Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

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Recommended: War and post traumatic stress disorder

ColdMountain - Charles Frazier - Characters : their development and impact. 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 ColdMountainstood and s... ... middle of paper ... ...y he could fix his sad live is if he cut all their throats when they were sleeping. For Junior the war had been a source of income for he sold deserters to the Home Guard for $5 each. Because of his choice to sell off Inman he dies as Inman then comes back for revenge and kills him by hitting him with his pistol. Teague Teague is the leader of a band of Home Guard. He is a violent and ruthless sadist who is mentioned by Swangers with fright and hatred, his execution of Pangle and other outliers in the novel show this. The war had let him do these terrible things without vengeance from the community as most of the men were out fighting the war. Teague may have joined the Home Guard as he was too scared to join in the actual war in case he had been injured or killed. His crimes do come back to get him though as when he confronts Inman, Inman kills him.

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