The Cold Sassy Tree Character Analysis

There is always a beginning and end to everything. Where there is death, there is also life. In the brilliant novel The Cold Sassy Tree by Olivia burns, death causes a shadow over the lives of the characters in the small town, Cold Sassy. This shadow of death causes many new experiences among the townspeople. Most people may choose to see death as something that only brings sadness and despair. However, that is not always the case. Death also brings new light into the characters’ lives. After Will’s grandma died, his grandpa, Mr. Rucker, was compelled to find a new woman to take care of him. He decides to marry Miss Love, a young woman from Boston that also works in his shop. At first the relationship starts off slow. They only married each other so that Mr. Rucker can a housekeeper and Ms. Love can have a place to stay. In fact they even sleep in separate beds. One day Mr. Rucker decides to bring Mss. Love with him to New York on his business trip to buy stock for his store. On their return it is easy to see that they have really bonded on the trip and are starting to fall in love. The gradually watches how Miss. Love and Mr.
After his near death experience with getting ran over by a train, he is told that is god’s doing by the Presbyterians. Will questions what God’s will really is for him. To have his question answered he goes to the only person who won’t look down on will for asking, his grandfather. Will asks him “Am I alive because of God’s will?” In which the grandfather responds with “God gave you a brain.” This is an important response because it shows that grandpa believes God doesn’t do everything and isn’t everyone’s personal genii. Without the near death experience, Will never would have learned to question what he has been taught which a sign of coming of age is. These new ideas gave Will new way to look at life. He was able to find light inside