Cold Mountain

by

Charles Frazier

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Cold Mountain makes teaching easy.

The Old Woman Character Analysis

The old woman takes care of Inman after he’s wounded by the Home Guard. She’s calm, knowledgeable, and seemingly completely comfortable living in solitude. Yet she engages Inman in conversation when he stays with her, suggesting that she still craves some human contact, despite her protestations to the contrary. The old woman gives Inman powerful medicines that help him recover quickly and return to his quest to return to Black Cove with new enthusiasm. As such, Inman’s return would be impossible without the old woman’s help.

The Old Woman Quotes in Cold Mountain

The Cold Mountain quotes below are all either spoken by The Old Woman or refer to The Old Woman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
War, Memory, and Trauma Theme Icon
).
Chapter 11 Quotes

—What is it you do in those books? Inman said.
—I make a record, the woman said. Draw pictures and write.
—About what?
—Everything. The goats. Plants. Weather. I keep track of what everything's up to. It can take up all your time just marking down what happens. Miss a day and you get behind and might never catch back up.
—How did you learn to write and read and draw? Inman asked.
—Same way you did. Somebody taught me.

Related Characters: Inman (speaker), The Old Woman (speaker)
Page Number: 221
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Cold Mountain LitChart as a printable PDF.
Cold Mountain PDF

The Old Woman Quotes in Cold Mountain

The Cold Mountain quotes below are all either spoken by The Old Woman or refer to The Old Woman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
War, Memory, and Trauma Theme Icon
).
Chapter 11 Quotes

—What is it you do in those books? Inman said.
—I make a record, the woman said. Draw pictures and write.
—About what?
—Everything. The goats. Plants. Weather. I keep track of what everything's up to. It can take up all your time just marking down what happens. Miss a day and you get behind and might never catch back up.
—How did you learn to write and read and draw? Inman asked.
—Same way you did. Somebody taught me.

Related Characters: Inman (speaker), The Old Woman (speaker)
Page Number: 221
Explanation and Analysis: