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Brutality In The Odyssey And Cold Mountain

543 Words3 Pages

Both The Odyssey and Cold Mountain parallel each other in many things such as character, plot, and theme. An instance of this analogous relationship are the characters Junior and Polyphemus. Junior and Polyphemus embody inhospitality, demonstrate brutality through cannibalism, and leave their respective victims with lasting troubles. Junior and Polyphemus are the epitome of inhospitality within their respective books. Junior displays his unwelcoming nature by inviting Inman to come to his house after he helps Junior remove his bull from a river, only to repay Inman by selling him out to the Home Guard for “five dollars a head for every outlier [turned over].” This deceit reflects Junior’s inhospitable and evil nature as he coldly turns over Inman despite receiving Inman’s help earlier. Polyphemus on the other hand is more barbaric with his inhospitality. When asked by Odysseus for aid, Polyphemus merely replies that “Cyclops care not a …show more content…

Junior gives Inman up to the Home Guard who force Inman to walk for miles and days until “the hope of home [begins] fleeing him.” As a result, Junior nearly kills Inman, who only survives because a miracle allows him to survive being shot at. In contrast, Polyphemus curses Odysseus with a prayer to Poseidon that will make him “never see his home again,” causing Odysseus’s journey home to last nearly ten years. Polyphemus’s curse causes Odysseus ten years of grief and the loss of all his crew. Junior and Polyphemus parallel each other as they share very similar experiences in which they not only cause the protagonists grief in their encounters, but also leave the protagonists with a complication that persists beyond their encounter. This extreme likeness in situation further solidifies the mirroring of Junior and Polyphemus within The Odyssey and Cold

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Odysseus’s crew and Veasey both have parallels when comparing the stories of The Odyssey and Cold Mountain; the two accompany the stories’ respective heroes and serve as hindrances despite good intentions. Additionally, both serve as subordinates, Veasey venturing wherever Inman dared go and the crewing being under the command of Odysseus. As the story progresses, it is apparent that the crew and Veasey do more harm than good to their respective protagonists. Both the crew of Odysseus and Veasey are hypocritical in their tendencies, claiming to fight for righteousness yet blatantly insulting the very gods they follow. In the Greek culture, it was considered suicide to even insult a god and the crew was clearly praying for a safe passage home.

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