Chapter 3: The Color Of Despair

1a.  The tittle of the chapter, The color of despair, is a line that is part of a spell that Swimmer had taught Inman. Swimmer told Inman that his soul will fade to blue, which was the color of despair. I believe the color of despair, or blue, is a cool, and dim color that in art is used to represent tragedy and sad, depressed and melancholic emotions, so I think that’s what it represent here.
        Inman has been walking for days but is still close the hospital. Bad weather, dogs from the farms he passed, and the threat of the Home Guard, plus his wounded condition leave Inman tired and partially lost. Inman takes a smith’s scythe and beats all three men before absconding into the woods. He recites the words of a spell Swimmer taught him. The words recap him of Monroe’s sermon on Emerson and his conversation of why man was born to die. Inman continues his journey through the flatland forest and along a river. His thoughts of Cold Mountain and of Ada, of building a quiet life there together, keep him going. Inman reaches a ferry crossing and shouts across. A figure appears and uses a canoe to reach Inman. The rower is a young dark-haired girl which Inman agrees to pay her twenty dollars for his ride, although the sign says five, because she is saving up to buy a horse and saddle on which to ride away. While they are paddling upstream, the three townsmen appear with several other men and start attacking Inman. Inman and the girl jump into the river and use the sinking canoe for shelter and flow downstream, which help them escape and making Inman pay for the damages of the canoe.

1b. Author’s Style: In this chapter the author uses foreshadow, simile and imagery.
      Foreshadow: "His condition had required him to walk more slowly and to rest more often than he would have liked, and he had been able to cover only a few miles at a time, and even that slow pace had been at considerable cost." foreshadows that he will have a very hard time throughout his journey and that his condition might get even worst.
       Foreshadow: "The two men were gone, had left so recently that their rockers were still in motion" Foreshadows that the men might be near, or even watching him, it also suggest that he might see them again   

       Imagery: "Striped mosquitos hummed around his ears and bit his back through his shirt" Enables the reader to visualize how the mosquitoes looked like, how annoying they were and how they were biting him.

       Simile: "The river ran heavy and dark in curves like melted glass where it bowed over hidden rocks and then sank into troughs" This simile enables the reader to visualize how clear and transparent the river, that's why Freazier is comparing it to melted glass. 

1c. Historical Context: “Propped up against the wall behind the man was a fine Whitworth rifle, an elaborate brass-scoped artifact, with many complex little wheels and screws to adjust for windage and elevation.” This statement matches the time period of the book, 1864, because during that time, the Whitworth rifle were still being produced (from 1857-1865).

2a. Inman seems like a brave man, who doesn’t give up too easily. The fact that Inman defeated the two men shows that he has very good fighting abilities. Even though he is facing obstacles, he is not looking back and he is very focused in his goal, finding Ada. The fact that he gave $20 to the girl with the canoe also shows that he is a very humanitarian person, who is affected by other’s misery.

2b. The two men that Inman confronts at the store appear to be very confident. When one of the men challenges him by telling him “Where are you going, son of a bitch?” he silences their overconfidence with his own silence. The two men represent one of the many obstacles Inman has to face throughout his journey.

3b.