Nostalgia And Homecoming In The Cold Mountain

Nostalgia and homecoming are two linked themes, both of them relate to the subject of returning home, either just in thought or physically coming home, and the emotions that are stirred up by that return. The movie Cold Mountain demonstrates that set of emotions that people often experience while being away from home, for whatever reason, and while trying to get back home. The movie takes place during a civil war and all of the characters are experiencing feelings of home sickness and nostalgia as I will demonstrate below; furthermore, that seems to be the focal theme of the movie around which the plot is built. In the following paper I will demonstrate how that theme of homecoming and nostalgia is emphasized throughout the movie. The opening scene of the movie begins with the following line: "This poor boy is from Alabama, he's a long way from home" (Cold Mountain.) In that scene the man speaking is talking about Oakley; that first line in the movie, sets the tone for the entire movie- being away from home. The entire movie deals with the issue of being away from home, trying to find the way back. The movie is centered around two characters, Ada and Inman, who try to find their way back to each other after Inman in sent to war. Characters that are far from home are introduced, Ada who comes

When she arrived at Cold Mountain, Sally, her neighbor, told her that "Cold Mountain must feel like the end of the world", in response she said: "Not at all. It's very beautiful." Namely, from the beginning of the movie, the idea of someone who is far from home is stressed, Ada being away from her home town. However, she soon became at home in Cold Mountain because of the subject of her love- Inman, he became the thing that ties her to that place. After her father's passing, she was left alone in the world, waiting for Inman to return to her, but still she needed something to sustain her while she is