Cold Mountain vs. Bible
...bs means wisdom, the ability to live skillfully. “Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart” (Proverbs 4:21); these are words of wisdom. Just as the verse says, Inman does keep focused and does endure. Ada is a woman who also endures. She endures humility, and copes with change. The humility of Ada is in reference to the aspect of having to adjust her lifestyle from being dependant on her father to having to run and farm her land in order to survive. “But still, outsider though she was, this place, the blue mountains, seemed to be holding her where she was…the only conclusion that left her self-content was this:” (Frazier 66). Ada had to make the decision to either return to Charleston to marry and be taken care of or stay on the farm. She consciously chose to stay on the farm. In the book of Colossians, there is a subtitle of “Character of a New Man”. And under the subtitle, this verse is found, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering” (Colossians 3:12). Ada is turning into a new woman and is undergoing humility. And in this scripture, we see that Paul qualified a new man with the characteristic of putting on humility. Therefore, according to Paul and his message to the Colossians, Ada is a new person. Her humility has caused her to change and be recognized as one who has endured and has adapted to cope with a new lifestyle. The situation of Ada also parallels the life of Paul. Paul wrote in Acts 20:19, “Serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews;”. Ada served her land and suffered the trial of loosing her father. The novel, Cold Mountain, has a general plot of Inman’s journey home to Cold Mountain striving to see Ada once again. With both characters having to endure and Ada facing humility, the theme of patience emerges. Patience is “the capacity of calm endurance” (Webster 805). Inman as well as Ada are constantly in situations that require endurance. Their ability to encounter, manage, and overcome the trials promotes their patience. Jesus Christ says in Luke 21, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your souls. Here it is taught that patience is needed during times of crisis. Because of the trials that Inman faced and his response to them, it may be said that he is not a man of patience. “Inman jerked the scythe from the smith’s hands…He went at their feet with it…it felt natural to him…stuck it to the man’s head … and commenced pulling the trigger out of sheer frustration” (Frazier 74-75). Although he wanted to kill right away, he has more patience as his character develops. He doesn’t kill Veasey the preacher, and he doesn’t kill Junior. However, he does hurt them but not to death. Because he wanted to kill the three men in the beginning of his journey to not killing towards the end, he is a character of patience. And throughout his development, he still killed but the reason for the killing was because of harm towards others not towards him. Unlike the beginning of the journey, Inman develops into a merciful man. He killed the federals that harmed Sara and her baby rather instinctively but it seems that he only killed because others were harmed. The patience of Ada is very evident through her hard work and ambiguity to being able to work on the farm. The journey of Inman leads to ...