Freewill Savages: Cold Mountain's Stobrod Thewes

In one of the first scenes of the book, at the party, Brent uncomfortably stands at the drink table listening to music with his headphones (Fleischman 11). Isolated from the rest of the crowd, Brent finds solace in his music and finds that it gives him the courage to talk to other people and socialize. This innocent affinity to music suddenly vanishes when the high school boy unintentionally takes the life of another human being. Referring to Brent’s state of being after the accident, Fleischman writes, “He ate little, spoke little, and no longer listened to music. He turned seventeen, an event he scarcely noticed. He heard his parents whisper about the blow to his head and his personality change” (35). Exposure to the cruelty of the real world brings about Brent’s severe personality shift and indifference towards music. Because the accident prompts Brent to stop enjoying music, he will always equate the two things with each other. Music forces Brent to dwell on the events of the past and refuses to allow him to move on. Describing Brent’s attempt in making his first whirligig, Fleischman writes, “He sat down. He decided to do without the wing. The figure could simply be a harp player. The harp was full sized, the sort you'd find in an orchestra. Lea had played in an orchestra. He wondered what her instrument was” (51). Brent affiliates music with his accidental killing of Lea, an unfortunate event of the past. He even begins to ponder about the specifics of Lea’s musical life. Once again, music prevents Brent from moving on and living his present life.

Marie values the affection and tenderness that were absent in the relationship between her and her mother. Therefore, she is insistent on being a caring and supportive presence in her children’s life. In addition, Marie is also hypersensitive to relationships that do not appear to embody her impression of family. This is apparent in Marie’s reaction to Callie’s treatment of Bo. Saunders states, “He rose to a sitting position, railed against the chain, whipped it back and forth, crawled to the water…took a drink: a drink from a dog’s bowl” (176). Marie’s description of Bo alludes to her own childhood. Marie was locked in a closet as a child, like a caged animal; consequently, when Marie compares Bo to a dog, she unconsciously references her own childhood trauma. She identifies Bo as a helpless child, like herself, and sees the cruelty of her own mother in Callie. Therefore, Marie’s narrative is not a concrete, unbiased description of what happened; instead, Marie’s perception is partial to her past experiences. On the contrary, the short story’s second narrator, Callie, views the same event from a altered standpoint.

The story mentions at one point that the music stops and so does the barmaid. It has her full attention and she waits for it to start back. The music is the manipulator and she is its marionette waiting for it to guide her again. A few more examples that music soothes and comforts the soul are the mother gently humming while Sonny is out on the streets, Sonny’s brother, the narrator, whistles to keep from crying after reconciliation with Sonny fails. At first glance these may seem to be insignificant details, but when analyzed they prove that music is a source people lean on for comfort whenever they are in a state of worry or despair.

Elizabeth Strout’s novel, Olive Kitteridge, is filled with stories about the lives of regular people in Crosby, Maine. Throughout the stories, different characters are faced with adversity they are forced to deal with. While some handle their problems well and are able to cope with their hardships, others, even those with good intensions, do not find a happy ending. The story “Tulips” encapsulates the a recurring theme of the book; life is uncertain and takes us down roads upon which we had never imagined ourselves having to travel, and while these obstacles may very in their severity, it is how one is able to cope with their individual adversity that will ultimately determine their happiness.

Culture involves the socially mediated human capacity to differentiate, to categorize the world experience according to what is important to pay attention to, and what is not, and to assign meanings to the categories created . How does culture happen? Is it learned, shared, innate, and adaptive? For each or any of these how so? We will address the theme of culture of the Early American West through the writings of Ned Blackhawk’s Violence of the Land and Susan Johnson’s Roaring Camp – while thinking along the lines of: How are the cultures similar? Different? What are the symbolic gestures?

The world that Charles Frazier bases his novel, Cold Mountain, on is ridden with hardship and desolation. People in this world are either forced into war or subject to isolation. Main characters Inman and Ada seek to find comfort in each other in this horrible, decrepit world. In this novel, Frazier demonstrates the human condition in the characters’ need for love, companionship, and family.

From the creation of harmonies to singing to instruments, music has been an abstract form of human expression. Although an auditory collection of pitches and volumes, musicians can manipulate the same notes and bring them alive for their audiences. The true emotion and energy that’s felt in music really comes from the player as feelings are transferred to and through the listener. This interaction between performer and the house is catharsis, the complete release of strong repressed emotions. Thanks to the musician, music has the ability to grasp people and cause them to sense emotions and feelings without lyrics or images even being necessary. Although it’s believed we can only hear with our ears, something about music makes it emotionally if not physically tangible. In James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues,” a narrator certainly unaware of the impact of music invites himself to experience jazz for the first time. Baldwin uses the final scene of his story to argue that music has an effect on those who are able to experience it. Baldwin does this in one single moment by letting the fixed, practical minded, “well-intentioned” narrator experience catharsis from jazz as his growing, free-spirited brother communicates with him through jazz.

