THE PORTRAYAL OF THE CIVIL WAR ERA AS SEEN
IN THE MAIN CHARACTERS AND SETTING OF CHARLES
FRAZIER’S
COLD MOUNTAIN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
WIDIANINGTYAS YUNIATI
Student Number: 004214140
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
THE PORTRAYAL OF THE CIVIL WAR ERA AS SEEN
IN THE MAIN CHARACTERS AND SETTING OF CHARLES
FRAZIER’S
COLD MOUNTAIN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
WIDIANINGTYAS YUNIATI
Student Number: 004214140
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
2008
ASarjana SastraUndergraduate Thesis
THE PORTRAYAL OF THE CIVIL WAR ERA AS SEEN
IN THE MAIN CHARACTERS AND SETTING OF CHARLES
FRAZIER’S
COLD MOUNTAIN
By
WIDIANINGTYAS YUNIATI
Student Number: 004214140
Approved by
Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. July, 22, 2008 Advisor
Dra. Th. Enny Anggraini, M. A. July, 22, 2008
ASarjana SastraUndergraduate Thesis
THE PORTRAYAL OF THE CIVIL WAR ERA AS SEEN
IN THE MAIN CHARACTERS AND SETTING OF CHARLES
FRAZIER’S
COLD MOUNTAIN
By
WIDIANINGTYAS YUNIATI
Student Number: 004214140
Defended before the Board of Examiners On 28 July 2008
And Declared Acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Name Signature
Chairman : Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M. Pd., M. A. Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. Member : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. Member : Dra. Th. Enny Anggraini, M. A. Member : M. Luluk Artika W., S. S.
Yogyakarta, August, 25 2008 Faculty of Letters Sanata Dharma University
Dean
Men ask the way to Cold Mountain. Cold Mountain: there’s no through trail. Han-shan
I dedicate this thesis to
My parents
My sisters
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to say thank to Jesus Christ that finally I finished my thesis. Thank you for Your blessings.
I would like to thank Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. for his advices and corrections for my thesis. I am grateful for his patience to guide me in writing and finishing it. I also would like to thank Dra. Th. Enny Anggraini, M. A. and M. Luluk Artika W., S. S. for their advices and corrections for my thesis. A great gratitude I would like to say to all the lecturers of Department of English Letters of Sanata Dharma University for the lessons and valuable experiences during my study. Last but not least, I would like to thankmbakninik and all the “sekretariat sastra” members for accommodating and being patient with me. I owe much to Sanata Dharma Library and the librarians who were giving me information during my study.
I also dedicate this thesis to my parents who give me financial and moral support during my study. I am also grateful for my sisters’ cares, Yuan and Yenni. I love you.
Finally, I thank my friends, Sherly and Lia by hearing all my ups and downs, I am very grateful to all of you guys. I also thank everyone in kos Melia and Arimbi for their encouragement. Last but not least, I thank class of 00 especially Iin, Tanti, mbak Wheni, and everyone that I cannot mention it one by one.
Widianingtyas Yuniati
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. Background of the Study ... 1B. Problem Formulation ... 4
C. Objectives of the Study ... 4
D. Definition of Terms ... 4
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies ... 6
B. Review of Related Theories ... 8
1. Theory of Character and Characterization ... 8
2. Theory of Setting ... 10
3. Theory of Relation between Literature and Society ... 13
C. Review of the Civil War in the United States ... 14
D. Theoretical Framework ... 17
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study ... 19
B. Approach of the Study ... 20
C. Method of the Study ... 20
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS A. Description on the Main Characters and Setting of Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain ... 22
B. Portrayal of the Social Condition in the Main Characters and Setting of Charles Frazier’sCold Mountain ... 33
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION... 49
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 52
APPENDIX Summary of Charles Frazier’sCold Mountain ... 54
ABSTRACT
WIDIANINGTYAS YUNIATI (2008):The Portrayal of the Civil War Era as Seen in the Main Characters and Setting of Charles Frazier’sCold Mountain.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
Charles Frazier’s novel Cold Mountain is worth studying because it is a very magnificent novel with its diversity and depth. This novel tells a story about a wounded soldier, Inman, who tries to go home to unite with his sweetheart, Ada Monroe. This story is complicated with the obstacles Inman encounters on his way home to Cold Mountain in the southern Appalachian mountain.
This research aims to get a comprehensive description of the main characters and setting of Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain. In addition, it also aims to investigate how the main characters and setting portray the social condition during the Civil War in the United States.
The method of this study is library research. This research applies theory of characters and characterization, theory of setting, and the theory of relation between literature and society. Review of the social condition during the Civil War in the United States is also presented to get a better understanding of the background of the story. This research applies sociocultural-historical approach since it covers some aspects that are relevant to answer the problem formulations. By using this approach, the writer is able to reveal some extrinsic elements of the work especially the social condition during the Civil War in the United States.
The results of the research can be formulated as follows. Firstly, Inman, Ada Monroe, and Ruby Thewes had passed traumatic episodes during the Civil War. According to the main characters, the Civil War had devastated their life physically and mentally. Their lives were changed by the war. Inman decided to go home and resigned as a Confederate soldier. Ada Monroe learned that the land had become the part of her life. Ruby Thewes was willing to know about other people way of life, such as Ada Monroe’s northern way of life. The southern social condition was also represented by the setting of the story. The social condition during the war was depicted through the people whom W. P. Inman, Ada Monroe and Ruby Thewes met. People from different social class experienced the horrible conditions during the war as well. The life of southern people was devastated by the war. The southerners realized that they actually oppose the war. They were questioning whether the war was worth fighting for.
ABSTRAK
WIDIANINGTYAS YUNIATI (2008):The Portrayal of the Civil War Era as Seen in the Main Characters and Setting of Charles Frazier’sCold Mountain.
Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma. Novel karya Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain layak dikaji karena keberagaman dan kedalaman ceritanya. Novel ini menceritakan seorang tentara, Inman, yang terluka ingin pulang untuk bertemu dengan kekasihnya, Ada Monroe. Cerita ini dikombinasikan dengan rintangan-rintangan yang dialami Inman dalam perjalanan pulang ke Cold Mountain di selatan pegunungan Appalachian.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan deskripsi tokoh utama dan latar belakang novel Cold Mountain karya Charles Frazier secara lengkap. Penelitian ini juga bertujuan untuk menganalisa bagaimana tokoh utama dan latar belakang menggambarkan keadaan masyarakat selama Perang Sipil di Amerika Serikat.
