All of their Charleston friends had expressed
the opinion that the mountain region was a heathenish part of creation.
. . .
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Summary
Ada sits on her porch writing a letter to Inman. She discards
this letter and surveys her farm. She is hungry and concerned about
managing the farm following her father’s death. Ada looks for eggs
and finds a hollow in a bush near a boxwood. Ada thinks back on
her childhood in Charleston and regrets that the fine education
she received is of no practical use. A rooster chases a hen into
the hollow. The vicious rooster attacks Ada, and she leaves, nursing
a cut wrist. She changes her clothes in the house and reads a book
by an open window. Ada enjoys the view of Cold Mountain, but hunger soon
forces her to look for food. After she fails at baking bread, Ada eats
an unsatisfying meal of tomatoes and cucumbers. Then she walks to
the church and puts flowers on the grave of her father, Monroe.
Ada thinks about her father’s death in May. She remembers
leaving him in the garden while she went to paint watercolors and
finding him dead on her return. He was buried two days later. At
the funeral, Ada decided to delay her return to Charleston. She
stayed with her neighbors, the Swangers, for three days but was
still afraid to return to the house in which she lived with her
father.
Ada heads towards the post office. She meets three people, including
a man who is ferociously “beating the shells off beans” as three
crows watch impassively. She picks up a letter and goes to visit the
Swangers, Esco and Sally. The two Swanger boys are off fighting in
the war, but their parents do not support either side. Esco recounts
a tale about a man named Teague and his band of Home Guard. Teague
had tried to bully a family into handing over their valuables since
the family was suspected of being in league with the Federals (the
Union army). The husband had refused even as a guard tortured his
wife. At the end of his tale, Esco talks about the “bad signs” he
has heard of, including a talking owl and a sheep without a heart.
The old man thinks these omens predict the war’s encroaching path
into the mountains. Also during this visit, Ada surprises Sally
by saying that she is not yet ready to return to Charleston. Esco suggests
that Ada look backward with a mirror into his well to divine her
future. Ada sees a person walking but does not know whether this
means she should stay and wait or follow the figure. The hymn “Wayfaring
Stranger” comes into her head. Sally gives Ada some blackberry preserves
when she leaves.
Ada walks back to the farm and climbs the ridge overlooking Black
Cove. She remembers coming to Black Cove six years ago. She and
Monroe (her father) had gotten lost and were forced to seek shelter
in a church. The church turned out to be the new chapel where Monroe
was supposed to begin preaching. Monroe was zealous in encouraging
people to join, but many were “touchy and distant” and skeptical
of the new arrivals. In fact, Monroe had caused offense by trying
to convert the highly religious Swangers, thinking they were ignorant
of the Gospel. He later apologized.
Ada pauses on a rocky outcrop on the ridge to read a
letter from her father’s solicitor informing her that his investments
are worthless. Afterward, she heads down to the upper pasture and
sits by a wall. Ada reads a book, falls asleep, and dreams that
her father is a corpse in a train depot. He tries to tell her something,
but she cannot hear him through the glass case. She awakens, watches
the sunrise, and thinks about the future. She decides not to return
to Charleston because the people there dislike her, and she would
have to marry for convenience. Later that morning, a girl arrives
at the farm, sent by Sally Swanger. She introduces herself as Ruby,
and offers to help Ada on the condition that she is treated like
an equal and “everybody empties their own night jar.” Ruby decapitates
a rooster and soon has broth simmering on the stove.
Analysis
The point of view in the second chapter shifts from Inman’s
to Ada’s. Ada’s perspective is notably calmer than Inman’s. She
ponders commanding mountainous scenery instead of the horrors of battle.
However, like Inman, Ada must fight off despair. Although highly
educated and literate, she is not used to manual labor and lacks
the practical skills necessary to run a farm. In addition, the acute
physical hunger Ada feels corresponds with her psychological yearning
for the solace of human company.
