How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Men ask the way to Cold Mountain. Cold Mountain: there's no through trail. –Han-shan, Epigraph to Cold Mountain
Is this cryptic quote warning us that the characters will be disappointed as they try to get somewhere it's impossible to go? Or is it saying that there may be hope to find or make a better world, even if it isn't easy?
Quote #2
Your soul will fade to blue, the color of despair. Your spirit will wane and dwindle away, never to reappear. Your path lies toward the Nightland. This is your path. There is no other. (3.25)
This curse Inman heard years ago sounds pretty terrifying. Is Inman remembering this now because this is how he feels after the war?
Quote #3
Sundays and Wednesdays both, he had talked only of what he thought to be the prime riddle of creation: why was man born to die? (3.31)
Is life wholly tragic if we're just going to die at the end anyway? Or is there some kind of hope in human experience, however brief? What does Cold Mountain as a whole suggest?