Metode yang diterapkan dalam penelitian ini adalah penelitian kepustakaan. Penelitian ini menerapkan teori tokoh dan penokohan, teori latar belakang, dan teori hubungan antara sastra dan masyarakat. Penjelasan mengenai kehidupan Amerika selama Perang Sipil juga diberikan agar diperoleh pemahaman yang lebih dalam mengenai latar belakang cerita. Penelitian ini menerapkan pendekatan sosial budaya-sejarah karena pendekatan ini meliputi beberapa aspek yang relevan untuk menjawab rumusan masalah. Dengan menggunakan pendekatan ini, penulis dapat menjelaskan beberapa elemen ekstern cerita khususnya keadaan sosial masyarakat selama Perang Sipil di Amerika.
Hasil penelitian dapat dirumuskan sebagai berikut. Pertama, Inman, Ada Monroe, dan Ruby Thewes telah melewati peristiwa yang traumatis selama Perang Sipil. Berdasarkan tokoh utama, Perang Sipil telah menghancurkan kehidupan mereka secara fisik dan mental. Kehidupan mereka diubah oleh perang. Inman memutuskan pulang dan keluar sebagai tentara Konfederasi. Ada Monroe belajar bahwa kehidupan pertanian telah menjadi bagian hidupnya. Ruby Thewes bersedia menerima kehidupan orang lain seperti cara kehidupan orang-orang Utara Ada Monroe. Keadaan masyarakat juga digambarkan oleh setting cerita. Keadaan ini digambarkan oleh tokoh-tokoh yang ditemui Inman, Ada Monroe, dan Ruby Thewes. Masyarakat dari berbagai golongan juga mengalami keadaan bahaya. Kehidupan orang bagian Selatan dihancurkan oleh perang. Orang Selatan menyadari bahwa sebenarnya mereka tidak setuju adanya perang. Mereka mempertanyakan apakah perang itu pantas diperjuangkan.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Reading literary works may enrich our knowledge of history. Readers of literary works may learn what happened in the past and what kind of social condition once existed in the society. Literary works can play their role as historical documents that records social realities artistically portrayed by authors (Wellek, 1956: 103-104). This exists in the fascinating novel Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. The writer chose Cold Mountain as the subject of the study because according to theNew York Time the novel was one of the best selling in November 1997 and won National Book Award in the same year (Http://www.barnesandnobles.com/2008). The writer was also curious about the story, which had been adapted for the movie. Since it has become box-office success and received awards in some movie festivals, the writer considers that the original work must be interesting and extraordinary.
Novelists are novel in short supply. Natural born storytellers come along only rarely. Charles Frazier joins the ranks of elite cadre on the first page of his astonishing debut. Cold Mountain is a close to masterpiece as
American writing going to come these days
(Http://www.barnesandnobles.com/2008).
An editorial review inNewsweek said that Charles Frazier was born with an amazing talent. It is rare to find a writer who succeeds in his first book and Charles Frazier proves that he is one of them. Charles Frazier wrote Cold Mountainand the novel becomes a new American masterpiece nowadays.
The story of the novel begins with a journey of a man, named Inman. Inman is a soldier wounded in the Civil War who tries to go home to his hometown in Cold Mountain in order to unite with his sweetheart, Ada. To complicate this, on his journey he must conquer the obstacles on his way. Inman is pursued by relentless Home Guard troops. He also struggles with his own feeling whether he rejoins to the battle or walks home to find what he wants to. In the other side, Ada, Inman’s beloved woman must struggle to cultivate the farm that was left by his father who has died. Cold Mountain handles a historic and complex subject so well that the author emphasizes on the love story of Ada and Inman in the time of the Civil War in the United States.
This novel is magnificent in its diversity and depth. It covers the life condition of the American Civil War especially the South party from 1861 until 1865 when they were suffering because of the war cruelty. In this story, Charles Frazier describes the horrible episode in American history within a series of extraordinary adventures along Inman’s way home and Ada Monroe and Ruby Thewes survival efforts. It is a profound novel since through the story the author shows not only the journey of a soldier who wants to put that war behind him and get home but also the representation of the American Civil War that can be seen through the main characters and setting in those period. This novel tries to reveal that the war was not actually Inman’s fight but Inman and other people like Inman which tried to defend their homeland.
system while the North who had applied the industrial capitalist system did not agree with slavery anymore (http//www.nytimes.com/2008). On an interview, Charles Frazier explained his point of view on the war and politics that he puts across the novel.
You had this slavery agricultural system and a growing industrial capitalist, and then you had people like Inman who lived in an older economic system, kind of like subsistence farming. You had people like that in the South and North . . . those people got caught up in the crossfire of this war (Http://www.nytimes.com/2008).
Cold Mountain was chosen in this study because it is an interesting story and it can arouse the reader’s curiosity to read the novel until the end in order to experience the situation of the Civil War. Moreover, Charles Frazier invites the readers to know how horrifying the war was. He sees from a different perspective with regards to Inman’s courage. The author spent almost of the time wondering if Inman could go home safely and meet Ada. Inman’s choice to leave the war makes the readers question his responsibility. The book’s conclusion, provokes the curiosity which makes the readers analyze the main characters’ and setting’s changes after the book has been set aside. Besides, the readers can also learn about the portrayal of traumatic condition during the Civil War toward the Americans life and a deeper understanding about the effect of the war toward their life in the future.
Mountain is significant to American life because the story portrays the social condition of the American during the Civil War. The American may learn what happen in the past and get better understanding about the Civil War in the future.
B. Problem Formulation
1. How are the main characters and setting described in Charles Frazier’ Cold Mountain?
2. How is the social condition during the Civil War in the United States portrayed by the main characters and setting of Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain?
C. Objectives of the Study
The objective of the study is to answer the questions stated in the problem formulation. This study analyzes the main characters and setting of Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain. Then, the study investigates how the main characters and setting of Charles Frazier’sCold Mountainportray the social condition of the American during the Civil War.
D. Definition of Terms
1. Civil War
According to Encyclopedia of AmericanaCivil War in America history is “the conflict between the North states (The Union) and the eleven states that seceded from the Union and were organized as the Confederate States of America. It was not a civil war in the usual sense of opposing sides contending for control of one government, but rather a conflict precipitated by one side’s creation of a separate nation” (1983: 782). 2. Social condition
According toDictionary of Sociology and Related Sciencesocial condition is “the environmental circumstances of a unit containing one or more other units with which social relationship may exists or social behavior may occur” (Fairchild, 1975: 292).
3. Main Character
According to Henkle in Reading the Novel: An Introduction to the Technique of Interpreting Fiction main characters are the most important and complex characters that can be categorized as characters through the complexity of their characterization (1977:88).
