Friday, June 15, 2012
Cold Mountain
Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain is modeled on the story of Odysseus, another warrior journeying home. If you have read The Odyssey (as I know Tylar, Pat, Julia, Chloe, & Elizabeth have), please think back to it and describe some of the similarities you see between Inman's story and that of Odysseus...the more specific your comparison the better. If you would prefer, or if you have not read The Odyssey, think about Inman's character and deny or defend labeling him "arrogant."
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i have only just begun this book but i already have noticed some similarities between Inman and Odysseus. one of these similarities is of the wise blind men in both books. i forget the name of the blind seer in the ancient greek epic poem, but i do remember he was based off of homer himself. in "cold mountain," the blind newspaper seller has an interesting and wise view on vision and the idea of not having in the first place vs. having and loosing, (like "is it better to loved and to have lost then never have loved at all") sparking Inman's own beliefs. in "the odyssey," the blind seer gives odysseus crutial information on how to succeed on his journey, (i don't remember what it was but i remember he gave it to him) this makes me wonder if the wisdom the blind newspaper seller will be curtail information for Inman, or even referenced again. as i continue to read, i will post more
ReplyDeletei also would like to post a question i would like other's opinions on. as i said, i only just began reading this, so maybe it will be answered as i continue, but why is there no quotations in this book? sometimes Inman uses dashes (--) before what someone says, or just states it mid-parograph. why is this? do you guys have any ideas on it or why the author chose to write this way? is it because Inman almost seems to be telling his story to himself so they are more of thoughts than things said? please get back to me on this everyone, i would love to know your theories.
ReplyDeletep.s. does anyone ells find this challenging no thawing quotation marks? it is for me
wow, reading this back i am noticing lots of typos. when i wrote "no thawing" i meant "NOT HAVING" oops
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ReplyDeletegot another parallel! after finally getting through adda's (rather boring in my opinion) section, Inman must cross a river by boat. my first theory was that this section was like Odysseus going into Hades and how he had to pay the boatman (charon? don't remember) to take him like how Inman had to pay the woman to row him across. but as i continues to read, i began to discover that the river Inman is crossing is not like the Styx, but more like the sea of monsters! this is because Inman feels that he is facing two threats and is stuck between a rock and a hard place. this is because of the men shooting at him from on shore (like the monster Scylla, who sat on the rocks and would eat people one by one) and the mysterious catfish that Inman is worried about being "sucked up by." (this is like the monster ,Charybdis, who would suck up all the water and anything with it, then hurl it out.) Inman had to choose which threat to face by either staying in the boat, away from the fish, but being in range of the shooters, or going under the boat but being in the fish's home turf.
ReplyDeleteYet another similarity i have found between the two protagonists is their inability to stay with any comrades for long. Although Odysseus was constantly loosing his team to monsters and death, Inman looses his companions to a variety of things, ranging from being the only surviver of the captured men the confederates killed, to simply needing to continue on his quest back home from the Goat Woman's caravan. Yet, there is one constant and major difference between the two men; Odysseus' fatal flaw, hubris, is most certainly lacking in Inman. Inman continues to be extremely humble and doesn't seem to constantly look down at others in the way Homer's hero did. I have not found Inman's fatal flaw yet, perhaps it is his initial trust in people, but it is for certain that he is not a victim of hubris.
ReplyDeleteThe more I read, the more I begin to feel that Inman's fatal flaw is actually Inman's selflessness for he persists to try to help everyone who he comes across, even if it is just asking if he can pay for the meal that they give him. Inman is constantly trying to help the people he comes across, from killing the federate soldiers who stele from Sarah, to building a coffin for the woman who's little girl died. Inman is putting himself in potential danger, for these people could be confederates or could harm him in some other way. Inman repeatedly proves himself an honest and noble man who does his best to help everyone.
DeleteI actually don't find Inman to be arrogant. I actually find him to be rather heroic while fighting his battle with his mental trauma. Even while crippled with these haunting images of dead soldiers and thoughts of Ada, he remains a hero, letting his conscience guide his actions. He does act aggressive at times, but excuses this behavior by saying that he is protecting those around him. Inman is also a very self-reflective man, as he doesn't present most of his emotions externally. While psychologically plagued, Inman acts as a hero to his fellow soldiers and close friends.
ReplyDelete