In The Odyssey and Cold Mountain are similar characters based on “the wanderer” archetype found in biblical literature, Odysseus and Inman, who face environmental attack, human aggression, and the effects of war on their life as they journey back to their homes and to their loved ones. Charles Frazier’s Inman has an immense likeness to the hero Odysseus as they both are intelligent, cautious, brave, and heroic in their actions. They both are simple men searching for a better, attainable life. While Odysseus’s journey deals with the many issues that Greek men focused on in times long ago, Frazier has adapted that work to fit how people in the modern world feel. The Civil War was not very long ago and its effects are still felt today; the emotions and troubles people dealt with are still very real. Each man puts himself through immeasurable pain to reach his loved one, which has remained a common theme in modern literature. …show more content…
Odysseus is an intrepid traveler who has to face the dreadful waters surrounding his Ithacan homeland, as well as the monsters that are Charybdis and Scylla. Nothing he can do will change how these forces retaliate against him; the effects are unavoidable. Inman, on the other hand has to face the freezing North Carolina landscape as well as any of Mother Nature’s beasts that are present, including a bear and its cub. This encounter was especially troubling as Inman made a vow to never kill a bear when he was younger. These horrors challenge each man in ways that humanity simply couldn’t. All of their efforts are useless and their impeding frustration and sadness can only