4. Setting
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain has received some responses and analyses since its first publication. Most of the responses are positive and the others are negative. Clay Reynolds argues, “the beauty of the prose of this novel, however, defies too much criticism. In both dialogue and narration, Frazier evokes authentic 19th century vernacular and speech rhythm with such casual case that it is hard to believe this book was written in the 1990s” (Http://www.chron.com/2008). Publisher Weekly in the introduction of the book states, “rich in evocative physical and detail and timeless human insight, this debut set in the Civil War era rural South considers themes both grand and intimate” (Frazier, 2003: ii). John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil says, “utterly convincing down to the last detail, Frazier has written a stirring story of bloody simplicity and epic power” (Http://www.abc.net.au/2008).
Moreover, Kaye Gibbon, an author edited Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain considers that, “Cold Mountain is the best Civil War novel since Michael Sharaan’s The Killer Angel. The novel offers an interesting spin on the Civil War, depicted the journey of a war deserter and his struggle to get back home through the Appalachian Mountains. The book offers an interesting view on the era and the people of particular region in American history. The Civil War
remains a period of intrigue for all Americans, an essential and ending part of history. Frazier, who is a relative of Civil War buff, chooses to add love story and a long adventure to the story, to illustrate more than just the horror of war” (Http//www.nytimes.com/2008).
Another perspective onCold Mountainis stated by Sarah Hines, “the point of Cold Mountain is not celebrating the victory of the North in the Civil War. Rather, it is to illustrate the humanity and resilience of the other victims of the southern system – poor southern whites who were caught in the crossfire of two incompatible economies” (Http://www.socialistworker.org/2008).
In the other side, William R. Trotter argues that, “Cold Mountain is pretentious, a literary novel written for big city folks who has never read about a Civil War battle nor trod of battlefield” (Http://www.subsim.com/2008).
In an interview Charles Frazier explained about his novel:
I remained largely uninterested in the great movement troops, the famous personality traits of the noble generals and tragic presidents. What I am interested in are those two double graves and what they seem to represent (Http://www.nytimes.com/2008).
Charles Frazier admits that he does not write about a Civil war story. He does not want to glorify the hero of the war, but rather on the victims and the loss of materials. He tries to portray the life condition of the South people as the consequences of the Civil War.
Carolina.” This study will not focus on the love story of the characters. This study will focus on the portrayal of Civil War in the United States reflected on the main characters and setting of Charles Frazier’sCold Mountain.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
One important element of a literary work is a character. In a literary work, an author creates these imagery persons so that they exist for the reader as lifelike. According to Rohberger and Woods, there are two ways that an author can use characterization. The first is through direct means that is by describing the physical appearances of the characters. The second way is by using dramatic means. The author places the character in a certain situation to see how he or she reacts to it; by the way he or she speaks or behaves (1971: 20-21). There are fundamental methods of characterization proposed inA Handbook to Literature: a. The explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct
explanation and description, either in introductory paragraph or more often gradually throughout the work, illustrated by action.
b. The presentation of the character in action, with little or explicit comment by author, therefore the reader will be able to deduce the characteristic of the actor from the action.
Henkle states that characters can be divided into major characters and minor characters. Major characters are the most important and complex characters in a novel. They can be categorized as characters through the complexity of their characterization. The attention is given to the major characters by the author or other characters and the personal intensity that seems to be transmitted. Major characters deserve the fullest attention because they perform a key structural function. Meanwhile the secondary characters or minor characters are the characters that perform a more limited function. They are limited in the ways that the major characters are not (1977: 88).
According to Abrams, character can be defined as:
The person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say – the dialogue, and by what they do – the action (1985: 20).
reader will eventually be lead to the fully understanding of a character in a novel (1966: 32-33).
M.J. Murphy in Understanding Unseen classifies nine ways on how the author of a literary work reveals the character personality and traits to the readers. These nine ways are personal description, character as seen by the other, speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thoughts, and mannerism (1972: 162-173).
Little in Approach to Literature explains three methods to study a character. The first one is paying attention to the basic appearance. It includes the physical appearance such as age and physical oddities, social relationship such as personal relationship with other characters in the story, social class and occupation, and mental qualities such as typical way of thinking, feeling, and acting. The second one is noticing appearance from various points of view. It includes how the character sees him, how the other characters see him, and how he develops or fails to develop during the story. The last one is by placing the character in the story, whether he is depicted descriptively or dramatically, and his relation to the theme, that is whether he embodies something important that the author has to say (1981: 93).
2. Theory of Setting
The definition of setting proposed by Abrams is:
The basic knowledge in the discussion of setting is finding the place and time of the story. Sometimes it refers to actual location such as England, name of building, hotel, etc. It also refers to the time by stating medieval, nineteenth century, dates, and so on. However, there are also literary works that give certain time and place (1985: 175-176). The story is likely to have historical background. It seems that a real event happens in this particular setting.
The other element of setting is the social condition of the story. This element presents the background of the characters and the society where the characters live. Hudson in An Introduction to the Study of Literature states that setting is the whole environment in the story. It includes the customs, traditions, habits, and characters’ view of life (1960: 158).
Holman explains the elements of setting as follows:
a. The actual geographical location, including topography, scenery and even the detail of a room’s interior;
b. The occupations and daily activity of the characters;
c. The time or period in which the action takes place, for example, historical period or season of the year;
d. The general environment of the characters, for example, religion, mental, moral, social and emotional condition of the characters (1986: 465).
According to Harvey in Character and the Novel the social environment basically refers to the society that is taken mostly in the novel. The social environment shows a social condition of people who live there (1965: 56).
Murphy states that the setting of a novel is the background against which characters live out their lives. The setting can be concerned with the place and time in which the characters live. These have a great effect upon the personalities, actions, and the ways of thinking of the characters. It was usually the custom to give the readers straight away the details of the time and place of the story (1972: 141-147).
Rohberger and Woods define setting as “the particular time and place in which a work of literature occurs” (1971: 22). They say that the setting of a successful piece of fiction is as functional as any of the other elements, and like the other elements, it never exists by itself. Setting aids in establishing credibility; it can help to explain both characters and situation, it can contribute to the atmosphere, or predominate mood, it can be active in foreshadowing, and it can be symbolic.
3. The Relation between Literature and Society
Langland states inSociety in the Novelthat society is “an animation of an outside world which has tended to obscure the formal variety of social presentation in the novels” (1984:4). Therefore society in a real life and in a literary work is almost the same because the author usually describes the society of his work based on the society in a real life.
Moreover, Langland says that if society is a concept and construct in art, society is also a concept and construct in life. Society in the novels or literary works does not depend on points of absolute fidelity or accuracy to an outside world in details such as costume, setting and locality because a society in the novel does not aim at faithful mirror of any concrete (1984: 5).
Society is understood not only peoples, and their classes, but also their customs, conventions, beliefs, values, their institutions, and their physical environment. Moreover, society may also be revealed through human relationships, characters, patterned interactions, and their common expectations of one another (1984: 6).
