle’s body, but not Stobrod’s. They bury Pangle, and Ada makes a cross out of black locust limbs, hoping they would take root. Ada washes her hands in the creek and spots Stobrod under an overhang.

2

He had been shot three times but was still alive. Ruby gathers herbs and roots while Ada boils water, and the women tend Stobrod’s wounds. They lash together a sled to transport Stobrod, then decide that draping him over the horse would be better.

Ruby leads them to an old, abandoned Cherokee village of huts and cabins. Ruby carries Stobrod inside the best of the cabins. She lights a fire in the hearth while Ada tries to coax, and then forces the horse into one of the huts for shelter. Ruby cooks a supper and the women eat. Ada dreads sleeping on the cold dirt floor, knowing that more snow is coming.

Notes

Ada and Ruby are proving themselves capable of anything together. They have learned to work cooperatively so that no challenge seems insurmountable. Surviving the cold, burying the dead and healing the wounded are outside of their regular farm routine. Yet these women are so strong and confident they set themselves to these tasks without hesitation. The war, having taken the men away, leaves women filling in all roles.

Chapter 18 footsteps in the snow Summary Inman is puzzling over the signs on the ground where Stobrod and Pangle were shot. He sees Pangle’s grave and wonders where the second grave is. He looks at the remains of a fire and some roots that had been boiled. Then he sees tracks leading away. He had already made it to Ada’s farm and found the Georgia boy making himself at home there. The boy told Inman where the women had gone. Now Inman finds himself back in the snowy woods, still trying to get to Ada. He had rehearsed their reunion in his mind over and over, now he is not sure it will ever come to pass. He has been fasting since the bear cub meat and plans on searching out the opening at Shining Rocks if Ada will not have him.

Both snow and darkness are falling so Inman builds a fire and makes camp. He is losing faith in his own future and fears he has become so bitter and angry in the past four years that he will not recover. But he knows there are still footsteps in the snow and if he perseveres he can find Ada. In the morning he follows the tracks but as the snow falls the tracks become faint. Finally he feels lost and ready to lie down and be buried in the snow to die.

Meanwhile Ada and Ruby are nursing Stobrod who has barely regained consciousness. Ada goes out to fetch water and notices wild turkeys on the hillside. She tells Ruby and Ruby instructs her briefly on how to use the shotgun to kill one. Ada hesitates then goes out to hunt and shoot for the first time in her life. She tracks the turkeys and with one shot kills two of them.

Inman hears the nearby shot and draws his own gun as he approaches. He sees the silhouette of a hunter with a shotgun aimed at him. He steps closer and recognizes Ada’s face. He says her name but she does not respond. Inman thinks he may be so far gone that he is only imaging this is Ada. The two stand, weapons drawn against each other.

To Ada, Inman looks to be a beggar who is as likely as not to harm her. Even after Inman puts away his gun she does not recognize him. He is overwhelmed with love and though he cannot step forward without risking being shot, he says, “I’ve been coming to you on a hard road and I’m not letting you go.” She says she does not know him. He apologizes for his mistake and turns to leave.

2

Suddenly, at last, Ada recognizes him and says his name. She lowers her gun and tells him to come with her. She sees how ravaged and worn he is and speaks calmly and evenly as she leads him to the cabin. The tone of her voice tells Inman that everything will be fine.

Notes

This climactic chapter draws the reader into Inman’s confusion and pain. He had reached Ada’s farm, which should have been the end of his journey. He does not stay there to wait for her but goes back into his odyssey to seek her once more. When they finally meet, it is nothing remotely like the scene Inman had played over in his mind - Ada in her fine clothes rushing out to embrace the weary hero. Instead, it is a tense, life- threatening situation where it is possible they will die by each other’s hand. Even after Ada recognizes him there is no embrace for at that moment Inman just needed to be taken care of. They have achieved a physical reunion of sorts but they are both very far away from their original selves.

