Cold Mountain Character Analysis

Vampires aren't often actually vampires. In fact, vampires are actually usually entirely human. Thomas Foster explains in How to Read Literature Like a Professor for Kids that human vampires feed off of selfishness and exploitation. Shockingly, Cold Mountain is crawling with those blood suckers. Take Ruby for instance. She begins the novel as a selfish girl who is using Ada's land for her own benefit. Ada does not realize this though, because the "vampire" comes off as innocent and completely trustful. Ruby's character develops throughout the novel and she becomes friends with Ada. Another example of a human vampire is Ruby's deadbeat father, Stobrod. The reader initially meets Stobrod whenever Ruby discovers he has been stealing their corn to make liquor. He has no regard for his daughter, unless she is giving him a meal.

While Ruby knows her father's intentions, Ada does not realize them and allows him to stay with Ruby and her. Just like his daughter, throughout the novel Stobrod redeems himself. However, he does not do this by becoming friends with Ruby or Ada. He redeems himself through music. He starts to play the fiddle. To Ruby's disapproval, he plays publicly and is not very good at it. He begins to get better and Ruby forgives him for treating her poorly as a child. There were also vampires that didn't take human form in the novel. The war that Inman is fighting in is an example of a vampire that is not an actual vampire nor a human. Another example of a vampire is death itself. The death of Ada's father, Monroe, more specifically. This death became a hindrance to Ada and she was left to fend for herself. Ada did not know how she was going to live or survive without her father until she met