C. Review of the Civil War in the United States
According to Encyclopedia Americana, Civil War was the conflict between the northern states (the Union) and the eleven southern states that seceded from the Union and were organized as the Confederate States of America. It included South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina. The Civil War was not a civil war in the usual sense opposing sides contending for control of one government, but rather a conflict precipitated by one’s side creation of separate nation (1995: 782).
The cause of the Civil War in the United States is still the subject to argue. Politically, when Lincoln was elected president in 1860 the southern states refused to stay in the Union. The Confederate states of America planned to prevent the Federal government interfere the slavery issue and upset the routine of plantation life. They attempted to expand slavery in which businessmen operated vast plantation on assembly-line principles and hold absolute power over people whose ancestors had once (http//www.nationalreview.com/2008). The leader of the secession strived to keep things unchanged. Instead, their revolution led to a war that turned southern life upside down imperiled the very existence of slavery.
Unfinished Nation mentions that economic and social effects affected the people who lived in the Civil War era. The war had a devastating effect on the South economy. The South was almost entirely agricultural states. It depended on cotton and slave labor. Southern leaders underwent that they needed to have more land for cotton planting. Meanwhile, the North was developing manufacturing and commerce and wanted to keep the territories open for free workers and small farmers. This situation put the Confederate and Federal in conflict. The Confederate resented the North’s wealth and growing population while the Federal strived to eliminate traditional economic system. The Civil War was immensely costly in both lives and dollars. It left the South devastated. It cut off southern planters and producers from markets in the North and made the sale of cotton overseas much more difficult (because the North blockade); it robbed farms and industries with large slave populations of a male force. In the South, the war declined production of all goods more than a third. Above all, the fighting itself – almost all of which occurred inside the Confederacy – wreaked havoc on the southern landscape, destroying farmland, towns, cities, and railroads (Brinkley, 1997: 394-395).
Donald A. Ritchie in Heritage of Freedom History of the United States explains that the society in America was disintegrated by the war. Civil War forced drastic changes in every phase of southern society (1985: 375).
The war strained society because of the suffering of ordinary citizens; poverty in every state, the gap among class that caused the lower class opposed the war that threatened the Confederacy. For the southern elite, sacrifice was symbolic since they paid men to replace their duty to volunteer in the war. For the southern lower class, this was about a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight (1995: 813).
In the Civil War, the South lost. These situation led the economic condition suffer financial loss. Banks were closed. Factories were idle. Land values had toppled to nearly nothing. Business in general was shattered. Property in slaves that before the war was accounted for the South wealth was completely wiped out (1995: 816).
At the end of the Civil War, the Confederate army maintained a great loss. Thousands of soldiers died during the war. The people of southern area suffered during the war and so did after the war set aside. The South lacked of factories and had trouble raising food. In addition, the North navy kept the South territory blockade so it could not get supplies from Europe (1956: 229).
In the 19th century, there were two ideas shaped the American. First of all, America was the land of freedom. And the second one, America was the land of slavery. America had a very large territory of wilderness and primitive. While in the other place, America had modern cities with its trade and industrial sector developed rapidly (1954: 165-166). Here, America created a perception of hope and passion that was not along with casual and complex reality. The region of America was very wide with its diversity. Thus situation caused contradiction among American itself. Therefore it led to a situation in which both group insisted to be the better one. And that quarrel led to the Civil War broke out in America (p. 227).
D. Theoretical Framework
This study is a library research. The writer applies theory of character, characterization, setting, and relation between literature and society to analyze the novel.
that can portray the social condition in the Civil War era. The theory of relation between literature and society is applied in order to reveal the portrayal of the Civil War era as seen in the main characters and setting in the story. The review of the Civil War in the United States is applied to the source in order to describe the life condition of Civil War in the United States in 1861 until 1865.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain was first published in 1997 by Atlantic Monthly Press, New York. In the same year, the novel had become bestselling and won National Book Award. In 1998, more than 1.6 million copies were sold (Http://www.nytimes.com/2008). Several translations are available in Chinese, German, Hungarian, Spanish, French, Croatian, Hebrew, and Polish. In 2003, the novel is adapted into a movie with the same title, Cold Mountain by Miramax Films, New York. It is also available in the form of audio books.
For this study, the writer uses second vintage contemporaries edition published in 2003 by Hodder and Stoughton. In the novel, the author presents the story into twenty chapters and one epilogue.Cold Mountainconsists of 438 pages. Set on a beautiful North Carolina’s mountain during the Civil War period, the story of the novel begins with a journey of a man, named Inman. Inman is a soldier wounded in the Civil War. He tries to go home to his hometown in Cold Mountain in order to unite with his sweetheart, Ada. To complicate this, on his journey he must conquer the obstacles on his way. Inman is pursued by relentless Home Guard troops. He also struggles with his own feeling whether he rejoins to the battle or walks home to find what he wants to. In the other side, Ada, Inman’s beloved woman must struggle to cultivate the farm that was left by his father who had died.
B. Approach of the Study
This study does not only require a full understanding on the main characters and setting but also a thorough analysis on the condition during the Civil War in the United States. Since the major concern of this study is society, therefore, the most suitable approach is sociocultural-historical approach.
Reading and Writing about Literature states that the critics of sociocultural-historical approach insist that the only way to locate the real work is in reference to the civilization that produces it. The civilization is the attitudes and actions of specific groups of people and points that literature takes these attitudes and actions as its subject matter. It is necessary to investigate the social milieu in which a work was created and which it necessarily reflected. Literature is not created in a vacuum and that literature embodies ideas significant to the culture that produce it. Thus, literature is the product of civilization (1971: 9).
The writer applied sociocultural-historical approach since it covers some aspects that are relevant to answer the problem formulations in chapter one. This study concerns about the Civil War in the United States, so that it is necessary to have a full understanding about the extrinsic element to explain the social condition at that time.
C. Method of the Study
described the social condition of the American especially the southern states during Civil War in 1861 until 1865. The theories of character, characterization, setting and relation between literature and society were applied as well in order to support the analysis. Some criticisms were also quoted in this thesis.
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
A. Description on the Main Characters and Setting of Charles Frazier’sCold Mountain
1. Main Characters a. Inman
Inman was a southern Appalachian man who enlisted in the Confederate army. He was raised in a region in Cold Mountain, western North Carolina. He lived in a farmland area and worked to cultivate it. For Inman, Cold Mountain was his home. He felt very close with the nature and these encouraged him to join the Confederate to fight the Federal army (p. 13).
During the Civil War Inman was fighting in Virginia. At the beginning, Inman was enthusiastic about winning the battle with the Federal (p. 242). Nevertheless, the enthusiasm gradually disappeared. Inman and the other soldiers started to realize that the war was worthless. In a battle of Fredericksburg Inman accidentally witnessed a man who was striking badly wounded Federal with a hammer (p. 11).