Chapter 19 the far side of trouble Summary Stobrod is only partially conscious and Inman is suffering the effects of hunger and over-weariness. Ada and Ruby decide to let the two men sleep while they go to set up another cabin. They patch holes, cut wood, clean out dead bugs and build a fire. They clean and prepare the turkeys for cooking. Periodically, Ruby goes back to tend the fire in the men’s cabin.

Ruby is concerned about what Ada will do with the farm now that Inman has returned. She explains that she and Ada would be fine without his help. Ada agrees that she doesn’t need Inman, but confesses that she does want him.

Inman wakes up and sees Stobrod who asks for water. Inman goes outside to get some and sees firelight from the other cabin. He brings Stobrod water, tends the fire, and then goes to the women’s cabin. He knocks and Ruby lets him in.

He sees Ada who is so beautiful to him. She puts her hands to the front and back of his waist and comments on how thin he feels. Inman does not know how to respond to her touch. Ada feeds him turkey, fried apples and grits while Ruby prepares a turkey broth to take to Stobrod.

When Ada and Inman are alone, he shows her his Bartram book. He offers to read some to her and randomly opens to a page, which turns out to be about wonton Indian virgins frolicking in the flowers. Embarrassed, he excuses himself to wash the cookware, still remembering the touch of Ada’s hands on his waist.

When he returns they talk about the letters Ada had written him, which he never received. Inman confesses that his journey was spent hoping Ada would marry him, but he feels that he has become “ruined beyond repair”. Ada reassures him and they sit in front of the fire, Ada in Inman’s arms.

Ruby returns and Inman leaves to sleep in the men’s cabin. Ada, Ruby and Inman all lay awake dwelling on what the future holds. Ada sees that she and Inman have aged so much in only a few years, but likes who they have become. Ruby wonders what to do with Stobrod should he recover. Inman takes pleasure in thoughts of Ada and the brief physical contact they shared.

2

The next day Ada and Inman go hunting together. As they walk they speak of their future. Ada explains “how she had come to be what she was”, her father’s death and her relationship with Ruby. They find an old Indian arrow embedded in a tree and mark this as a special spot.

They return with firewood and goldenseal to help heal Stobrod, but no game. While Stobrod sleeps and Ada and Ruby map out the future of Ada’s farm, Inman goes to the other cabin to sleep. Later Ruby suggests that she stay to monitor Stobrod’s condition and that Ada go to check on Inman.

In the other cabin Ada gently touches Inman and he awakens. She undresses and goes to him. They spend the night together talking of the past, and then their future.

Notes

This long chapter continues the climax of Ada and Inman’s meeting. The feeling that they are finally together eases the painful melancholy mood of the novel. As characters recount their experiences to each other, Frazier’s skill at effective understatement is highlighted. This compassionate break in the sadness could almost serve as a satisfactory ending to the novel.

Chapter 20 spirit of crows, dancing Summary After three days together, Ada and Inman discuss their options with respect to the war. Inman could return to the army, remain an outlier, or surrender to the Federals and wait out the war’s end. They decide on the last.

On the fifth day the plan to head home is mapped out. Ada and Ruby leave first, alone. Later Inman loads Stobrod onto the horse and sets out. After some miles, Teague and the boy he keeps with him appear with some Home Guard scouts. Inman smacks the horse and it takes off with Stobrod. Then Inman shoots one of the Guards and one of their dogs, and charges into the ensuing confusion. The Guard’s horses are out of control and Inman is able to shoot another man. Teague’s horse jumps and Inman grabs Teague’s gun. Inman shoots Teague and another Guard.

Only the boy remains, on horseback, hiding behind a tree. Inman calls him out in order to avoid having to kill him but the boy is hardened against Inman and refuses. After a chase through the woods, the boy is thrown from his horse. Inman tells the boy to put his gun down. The boy fiddles with the gun then shoots Inman.

Ada hears the shot and runs back. She finds Inman and cradles him in her lap. As he drifts in and out of consciousness he envisions all the seasons on Cold Mountain happening simultaneously, and the spirits of crows, dancing and singing in the trees.

