Cold Mountain Odyssey

Brittany Eades
October 27, 2010
English IV Honors
Eberle
Similarities in Cold Mountain, The Odyssey and The Color Purple Cold Mountain and The Odyssey share many aspects of their plot. Both novels dominantly contain the theme of “The Journey.” The adventure contained in the theme “The Journey,” represents the journey of life and all that happens on life’s voyage metaphorically. Cold Mountain and The Odyssey both exemplify said metaphor. Many characters in both Cold Mountain and The Odyssey share many traits with characters in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. The author of Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier, was born on November 4, 1950 in Ashville, North Carolina. Frazier attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel
“John C. Inscoe regards Inman, the novel’s co-protagonist, as an ‘Appalachian Odysseus,’” (Piacento). For example, both men must leave their loved ones at home. Odysseus leaves his wife, Penelope and is gone for 20 years (Spires 323). Odysseus becomes entrapped on Calypso’s island for 10 of those twenty years. Inman must leave Ada, just as they begin to have feelings for one another. Although Inman returns to Ada more quickly than Odysseus does to Penelope, Ada only gets one day with Inman before Birch kills him (Napierkowski “Cold Mountain”). Both men also use deceit in order to return to their loved ones. For example, Odysseus must hide his identity. Odysseus hiding his identity acts a crucial part of the epic (Van Doren). Inman must desert the Confederate Army in order to return home to Ada. Inman is aware that Teague and the Home Guard prowl for any deserter and anyone who helps a deserter. Wendy Perkins states, “When Inman decides to desert the Confederate Army and walk back to Ada and his home on Cold Mountain, he faces serious impediments to his safety, almost as grave as those he encountered on the Civil War battlefield.” Although Odysseus is gone for 20 years, his wife still recognizes him as “The Wanderer” (Steiner). According to Peter V. Jones, Argus, Eurycleia, and
For example, at the beginning of the novels, each woman begins at their lowest point. Although Ada’s situation is bad, it is does no compare to Celie’s. The Color Purple opens with Celie being raped by her stepfather. As each novel progresses, both women find companionship through another strong, independent woman: Ada finds Ruby and Celie finds Shug Avery. “Celie becomes liberated from her oppression because of Shug’s intervention on her behalf,” (Napierkowski “The Color Purple” 52). Celie becomes a stronger person because of Shug. After Monroe, Ada’s father dies, she finds herself left at Black Cove without the slightest idea of how to run anything on the farm. Ruby finds Ada and teaches her how to do everything associated with the farm. Both women grow with the help of someone else. However, although Ada and Celie have similar traits, they do differentiate in certain ways. For example, by the middle of Cold Mountain, Ada is still waiting on Inman; in a sense, he is her reason for living. Emily McDermott quotes page 325 of Cold Mountain , “‘You don’t need him,’ Ruby said. ‘I know I don’t need him,’ Ada said. ‘But I think I want him.’ ‘Well that’s a different thing.’” In contrast, by the middle of The Color Purple, Celie despises men; she has moved out of Mr. __________’s house and moved in with Shug. The Encyclopedia of World Biography states, “Celie