In the battle of Fredericksburg, Inman’s General Lee announced that he considered war as an instrument for clarifying God’s obscure will. He said that the battle was correct if it is done by prayer and Bible reading. On the contrary, Inman said that following General Lee’s idea would encourage everyone to
declare violence of the war as God’s certified champion. Inman believed that God never takes side in human cruelty (p. 8, 11, 19).
In the battle of Fredericksburg Inman was expected to be death in the battlefield since his neck was wounded severely. He was taken to a field hospital for two days and after he got better, he was taken to a regular hospital. During his treatment, Inman still could not forget everything that had happened in the battlefield. He always dreamed about wounded soldiers and gun firing. At some point, Inman thought that it was the right time for him to quit the war and went home to Cold Mountain (p. 23).
If a man dedicated to the idea the future will be worse than the past and a path leading nowhere but a place of deep and persistent threat. The way Inman saw it, if a thing like Fredericksburg was to be used as a marker of current position, then many years hence, at the rate we going, we’ll eating one another raw (p. 19).
Inman always remembered the battle at Fredericksburg. The battle was so horrible. Thousands soldiers died on both parties. Inman witnessed the historic massacre and he was part of it. These condition led Inman to think about his future. The war according to his experience spread dangers rather than prosperity. If man like him dedicated his life to be a soldier, his life would be full of threat and despair.
. . . a notice from the state government to deserters and outliers and their families. They would be hunted down. Their names would be put on a list, and the Home Guard would be on alert in every county patrolling night and day (p. 15).
notice it. He had not decided to resign the army. Inman was still confused whether to rejoin the army or to go home to Cold Mountain. On the next news, he noticed that he might know the person told in the newspaper.
. . . out in the borderlands of the state’s western mountains, Thomas and his Cherokee troops had fought numerous skirmishes with Federals. They had been accused of taking scalp. The paper opined that though the practice might be barbarous, it would serve as harsh warning that invasion carried a stiff price” (p. 15).
He remembered about the Cherokee boys taking Federal scalp and it was humorous. Inman thought that those practices could warn the Federal that southerners would not give up their land easily. If the Federal dared to steal his land, such practice of taking scalp was worthy. The Federal invasion would not easily defeat southern territory. The Federal would fight the southern resistance.
The news about Indian fight with the Federal reminded Inman about his Cherokee friend Swimmer. Inman wondered whether or not Swimmer joined the war. He hoped that Swimmer did not join the troops fighting the Federal. Inman worried if Swimmer would experience the horror of the war (p. 18).
The first character Inman met was a canoe girl. Rather than a ferry and a ferryman, Inman met a young girl with her canoe. When they began to cross the river, suddenly they heard gunshots. It was the men Inman met in the crossroad of the town and then shot Inman and the canoe girl. Inman and the canoe girl carried out of range by the current and survived. Inman gave her more money and the canoe girl showed him direction to the road that went to the west. Inman’s neck wound was getting worse because of the river water (p. 81-87).
The second character Inman met was Preacher Solomon Veasey. Solomon Veasey was going to drop a body of a pregnant woman into the river. Inman tried to prevent Solomon Veasey killing the woman. As the result, Inman saved the pregnant woman and tied Solomon Veasey to a tree. Inman left a note explaining the crimes that had been done by the preacher (p. 108-110).
The third character Inman met was show folk, outliers, and a tribe of Irish gypsy horse traders. They built a camp for resting during the night. Inman joined the group. The group offered him food and entertainment. In the morning, Inman found out that they had cleared out. And so did Inman (p. 120-121).
was on his ride to find Lucinda. She was a slave Odell loved. Odell’s father disapproved him and he sold her to someone in Mississippi. Odell kept on searching her even though he had spent few months to find her. Odell told him about the journey when he saw the cruel punishment and murder of slaves (p. 162-167). Along the journey, Inman found out that everyone was affected by the war.
On the way Inman and Solomon Veasey were walking, they found a fine crosscut saw that was left by a woodcutter. They took the woodcutter and left. On the way they met Junior. He was telling about his gamecock prize and how women used to fling themselves at him. They helped Junior to move a bull that fell into Junior’s water supply. In return, Junior invited Inman and Solomon Veasey to have dinner and sleep in his home. Junior was married to a known prostitute and also lived with her two sisters and three children of unknown paternity (p. 200-203). Unfortunately, Junior framed Inman. Junior told to the Home Guard that an outlier stayed at his house. The Home Guard tied them with another fifteen prisoners and walked them for days. One night, the home Guard stopped and decided to shot them all because it was wasting time. Fortunately, when the Home Guard shot the prisoners, Solomon Veasey’s body covered Inman’s. Inman was safe and continuing his journey home (p. 198-221). Inman’s physical condition was getting worse and tired of desertion.
given a hand-drawn map and some instruction on how to avoid Federal raiders and set out.
. . . a work of art all detailed with little houses and odd-shaped barns and crooked trees with faces in their trunks and limbs like arms and hair and three were notes in a precise script to say who could be trusted and who could not (p.223-224).
Inman continued his journey through the hill country hiding from the Federal and Home Guard troops. Inman’s neck wound was getting worse. Accidentally, he met an old woman setting bird traps by herself. The old woman offered Inman homemade medicine and food. The old woman took him for few days until Inman’s wound was healing. She lived alone in a caravan that had been parked on the top of the mountain for twenty-six years. She raised goats and sold homemade medicine. She depended on the land; therefore, she was close to nature (p. 253-264).
b. Ada Monroe
Since her father was getting severe illness, late in the afternoon of May during the Civil War his father died while he sat reading (p. 34-35). Now, she was left alone with his father’ properties in Black Cove farm. She afforded her living with Charleston investment money (p. 100). But this did not last long. Ada Monroe received letter from his father solicitor explaining that the war had imposed the economic condition and those effected on Ada Monroe income. She offered her property to sell. Unfortunately, people were not interested in investment anymore. Money value was dropped by. Property price was cut (p. 56-57). Ada Monroe felt desperate about her future.
that Ruby Thewes advices were exertion. According to Ada Monroe, the farming jobs were tiring. But soon, Ada Monroe was capable doing the activity. After some time Ada Monroe learned to work on the land.
Ada believed she would erect towers on the ridge marking the south and north points of the sun’s annual swing . . . Keeping track of such a thing would place a person would be a way of saying. You are here, in this one station, now. It would be an answer to the question. Where am I? (p. 318). Ada Monroe had finally been close the nature she lived in. She accepted that Cold Mountain was now her home. She adapted the situation that she thought would never suitable with her characteristic as northern woman.
c. Ruby Thewes
size of a squirrel ears, otherwise the corn will just shank and hang down (p. 128-129). When Ruby Thewes taught Ada Monroe about the “sign,” Ruby Thewes was laughed. She was considered to be superstitious. Ruby Thewes performed farming job since she was ten. She knew that on April she should plant corn and November kill the hog for winter. Ruby Thewes memorized the “signs” from the nature very well.