Notes

The events of this chapter can be considered a climax as well as the climactic reunion of Inman and Ada. Inman’s death happens quickly, as the crows that have been symbolic throughout the novel are now but spirits.

Epilogue October of 1874 Summary The boy from Georgia had never gone home and is now Ruby’s husband. They have three boys that work and play hard around Ada’s farm. Ada

2

prepares her traditional October picnic and looks with appreciation on the autumn colors of Cold Mountain.

Stobrod is still with them. There is also a young girl, Ada’s daughter. Stobrod plays his fiddle at the fireside and the girl sings. Then Ada reads Baucis and Philemon to the children. It has grown dark and it is time for bed.

Notes

The idyllic epilogue shows nothing of the tragedy and sorrow that preceeded. Ada has grown to love Cold Mountain as Inman did. It fits then, that the final literary reference is to Baucis and Philemon, a story where lovers are rewarded after death with the opportunity of being together in nature.

OVERALL ANALYSES

Major Characters

Inman - Inman is a native of the Cold Mountain region. He loves his homeland. After meeting and falling in love with the beautiful, cultured Ada Monroe he enlists in the Confederate army. He is wounded in battle twice. The second, a neck wound, is expected to be fatal. Inman does not die but he has been changed by the horrors of the battlefront. He has no illusions about glory or patriotism and deserts the army from the hospital. He longs for his home, Cold Mountain, and his love, Ada. The war and monotonous terrain that Inman is walking away from and the mountains and love that he is walking toward shape his character as he walks 300 miles home. He learns something from each obstacle he encounters along the way (much like Homer’s Odysseus), yet despite the pain and bloodshed he witnesses, he is always portrayed as a man of character.

Ada Monroe - Ada is a Charleston-raised socialite who is an anachronism on her deceased father’s farm in the mountains. The war’s new social and economic conditions have upended all that is familiar to her. She begins the story helpless and childlike, mostly due to her privileged and sheltered upbringing. She has no way of knowing that Inman is on his way home to her but wishes it were so. When Ruby enters Ada’s life, Ada begins to discover not only how a farm works, but also how she herself works. She and Ruby become friends and grow to depend on each other. Eventually Ada becomes strong and capable finding comfort in the land and in who she has become.

Ruby - Ruby is a drifter who comes to Ada and teaches her how to make a subsistence living from Ada’s neglected land. Ruby is hard on the outside and fully capable of living off the land. She knows “the signs” from nature and, being without a mother and untended by her father, can survive without anyone’s help. She has hurt feelings on the inside, however, which surface when her father, Stobrod, reenters her life. Her newfound friendship with Ada teaches her to accept her father and that it is all right for people to rely on each other.

2

Plot Structure

Though the novel is a narrative, it borders on the expository in that there is no true dialogue. When characters communicate, it is largely through the author’s explanation of what was said. Actual spoken words are offset from the text by dashes. No quotation marks or conventional indications of dialogue are used.

A linear storyline is not maintained. The narrative follows current events, and then stories within the characters’ memories recount events of the past. The past then serves to explain the present. The chapters are of roughly even length and the story moves at a slow pace that suits the steady and enduring sense of purpose of the characters. This smooth tempo of plot movement creates a balance between Inman’s journey toward Ada and the mountain he loves, and Ada’s journey toward her sense of self and her connection with the mountain. The alternating focus of each chapter, first Inman, then Ada, then Inman, etc. allows the reader a greater depth of understanding of how the characters’ lives are transformed by the events of the war and the events of nature.

Themes

The most outstanding theme is the desire for home. The entire story of Inman centers on this goal. When the landscape appears more like home, he is driven onward. When he thinks of being home with Ada, he perseveres. For Ada the desire for home is less physical. She is pursuing an emotional need to find her place in nature and to establish the feeling of being at home on the mountain.

Another major theme is that of endurance. It is clear that no matter what obstacle Inman is confronted with, he will go on. His longing for home and for Ada persist. He drives himself, unyieldingly, despite all dangers.

