Savagery In Cold Mountain

Savagery. Hunger. Pain. Loss. War plagues the human condition in ways that no other experience can, understandably inspiring many authors through the course of human culture to set their story in the locale of war. However, on the brink between modern warfare technology and ancient battle tactics, the already gruesome American Civil War elucidates another point of intrigue in being one of the most fatal wars statistically in recorded history (Dutch). Amongst the horror and tragedy created during this era, the stage is set for a story unlike any other war in any other time possibly could. In his novel Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier understands the historical context of the American Civil War to illustrate a story that transcends time and place while necessitating both time and place in the setting of his story. Through an exploration of understanding what being human actually entails, Frazier’s fictional account of the Confederate soldier Inman traveling home to Cold Mountain epitomizes the struggle between man and killer. While on the course of Inman’s journey home, the reader is lead to incessantly continue and ask the question: Violence for what? Ultimately, the return to humanity guides the course of the novel, challenging Inman along every step of the journey to do the humane thing, rather than …show more content…
In a dissertation titled The Language of War, Harvard literature professor James Dawes attempts to explain the after-effects of war through a literary framework. Dawes suggests, “War dismantles the culture that constitutes the individual; it violates the boundaries that structure social meaning” (Dawes 133). Deductively, Inman loses his humanlike qualities, including empathy, due to the distorted values affected by warfare. However, the larger theme that transcends Frazier’s novel in some reiteration: violence for