One night Ruby Thewes was attending a speech of a prisoner who ran away from battlefield. He narrated about the war bloody tale. He was Confederate volunteer who had been shot in Williamsburg, killed many Federal and finally quit the war. He ran away from the Confederate army because he was homesick and disillusioned with the war. Ruby Thewes heard the story and thought that the world was not a safe place to live anymore (p. 184).
2. Setting
Cold Mountain was set in the southern Appalachian Mountains, North Carolina. The story happened toward the end of the American Civil War in 1861-1865. The topography of Cold Mountain was beautiful with its natural landscape.
The word river meant rocks and moss and the sound of white water moving fast under the spell of a great deal of collected gravity. Homeland, the big timber, the air thin, and chill all the year long. Tulip was poplar so big. The sun stood just above the low horizon that everything was cast in a lurid yellow light (p. 79-80).
When the war broke out in 1861, the geographical condition in Cold Mountain and other southern states were changing. Southern area had been well known for its beautiful landscape but now all wrecked.
other existence toward which we ought to aim all our yearning. Beyond the fields stood flatwoods. Nothing but trash trees. Country of sullage, sump of the continent (p. 49, 65).
The population of the southern Appalachian Mountains consisted of different races including Indians, Scottish, Irish, and African-Americans (p. 27, 120, 223). The people of Cold Mountain depended on the land. They ran their farms and raised animals for living. To cultivate the land, the people practiced traditional way, in which they used their hand and animal power (p. 25-27). The people made due with what nature provided. They genuinely relied on the crop and livestock, especially cotton that became the main income for the people in Cold Mountain.
When the war was initially heard by the southern people they left their home and volunteered to fight the Union. This condition led to a situation where home was lack of men. There were women, children, and old people who stayed home, instead of going to the war (p. 41).
Esco Swanger and Sally Swanger were one of the examples whose family member went off for war. As the parents of the two sons, they wished that their sons had gone home as soon as possible.
Their first talk of the war, of how the prospects seemed grim, neither Esco nor Sally understood the war in any but the vaguest way, know for certain only two things: that they generally disapproved of it, and required for some help. They would be glad to see the war done and their boys come walking up . . . (p. 41).
in a battlefield. One day, a group of Federal came to Sara’s home and robbed her. They tried to take Sara’s hog and chickens. (p. 294-298).
In another place, there was a group of women whose husbands were off at the battle (p. 130). The Federal burnt their house down and made them homeless. Now, the women were fleeing the Federal in Tennessee, aiming Camden in South Carolina where one of the women had a sister. It had been two weeks and they had little to eat. During the journey, the Federal rode down these women and robbed them. The women also had to find a safe way in order to avoid the Home Guard led by Teague (p. 130).
It seemed akin to miracle that Stobrod, of all people, should offer himself up as a proof positive that no matter what a waste one has made of one’s life, it is ever possible to find some path to redemption, how ever partial (p. 286).
Stobrod was Ruby Thewes’ father who left her to join the war but then decided to quit it. He lost his interest in the war and stopped fighting in the battle. He was more interested on musical composition and improving his fiddling ability. The war did not engage him anymore. Stobrod was thinking about the savage of the war. He was tired hiding in a mountain cave. He lived there for quiet a long time with the other outliers who objected the war. He asked her daughter to help him to run away to the North territory (p. 320-321).
B. The Portrayal of the Social Condition as Seen in the Main Characters and Setting of Charles Frazier’sCold Mountain
Cold Mountain is a love story that is formed by the background of the Civil War era. The story describes an apparent portrayal of American life at that time especially in North Carolina, which is the member of the Confederate States of America, seceded on May 20, 1861. During the Civil War between Confederate states and the Union, lives and materials were devastated. As the consequences, the social condition of the people at that time was very much influenced.
All this flat land, red dirt, mean towns, the place where all that was foul and sorry had flowed downhill and polled in the low spots. Country of swill and sullage, sump of the continent. It was a foul region, planed off flat except where there were raw gullies cut deep in the red clay. Trees of a better make had once stood in their place but had been cut down long ago (p. 65, 79).
During the Civil War, the southern area was devastated by the war. Previously, the land had been covered with plantation. The land was fertile and green. It had not been contaminated by the modern economic way of life with its factories and housing. But then, there was not any single plant grew in the southern land. The land was destroyed by the armies and soldiers.
The mountain region was a heathenish part of creation, outlandish in its many affronts to sensibility, a place of wilderness and gloom where man, woman, and child grew gaunt and brutal addicted to acts of raw violence, the mountaineers to be but one step more advanced in their manner of living than tribes of vagrant savages (p. 51).
mountain people were brutal and violent. They could not control themselves thus war came about. Only a few of mountain people who behaved politely like people of high-class society.
The population in southern area consisted of different races. Each race had its own tradition and culture. Those who lived in the mountains region were very much influenced by the land. For the Cherokees, land was so important that it influence their folklore and way of life (p. 12, 72). Here, the Indians were the portrayal of other people of America whose life was devastated by the Civil War.
The show folk passed a bottle around and sat telling Inman stories of their endless travels. The road they said, was a place apart, a country of its own ruled by no government but natural law, and its one characteristic was freedom (p. 124).
Indian who lived in mountain region for years could not accept the Union invasion. These meant that for the second time Indian tribe was evicted from the land (p. 374). The Indian people had been driven out onto the Trail of Tears. They were forced to leave their homeland and move to another place. The Indians were banished to a barren land. They believed that the Union was their enemy who tried to enslave their territory and distort their way of life (p. 374). The Indians thought that independence was not guaranteed by the American government. The government did not obey the state’s law that they did invasion toward Indian Territory.
become unemployed and homeless. Even, the North refused to take in the free-slaves. If the African-Americans decided to stay with their landowner, they would constantly become slaves. Unlanded whites faced uncertain situation as well. Since soil was damaged all over the states, they did not have any job. Their landholders bankrupted and decided to send most of their employees home. This condition led to a desperate situation. The white southerners did not perceive hope in their future since the war broke out. This situation also encouraged the unlanded white crossed the Border States and moved to the North (p. 223-224).
When the war broke out in 1861, the geographical condition in Cold Mountain and other southern states were changing. The war affected the land and the people. The land was no longer useful for the southerners. The farm could not provide good crops besides there were no people to cultivate it too. The nature was devastated by the battle that took place across the states. Soil, rivers, forests, plantation, animals, towns were damaged by the weapon (p. 65-66). Here, the geographical condition was depicted dirty and smelling bad.