2

A less dramatic but more pervasive theme is man’s relationship to the land. Humanity has a place in nature that aligns with the old life ways. Few, if any, contemporary readers thread beans to make leatherbritches or make home made harrow, yet these and other early nineteenth century practices are paid homage to in the writing of this book. There is a value in the old way of life where people depended on the land, limited desires, and made due with what nature provided.

A lesser theme is that of how the lives of soldiers and civilians alike are transformed by the war. The mountain people especially were caught between the two different economies of the war. Though they had no ties to either slave agriculture or industrial capitalism, their homes and lives were all but destroyed.

The theme of the danger of solitude is also presented. In scenes where Inman or Ada are left to their own thoughts, their moods degenerate and their thoughts become negative. They do battle with their own psyches that have been assaulted by loneliness. Also, the goat woman’s thoughts and Inman’s views on her life exemplify this theme.

Point of View

The point of view is that of limited omniscience, which alternates between the perspectives of Inman and Ada. As we see into the characters we find they each have a unique point of view about the significance of the land, but the poignancy of each nuance of nature prevails in their thoughts.

The unique point of view is that of Inman as a southern Appalachian man. The story is woven around the events of the Civil War, but the perspective of mountain people is seldom discussed in history books. Through Inman the reader sees the pointlessness of the killing by the Home Guard and the Federals, and the pain of the women who are alone as a consequence of the war.

Other Elements

The story and characters of Cold Mountain have certain parallels to The Odyssey of Homer. Inman, like Odysseus is a soldier/warrior who is battle-fatigued and is trying to get home. Further, each obstacle, each rogue, encountered along the way teaches the wayfarer more about himself. The patience, humility and endurance required confer upon him a worthiness of his goal. Meanwhile, Ada, like Penelope, faces problems of her own at home, and when Inman/Odysseus finally arrives, he finds suitors/Ruby vying for the attention of his beloved.

Homer’s Iliad tells about the battles of the Trojan War. His Odyssey, as sequel, tells about wanting home and peace. Cold Mountain, as sequel to Inman’s Civil War battles, is the story of those same wants. This desire for home is the central theme that ties The Odyssey and Cold Mountain together.

Quotations

[Note: Page numbers are from the paperback, Vintage Contemporaries Edition, 1998.]

3

“It is difficult to believe in the dreadful but quiet war of organic beings, going on in the peaceful woods & smiling fields

-- Darwin, 1839 journal entry” (coverleaf)

This first of two quotes from the coverleaf describes the concept of survival of the fittest in nature. However in the context of Cold Mountain, “organic beings” can be expanded to include humans and what they must endure in a setting that would appear pastoral to a casual observer.

“Men ask the way to Cold Mountain,

Cold Mountain: there’s no through trail

--Han Shan” (coverleaf)

The second quote from the coverleaf refers to Cold Mountain Temple. Han Shan, the T’ang Dynasty poet-recluse and Buddhist monk whose name means “Cold Mountain”, is pronouncing that though the path is difficult and indirect, Cold Mountain can be attained. This has obvious parallels both physically and spiritually to the Cold Mountain of Frazier’s novel.

“Cold Mountain, all its ridges and coves and watercourses. Pigeon River, Little East Fork, Sorrell Cove, Deep Gap, Fire Scald Ridge. He knew their names and said them to himself like the words of spells and incantations to ward off the things one fears most.” (p.16)

This quote follows Inman’s reading from Bartram, the pioneer naturalist of the late 1700’s. Frazier, like Bartram, calls forth the beauty and power of the landscape. Inman uses Bartram and his own memories of Cold Mountain to bolster his endurance and drive him toward home.

“Earth has not anything to show more fair. Dull would be the soul who could pass by a sight so touching in its majesty.” (p. 54)

Ada’s father, while driving through the mountains, proclaimed this quote from Wordsworth. It is another example of how the mountain acts as a main character and influences the other characters’ actions and emotions.

“this journey will be the axle of my life” (p. 71)

This is from Inman’s thoughts and shows his own insight into the fact that his entire future revolves around the outcome of this endeavor.

