The Human Pathos in the Cold Mountain

The plot of the movie is as follows, Inman gets in a battle and realizes that what he has already is too precious to put in risk over a victory that isn’t there. After his realization, Inman decides to desert the army, going on a journey through Cold Mountain to get back to his wife Ada. His journey is riddled with hardships like the Home Guard and companions like the disgraced preacher. The main conflict of the film, at least from Inman’s standpoint, is Inman’s struggle to get home to his wife Ada. He goes through many hardships, including getting injured as well as braving the journey back to Cold Mountain. He makes many friends along the way, such as the disgraced preacher. He also faces many hardships, like the Home Guard. As a secondary conflict, Ada and Ruby are having trouble fixing up the farm and surviving until Inman gets home. The main perpetrators of both conflicts are nature and the Home Guard. A scene that really stood out to me was the aftermath of the Battle of the Crater. Not only does it show the horrors that participants in this war went through, but it showcases what we’ve learned in class about the South’s struggles. We see that soldiers in the South were still in dire need for shoes. We see that the South has this persistent need by the pile of Union corpses lacking shoes on their bodies.

Another scene that really made itself known among the crowd was the compilation of scenes from the detonation to the death of Oakley. I’ll explain what stood out to me in each scene. In the first scene, the detonation and the calm before it, we see the duality between the South and North for the first time, giving us a polarized view between the armies. One army is going about their daily lives, and the other is lying in wait, knowing their prey is above them. Seeing the battle shows us what the writers wanted to get across with the battle scenes… war is terrible, no matter how much we think that, we’ll never know for sure until we’ve fought in a war, but it’s very commendable to use actual accounts in the making. Finally, the death of Oakley shows us some of the most genuine human pathos in cinematography, pulling our heartstrings with the pairing of how sad the music sounds, as well as the sorrowful look in Inman’s eyes.

The final scene that stood out to me was Esco’s death, specifically the staining of his blood on the white sheets. Not only does it make the reader genuinely sad if they’re invested in the movie, but it symbolizes the war itself. The sheet represents the United States, and the blood represents the chaos and destruction of the war. Part Number 4. I believe that the scene in the hospital courtyard with the blind man is the most valuable to viewers. You shouldn’t chase after things you don’t have so vehemently, as it causes you to take your current possessions/friends/things you care about for granted. It would be a different story if the blind man didn’t talk to Inman, most likely leading Inman to keep chasing his “victory” instead of staying back and enjoying his life and appreciating his wife.