When the war occurred, the southerners regarded it as a prospect. It was a promise of a new future for the South to rely on the result of the war especially when the war took side on southern people. Therefore, the southern men signed up the Confederate Army (p. 77-78).
getting old and needed help to cultivate the soil. It is clear that many people lives had been blighted by the war (p. 42-43).
Sara perfectly performed her responsibility toward her family. Even though her husband died, she showed courage when the war had already ruined her life. Sara looked after her baby well. She raised hog and chicken. And she managed household. She characterized the resilience of many people whose lives had been damaged by the war (p. 294-298).
Throughout the war, everything was changing for four years (p. 266). Economically, South had been rich because of cotton plantation. However, since the war took all the attention and energy of the southern people, plantation was abandoned (p. 43). In addition, artillery had already smashed the land and plants (p. 65). War took all men away. While slaves planned to escape to North. This situation turned down the South economic life. People were insufficient to fulfill the basic requirement. Price of good was on the increase and money value dropped (p. 91). This situation was worsened by the embargo of the Union government (p. 423). Toward the end of the war, the Confederate government applied a new policy in taxation. The South states obligated the civilians to aid the war by submitting food, money and valuable stuff. The Home Guard troops did this task. The Confederate government also cut the money values to fund the war. This policy prevailed to all citizens, in disregard to high social class (p. 56-57).
their husband’s permission for everyday decisions. However, these conditions changed by about half through the war, some women were informing their husbands that decision had been made. The war had taken the men away and left women filling in all roles. Thus southern women started to have self knowledge and independence (p. 357-377).
Life was changed by war. It can be seen through Stobrod’s life. Because of the immoral bareness of the Civil War and the crimes committed on the battlefield, there was no moral responsibility attached to the act of desertion. His experiences during the war had set him free. He found himself deliverance of what he had gained rather than what he had lost (p. 278-279). Stobrod represented people who longed for reconciliation after the war devastated their life.
. . . was it worth it, all that fighting for the big man’s nigger? Nigger owning makes the rich man proud and ugly and it makes the poor man mean. It’s a curse laid on the land. We’ve lit a fire and now it’s burning us down. God is going to liberate niggers, and fighting to prevent it is against God (p. 264).
The goat woman questioned about whether or not Civil War worth fighting still lied between North and South. The goat woman thought that the war between northerners and southerners centered on slavery issue. The war would be worth fighting. In the other side, the goat woman argued that it would be worthless if every conflict were emerged by couples of slaveholder who refused abolitionism.
plantation tradition rather than industrial tradition. They were not interested toward secession. Secession was the Confederacy issue. The southerners viewed that the changes would not suitable to be applied in their traditional system. Beside, the southerners disagreed that slavery was reason for fighting. The owners of the slaves in the southern area were only a few. The southerners refused to employ the new modern economic system, as it would not be appropriate with their reliance on the land (p. 265-266).
The main duty of the Home Guard was to protect the southern citizens from any oppression (p. 15). Home Guard attacked the society they guarded. In every region, Home Guard always demanded the southern people to give their food and money. Moreover, they robbed the people who refused their request. Home Guard without any compassion killed anyone who refused his order. This situation made southern people was up against new enemy, the Home Guard (p. 42). On the journey home, Inman was also run after by the Home Guard. Inman was scared of the Home Guard because if Inman were caught by the Home Guard, he would be sent to the battle again. Moreover, Teague and his associates were cruel. His associates always obeyed Teague’s order. Even, they were able to perform violence as Teague did. Birch was one of them. Birch imitated Teague’s attitude. He killed southern people because he liked it. Birch was not a sympathetic figure. Here, Birch portrayed that he was deadened by the violence he had witnesses (p. 429-430).
Before the war, Inman had never been in a conflict with anyone. Unfortunately, the war clearly changed Inman’s attitude. He thought that the fighting were just like any other thing similar to a gift. When a man put too much time in the battlefield, soon or later he will get used to kill (p. 119).
I reckon many of us fought to drive off invaders. One man I knew had been North to the big cities, and he said it was every feature of such places that we were fighting to prevent. All I know is anyone thinking the Federals are willing to die to set loose slaves has got an overly merciful view of mankind (p. 265).
was the answer for the conflict that had aroused. The secession of the Confederate states from the Union to defend its land was not important and significant. For Inman, secession was the Confederate way to bring about their personal interest. Slavery issue was only few people’s concern, which became the Federal reason to attack the South. For Inman, the war was in fact devastated the land. The South beautiful natural soil was damaged by the Federal and Confederate arms. He changed his mind not to volunteer in the Confederate army. Inman planned to desert out the war carnage and go home to Cold Mountain (p. 175).
Battle at Fredericksburg was the mark of the bloodiest battle ever. Those violent incidents disturbed Inman mind and feeling. He had to cope with those atrocities yet Inman was loosing part of himself. Inman mourned the loss of his soul (p. 11). In the other side, the South and North kept on sending soldiers to the battlefield. Inman regretted that he volunteered the army. The war between Confederate and Federal had killed thousands of soldiers and civilians.
Inman guessed Swimmer’s spells were right in saying a man’ spirit could be torn apart and ceased yet his body kept on living. They could take death blows independently (p. 19).
Debate between the Confederate and the Union about slavery issue was continuing. But it was not between Inman and Odell. Slavery was not a matter of an issue for them. When Odell told Inman that the slave he loved was sold to Mississippi, Inman felt sorry. They did not care whether the woman they loved was a slave or not. It showed that slavery was only certain people issue. It was clear that slavery was the issue of plantation owner and factory owner. Thus, Inman and Odell thought that the Confederate and the Union were merely dramatizing the issue (p. 162-167).
When Inman met Big Tildy, she was the portrayal of freed black. Even though freed blacks were liberated, but they were not involved and accepted by the society. It seemed that war declared by the Confederate and Federals in order to remove slavery system was pointless. The slaves could not live a life like the white people live (p. 162-167).
Inman met a slave who was willing to give him a map showing instruction how to avoid Federal raiders and set out. The slave showed respect to Inman’s decision to quit the war and inhumanity. The slave was sensitive to Inman’s suffering. Therefore, he gave him the map. Inman had been fighting for years and Inman’s condition was worse than the slave. Inman told him about his reason joining the Confederate army. Inman did not fight for slavery but defend his land against invaders trying to change his old traditional way of life (p. 223-224).
During Inman’s meeting with the goat woman, he considered that he would not be able to live in such situation. Her life was isolated and far from civilization. She was typically southerner. She reflected southern traditional way of life (p. 253-264).