Music is known to leave its mark on people helping them to overcome challenges in their lives or to give them courage to defy the odds. In one’s daily life, music is normally taken for granted or is seen as nothing special. As ordinary as it may seem, music can convey emotion in times when the body is numb or all hope is lost. Similarly, in The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, the cello’s music gave people hope and determination to live their lives in spite of the rampant siege around them. Therefore, music very much impacts the lives of the principal characters Dragan, Kenan, and Arrow.

Before investigating the novel’s many relationships, it is necessary to acknowledge Barbara’s character traits in order to substantiate the idea that the novel 's greatest irony is that ‘This book isn’t about me’(4). This is a concept hidden in plain sight: Joanna Briscoe of

“The Bible above most, perhaps above all, books that have been written, has temperament… It draws upon attention and patience. It disciplines negligence. It puts fine spurs to motive. … It is a liberal education to learn how to live with it.” (Phelps, E S.) p.467 In other words according to The Book of Revelation, it is an apocalypse or unveiling of the truth about life. (Mounce, Robert H.) For Tim Wynne-Jones, “music [is his] major inspiration” (Jenkins, Phil). This author prefers parts of a game where “…the crises are imminent, the dangers unseen, the triumphs partial but also enormous.” (Jenkins, Phil). Nevertheless, in Tim Wynne-Jones’ The Maestro, Burl goes through a very rough past but manages to change his outlook on life once beauty is revealed to him. It reveals the mysteries of music and the universe, as well as the complexities of Burl’s life which in turn provides the protagonist hope and inspiration. We see this through the child’s life which begins filled with struggle and abuse then follows even when he first encounters the piano. However, there is something about it that’s freeing and attracting Burl. Later on, he finds a sanctuary—a fantasy place where something is revealed to him. This Revelation brought inspiration which in turn has made him aware of affection in dealing with his emotions and feelings of hope, his behaviours related to his decisions, his affiliations by being optimistic through his relations with others and lastly, has made him wiser in

When Abra first meets Aron and Cal, she sees two lost children and teases them. Like Adam, the two boys found, “their first experience with the inexorable logic of women [to be] exciting and frightening” (345). Abra is attractive to Aron and fascinating to Cal. However, angelic (compared to Cathy) Abra is kind, motherly, gentle, and loving. Similar to Adam, Aron had no motherly guidance as a child, causing both of them to rely on their partners for motherly warmth.

Then, her father picks her up, wraps her arms around him, and her father bolts toward the emergency exit door and out of the hospital. He and Jeanette get into the car where her mother and brother, Brian, were waiting for them. This anomalous event, and others like it, is what makes this book an excellent read for students. These events show experiences that are rather unusual to many students and exposure to literature that talks about these things can be interesting to read as well as eye-opening for the

In Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain, the theme of music is one of the novel’s most powerful themes. From symbolizing character growth to the healing of physical wounds, music plays an integral part in this novel. While many critics will point out that music has little effect on the human psyche, Charles Frazier shows his belief that music does indeed have a profound effect on the human mind throughout Cold Mountain. Throughout the novel, Inman, Ada, Ruby, Stobrod, and many other characters experience music that allows them to keep faith against the odds or even heal their wounds! There are three major types of music used in this novel; hymn music, folk music, and “natural music”. It is through these types of music that

Sometimes her mom would make her help with cutting onions or peeling peaches and as soon as she was done she would run out the door when her mom’s back was turned. She viewed the chores inside the house was endless and depressing and would much rather work outside. She hears her mother stating that she can’t wait till the son, Laird gets bigger so he can do the chores outside and the girl can do the chorus inside with her. The mother states, “I just get my back turned and she runs off. It’s not like I had a girl in the family at all.” At this point the girl feels like she can’t trust her mother, she knows her mother loved her yet she feels like her mom is always plotting against her to keep her from working with her father. She didn’t expect her father to really listen to what her mother was saying, Laird, in her mind wouldn’t be able to do the job as well as she does. Looking at her father’s bloody apron she reminds that reader that the foxes were feed horse meat, other farmers whose horses will get old or injured would call her father and him and henry would go kill it and butchered it. However, if they already had a lot of meat they would keep them for a while. The winter she turned eleven they had two horses, Flora and Mack. It was this winter where she heard her mother go on more about her helping in the house. She states that she no longer feels safe because the people around her who thought the same way. She stated, “The word girl had formerly seemed to

       As the tale begins we immediately can sympathize with the repressive plight of the protagonist.  Her romantic imagination is obvious as she describes the "hereditary estate" (Gilman, Wallpaper 170) or the "haunted house" (170) as she would like it to be.  She tells us of her husband, John, who "scoffs" (170) at her romantic sentiments and is "practical to the extreme" (170).  However, in a time