Evil And Human Condition As Covered In The Book “The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains”

The book, “The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains” written by Neil Gaiman covers a lot of events and stories surrounding evil and human conditions. Mystery, murder, deception and greed are some of the evil things that are well manifested in this book. This story mainly focuses on a dwarf who is on his mission to search for a gold. In his search, he is guided to the Black Mountain. It covers a lot of human conditions which can be viewed as evil deeds that surrounds human nature. All of these are covered in the book including different places which symbolize evil things as portrayed by the writer in the book.

In the book, the Black Mountain is portrayed as an evil place which hosts the curses in the book. In the book, we are told that the curse dwells within the caves that are on the Black Mountain. The two focal travelling companions on their way shares an inner secrecies as they tread lightly. Neither of them seems to trust each other. Furthermore, both of them keeps the skeletons locked in the closets. This means that no one can trust each other. This are some of the human conditions that are covered in this book. The condition in which no person is able to trust one another within the society. For this reason, every person holds his or her own secrets and does not share it with anyone else in the community. This can as well be viewed as evil minds that dwell in people since an individual does not trust one another.

As the two men trek across a great stretch of land, they are all filled with a lot of tension. Since all have the same goal of treasure, they are aware of the dangerous payoff that they are likely to face in their process in search of the treasure. Furthermore, there is some aspects of betrayal among the two, as there is a controlled betrayal that is brewed between the two travelers. There is much insanity which boils over as they approach their destination. As the two enters the cave, there is much tension which grows in them. As they enter the cave, there is the true revelation which is laid out by the announcements that had been displayed. According to the announcements, it was even more shocking as they figure out more about the cave.

This book can as well be viewed as a fairy tale. As mentioned above, the journey of the two men who are in search of the treasure is full of tension, and evil mind on each other. The two journey together but they do not agree with each other. There was some slight sense of menace which brewed as the two interacted with each other. Furthermore, as the story goes on, one can as well tell that something bad is most likely going to happen to these two men who are on their way to search for the treasures. There is some mysterious things that are not well understood by the travelers about their destination. There is a lot of psychological thrilling that is evident here as every individual is disturbed psychologically as they are not so sure about their journey. In this sense, this also depicts some sense of evil in the book as well as human condition which is full of psychological thrills that are ever disturbing in their minds.

The book presents an evil motif as it progresses on. The entire tone of the book is mysterious with dark understones which are not well understood by the reader. The main character in the book also presents the mask to those around him, as they do not know much information about him, and himself is not willing to share any information to any person. This show one of the human condition which is well portrayed in the manner in which the main character masks his identity to those around him. The guide, Calum Maclnnes is also a dark looming character in the book. He is filled with malice and intent as he guides the main character to the treasure. Human condition is also evident in the book as the guide, accepts the offer to guide the traveler to his destination to search for the gold treasures. The traveler does not tell the guide anything about himself and neither does the guide enquire to know any information about the traveler. This shows a type of human condition which might me be worrying since it was expected that they guide before accepting to take the traveler to his said destination, he could interrogate him about his journey and his intention to go to the cave in search for the treasures. Despite this, he leaves behind his family and escorts the traveler to the Black Mountain. In the book, the traveler says, “I can run faster and longer and more sure footedly than any full sized man… I can fun for days without stopping. That is the first of my secrets, but there is one secret I have revealed to no man”. This shows his condition of not telling anyone some of his things that he has experienced in life.

The evil in the book is seen when Calum tells his companion the reason as to why the locals had refused to enter in that particular cave that the two were touring. In his words, he states, “The islanders know how to find it. But they are too wise to come here, to take its gold. They say that the cave makes you evil; that each time you visit it, each time you enter to take gold, it eats the good in your soul, so they do not enter”. By these words, we can tell that the cave was portrayed as an evil place which could eat up one’s soul and this was the reason that made no one to visit the cave from within, since they all knew this information.

Man is lured by the gold to do bad things to other people. A better man is forced to do bad things so as to obtain the gold. One of the bad things that man does is greed and vengeance. This are the evil things that are well portrayed in the book. Furthermore, there is a lot of violence that is experienced which also shows the evils in the book as well as the human condition which is full of violence and evil minds among each other. When the treasure id delivered, there is no justice nor satisfaction that is derived from it. What is seen is a gradual dawning which portrays bad deeds which are trumped by more terrible ones.

Conclusion

The story, “The Truth Is a Cave in The Black Mountain” is viewed as a story about evil and human conditions. Some of the evil and human conditions covered in the book includes the evil nature of people, for example the two companions who were secretive to each other. Furthermore, the cave which contains the treasure is also viewed as an evil place which is capable of eating up the better part in an individual’s soul.