Cold Mountain Sparknotes

Charles Frazier writes about the love story of Inman and Ada in the novel Cold Mountain. Inman was a soldier that was wounded in the Civil War. He escapes a hospital in Virginia in hopes to return to his home on Cold Mountain in North Carolina. The novel provides vivid detail of Inman’s journey back to his home. He survives against the struggles that man and nature provide on the way. Ada, the woman that Inman longs to find, simply goes on with day to day life, learning how to work and be independent. At the end of the novel, Inman finally reaches Ada and they are able to spend five days together. As he’s traveling back to her house, he is shot by Home Guard and dies in Ada’s arms. This essay includes background information on the author, the

Authors Biographical Information Charles Frazier was born on November 4, 1950 in Asheville, North Carolina. He spent his childhood growing up near Cold Mountain which is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains within the Appalachian Mountains. This setting inspired him to include it in his first novel. Frazier graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1973, and later received his Master of Arts Degree from Appalachian State University in 1975. He met his wife at ASU and in 1985 his daughter, Annie, was born. A year later, Frazier received his Ph.D. in English from the University of South Carolina. He left North Carolina and spent some time teaching at the University of Colorado before returning to his home. After his return, he taught English at North Carolina State. He quit teaching and to pursue his dream of becoming an author and published his first novel in 1997. Cold Mountain was Frazier's first novel and it won many awards. This novel was an international bestseller, and won the National Book Award in 1997. Frazier also wrote the novels Thirteen Moons in 2006, and Nightwoods in 2011. Nightwoods is his only book that does not take place during the civil war. Charles Frazier also received the North Carolina Award for literature in

The climax of whether Ada would find herself, or more importantly, if Inman would survive his journey home became understood by the use of imagery. Every action that the characters endured was felt, seen, and smelt by the readers. The novel revealed the daily struggles of Americans in history.

4. Analysis of the Critical Responses The novel Cold Mountain spoke to many different people through imagery. The most perceived theme of the book was that it was a troubling love story. According to one site, Ada and Inman were both in search of self-knowledge. This site claims that Inman was in search of the man he once was before the war so that he will be good enough for Ada when he finds her. (http://www.novelguide.com/cold-mountain/theme-analysis). The characters must adapt to the changing world around them. The war impacted every aspect of life, and each character must find themselves again. It claims that the characters go about finding themselves in different ways, through “books, astronomy, Christian teachings, natural history, myth, and folklore.”

The main conclusion was that the characters went through many different ways to find themselves and adapt to new