Home Guard threatened their country (p. 42). However, Inman sometimes lashed out over other’s people’s fault. He killed Junior because he framed Inman and sent him to the Home Guard. Moreover, Junior’s attitude was lack of morality (p. 200-203). Inman killed the three Federal because they stole Sara’s hog and robbed Sara’s money. The Federal that had already entered southern territory spread fear and worry. They enjoyed torturing the abandoned southern people. The Federal acted immoral since they raped woman whose husband went to war and since they robbed the southern people’s money and food (p. 301-302). In the other side, Inman decision not to kill Solomon Veasey but left him to face the punishment of his own community showed that he was more than just a murder. After all cruelty he had witnessed, Inman tried to have moral standard.
God, if I could sprout wings and fly, he thought. I would be one from this place, my great wings bearing me up and out, long feathers hissing in the wind. The world would unfurl below me like a bright picture . . . gone on elsewhere elements of humanity might come now and again like emissaries to draw me back to the society of people. Unsuccessful every time (p. 288)
During the war, Inman experienced that war was damaged his life physically and mentally. Inman wished that war had not happen in his homeland. The part of his humanity was lost and he wanted it back. Inman decided to leave the Confederate and go home to Cold Mountain (p. 266).
the natural environment. She located herself in nature’s cycle. She adapted a life of manual labor and lived in accordance to the nature (p. 318).
Ada Monroe was a picture of high-class society lived in traditional way of life. As a Charleston society woman, she had some privileges that ordinary women did not have. First of all, she did not have to work to gain money. Family would support her financially. Male family members usually gained family income. Charleston women had more chances to get education (p. 51). To maintain household, this high social class hired slaves or unlanded whites. Since the high-class society usually lived in town, they were never close with nature.
We have against all odds arrived at home, Monroe had said. At the time, it was sentiment Ada took with a great deal of skepticism. All of their Charleston friends had expressed the opinion that the mountain region was a heathenish part of creation . . . Ada’s informants had claimed the mountaineers to be but one step more advance in their manner of living than tribes of vagrant savages (p. 51).
society. Thus attitude reflected the fear of the northern people toward the southern people.
Ada Monroe started to adapt the traditional way of life after she lived in Cold Mountain for six years. She had to adjust herself with farming activity. Here Ada Monroe clearly portrayed the condition of southern women. Moreover, during the Civil War life was hard and so did Ada Monroe’s.
Ada felt no cavalier about the war and about Inman’s going to it. What did bother her was Inman’s question. How might she react to news of his death? She didn’t know, though the prospect of it loomed darker in her mind that evening than she would have thought (p. 243-244).
Ada Monroe did not consent Inman’s intention to join the Confederate army. She did not consider war to be honorable behavior to demonstrate disagreement. There was a chance to solve a conflict rather than to go to war. According to Ada Monroe, fighting was an old system of resolving any issues. Ada argued that hostility between two sides brought merely death and damages. Ada Monroe disagreement with Inman showed different opinion turned up among southerners.
did not rely on his motivation to join the army but on attitude to respect differences (p. 173-174).
They seem to read their own plight in the plight of Indian. Every age considers the world to be in a precarious state, Ada and Inman doubted if at any foretime in history the sense of an ending was just as justified as it had been then. Those people’s fear had been fully realized. The wider world had found them, had fallen on them with all its weight (p. 417). Ada Monroe and Inman experienced the same pain with the Indian. The Indian was sad and desperate when they were located from their own territory. And so did Ada Monroe and Inman. Since Inman was a deserter, they had to flee to the North region and left the South. Ada Monroe and Inman realized that the South area was not safe anymore.
My dress an old print shirtwaist soaked through with perspiration from splitting oak logs, I am resting and waiting for the dress to dry before I turn my attention to burning a brush pile. I am brown as penny; I am growing ropy through the wrists and forearms. I see a somewhat firmer face than previously (p. 314).
Physically, Ada Monroe was changed. She never wore her gown that she usually had in Charleston. Her skin became brown. Her arms and wrists became strong. Her face was more firm. Ada Monroe was more intuitive toward the environment she lived in.
Ruby Thewes was a typical southern woman. She worked on the farm. She followed “sign” in order to do such things like killing the hog and cutting firewood. In fact, Ada Monroe argued that “sign” was a symbol for people to be discipline. By following such catastrophes, people would get used to the habit.
The northern country was godless land, or rather a land of only one god, and that was money . . . a grabby people grew mean and bitter and deranged until became morphine-crazed . . . it to contain the mark of a tainted culture (p. 174-175).
The war was not Ruby Thewes’s interest. She argued that it was worthless to fight the North. The North was a capitalist where money became the most important thing. Northern area did not have land for plantation anymore. The northerners work in the industrial sector. They built factory and hired people to work. The land and nature was not important for the northerners. Even though they had more land, they would transform it into factories or stores. Ruby Thewes thought that the North did not fight for slavery but colonization. The North attempted to expand their territory to get more land.
seriousness that they could think about such matter as an important consideration (p. 174-175).
Ruby Thewes also reflected southern women that were left by men to go to the battlefield. His father abandoned her because he joined the Confederate army. Moreover, she did not have any relatives that can help her.
Whether the world might better be viewed as such a place of threat and fear that the only consonant attitude one could maintain was gloom, or whether one should strive for light and cheer even though a dark-fisted hand seemed poised ready to strike at any moment (p. 184).
On the way back from the town, Ada Monroe and Ruby Thewes had a conversation. They were talking about the prospect of the war for their lives. Southern area was full of threat and fear to live. Not only Ruby Thewes that thought life was sad and desperate but also Ada Monroe. They could not run away and flee to peaceful states at anytime because the Federal and Home Guard were spread across the southern area.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
Cold Mountain profoundly portrays the social condition during the Civil War. The Americans, especially the southerners, experienced and suffered their horrible situation during the war. The novel clearly portrays the history of the United States. All of their life aspects are well described in the story.
The story informs a lot of details about life conditions during the war, including the human changes and nature. Southerners’ social behavior is mostly represented by W. P. Inman, Ada Monroe, and Ruby Thewes. They were dealing many traumatic moments during the war that haunted them and changed their life. W. P. Inman portrays most of the southerners who joined the Civil War to defend their land against invaders seeking to impose a new way of life on them. On the contrary, during the war W. P. Inman decided to go home since the battle was about Confederate government effort to prevent the Federal interfering the slavery issue and the routine of plantation life. Through Ada Monroe and Ruby Thewes, the shifting of women’s role is obviously explained. Ada Monroe and Ruby Thewes portray southern women whose life was altered by the Civil War. These women also portray the acceptance of the southern and northern people differences. The war also changes Ada Monroe personally. She learned that the land has become the part of her life. Ruby Thewes was willing to know about other people’s way of life, such as Ada Monroe’s northern way of life. The war
