The Yares of the Black Mountain

One of the quotes that really struck me while reading this story is talking about how the widow find a strong connection and takes an instant liking to the Yare family. “These were the first beings whom the widow had ever met between who and herself there came absolutely no bar of accident….they were the first who could go straight to something beneath…” (p 22) I wanted to focus this blog on how the Yares and the widow are similar and what allowed them to make such an instant connection.
One of the more obvious similarities is how both have had to deal with death and grief. The Widow lost her husband and is dealing with losing her baby. The Yare family spent much time during the war worrying about family and even lost several members after standing up for what they believed in. In the story (and also in life) people tend to need some form of hope to keep them going through tough times. In the story both the Yares and the widow turned to the Mt. and/or scenery for comfort or that beacon of hope. “The mountains and they were company for each other” (p 268) The Yars had lived on those mountains for four generations and even stuck it out during the civil war. The widow took her sick baby up to the mountains even though everyone thought she was crazy for doing so. I’m not sure the mountains actually symbolize anything but I feel they helped the widows baby pull through and they helped the Yares continue to live on and prosper.
I felt another reason the two related so well is because both knew what it was like to have almost nothing as well as not fitting in with society. The widow had her baby and the Yares had enough to get by on. It makes sense that both families would need some form of comfort, and were then able to find that comfort within the mountains. At the end of the story it seemed that by having an instant connection the two families were able to find hope within each other. Coming from such similar situations of hardship it was easy to find comfort and acceptance. Up until the end of the story The widow had never really felt like she belonged anywhere. She did not fit in NY and traveling all that way never really felt comfortable. The Yares had always been in hiding because they were on the “wrong” side during the war. It seems like both families were able to accept each other and with that acceptance cam the ability to prosper.