“The crops were growing well, largely, Ruby claimed, because they had been planted, at her insistence, in strict accordance with the signs.” (p. 134)

This exemplifies the intimate relationship the mountain people have with the land. Descriptions of these old ways of working are abundant and evidence that Frazier had much research behind his writing.

“Just general trees is all? You’ve got a long way to go.” (p. 289)

3

Spoken by Ruby to Ada, this contrasts the two women, but it falls in a scene that shows that Ada is interested in and trying to learn nature’s ways. It also illustrates the growing friendship between Ada and Ruby.

“Needing and getting don’t seem likely to match up any time soon... What needs doing is mine to do.” (p. 305)

Ada’s words sum up the melancholy mood of the novel and also show Ada’s progress toward self-mastery.

Questions

1. Why don’t the Swangers take Ada in and/or take care of her?

2. Give examples where Native American or old life ways are presented as valuable.

3. What does this book say about the author’s opinions of the Civil War?

4. Do you agree that the landscape can influence actions and emotions? Why or why not?

5. Give examples of mountain language that support the geographic and time settings.

6. What is the function of the epilogue? 7. Speculate on what might have happened had Inman killed Veasey.

8. What personality trait is most responsible for Inman’s successful odyssey? Elaborate.

9. Do you feel that Inman was successful? Why or why not? 10. What changes does Inman go through on the course of his journey?

11. What changes does Ada go through? 12. Explain what is meant by “The comeliest order on earth is but a heap of random sweepings.” (chapter 1)

13. Contrast the above quote with “We mark some days as fair, some as foul, because we do not see that the character of everyday is identical.” (chapter 1)

14. Stobrod plays his fiddle to please himself and any that happen to hear him. Explain how his music sums up the mountain culture.

3

15. Discuss Cold Mountain as a Civil War novel. 16. Discuss Cold Mountain as a novel about mountain traditions.

17. Choose a theme from the novel and give specific scenes and/or events that illustrate that theme.

COMMENT ON THE STUDY OF LITERATURE

The study of literature is not like the study of math or science, or even history. While those disciplines are based largely upon fact, the study of literature is based upon interpretation and analysis. There are no clear-cut answers in literature, outside of the factual information about an author's life and the basic information about setting and characterization in a piece of literature. The rest is a highly subjective reading of what an author has written; each person brings a different set of values and a different background to the reading. As a result, no two people see the piece of literature in exactly the same light, and few critics agree on everything about a book or an author. In this set of PinkMonkey® Literature Notes for a well-known piece of literature, we at PinkMonkey.com have tried to give an objective literary analysis based upon the information actually found in the novel, book, or play. In the end, however, it is an individual interpretation, but one that we feel can be readily supported by the information that is presented in the guide. In your course of literature study, you or your professor/teacher may come up with a different interpretation of the mood or the theme or the conflict. Your interpretation, if it can be logically supported with information contained within the piece of literature, is just as correct as ours. So is the interpretation of your teacher or professor.

Literature is simply not a black or white situation; instead, there are many gray areas that are open to varying analyses. Your task is to come up with your own analysis that you can logically defend. Hopefully, these PinkMonkey® Literature Notes will help you to accomplish that goal.

Copyright ©2002 PinkMonkey.com, Inc.COLD MOUNTAIN (2003) IMAGE GALLERYhttp://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.erasofelegance.com/coldmtn5.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.erasofelegance.com/coldmtnstills.html&h=499&w=569&sz=98&tbnid=L3MsCVHExvAJ:&tbnh=114&tbnw=129&start=11&prev=/images%3Fq%3DCold%2BMountain%26hl%3Dfr%26lr%3D

http://www.google.com/images?q=Cold%20Mountain

3

WRITE AN ESSAY ON ONE OF THE MAJOR THEMES.WRITE A CHARACTER SKETCH OF ONE OF THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE.

Find notes on any book you are reading at :

http://www.freebooknotes.com/book.php3?id=117

3