Brief Summary Of The Novel 'True Grit' By Charles Portis

The following passage is an excerpt from Katherine Anne Porter’s short story “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall.” Read the passage carefully. Then write an essay in which you analyze how such choices as figurative language, imagery, and dialogue develop the complex emotions the character is feeling.

The first major event is the thing that leads to everything else in the novel. The cold blooded murder of the father of Mattie Ross by Tom Chaney, in Ft Smith, Arkansas.

The stereotypes of the elderly are influencing Mattie's life. She is telling herself not to do things because of her age whether or not she is physically able to do them, simply because people associate age with inability and dependence upon others. Her family and friends are expecting and encouraging this dependence.

What kind of components are in a quest novel? There is a quest hero, the wise old man, a helper or guide, a call, and many more. Charles Portis applies these components to many of his characters in his novel True Grit. There is stubborn, fourteen year old Mattie Ross, the quest hero, Marshal Rooster Cogburn, the wise old man, and a conceited Texas ranger named LaBoeuf, the helper/guide. Throughout this novel, they prove that they are the characters of a quest novel in many ways.

The narrator says, “ She was plotting now to get me to stay in the house more, although she knew I hated it and keep me from working for my father.(pg. 307) This statement is describing how important these roles were to the manipulative parental figures in her life. The father did not believe in the stereotypical women roles, which lead to him making her a hired man. During the winter, the family keeps and kills two horses to feed the foxes with horse meat. The name of the horses was Mack and Flora, which were a single female and male horse. Mack was the male horse who was characterized as a old black workhouse, sooty, and indifferent. (pg. 308) This statement describes how the stereotypical male in society should be like in the 1960 's. The male should have the characteristics of workhorse in the field of working in the 1960 's. Flora was a female who was characterized as an sorrel mare, a driver.(pg. 308) This statement describes how dominant she was a female horse. In contrast, the female women was not the dominant gender in the 1960 's , because of the limitations and lack of opportunities created by the predominantly gender of males. The narrator says, “ the word girl had formerly seemed to me

“The journey of the hero is about the courage to seek the depths; the image of creative rebirth; the eternal cycle of change within us…The hero journey is a symbol that binds …. (Phil Cousineau).” Mattie Ross learns this in True Grit, by Charles Portis, when she experiences the death of her father. She says, ”…Tom Chaney shot my father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas and robbed him of his life and his horses and $150 in cash money plus two California gold pieces that he carried in his trouser band(11)”. Frank Ross, Matties’ father, who was shot to death, by a man named, Tom Chaney. Mattie Ross is just 14 years old in the 1870’s, she states, “Nothing is free in this world except the grace of god, you must pay for everything.(pg?)” Personal

“. . . The finest man I had ever known” (Anderson 149). He was a man who was the captain of Pennsylvania Fifth Regiment and served under George Washington. He always found a way for Mattie to break away from Mother’s thoughts--he pampered her. He also taught her the basics of soldiering, which Matilda used when she and Grandfather were kicked off a wagon due to Grandfather’s coughing--the summer grippe. Both Matilda and her grandfather were stranded in the middle of nowhere and in order to return to their homeland they would have to walk miles and miles. As strong, brave, and courageous her grandfather was; he decided to go out and look for her. He found Matilda laying on the floor because of her faint. Matilda’s grandfather picked her up in the struggling heat and carried her all the way to Bush Hill. Where she fought off the fever and was treated. “Imagine a man his age carrying someone like you all that distance” (Anderson 99). Matilda’s Grandfather was everything to her. Too bad he was killed by thieves robbing valuables. A man like him shouldn’t have died, this put Mattie in a very difficult and heartrending

Throughout the course of the novel, the reader witnesses Mattie evolve from a self-absorbed 14-year-old girl to an aspiring young adult. These changes seen in her happen simply because she has no other choice considering the circumstances she is put in. During the year of the fever epidemic, Mattie’s stages of growth and development into a responsible young women are made evident through her experiences. In the beginning, we see “Teenager Mattie”. Mattie is kind of mean to her mother, sleeps in late, and when given some responsibilities, she usually has to be badgered into performing them.

Mother panted heavily”, this is an example of Mattie maturing in the face of fear. Taking care of her mother while she was in such poor condition, while being told to leave her go takes a huge amount of strength and perseverance. Having a sick mother is scary for anybody, but adding the weight of taking care of her alone and being screamed at by her to go away would discourage anyone. Mattie knows she can help her mother, and no matter what Lucile yelled at her Mattie continued to assist her because she was afraid of losing her mother to the fever. Another time during the novel where you see Mattie being faced with fear is (pages 139-144) when Mattie and Grandfather had just

“He was a quiet , soft-spoken man who wore old-timey clothes, fedoras, button-down wool coats, suspenders, and dressed neatly at all times, regardless of how dirty his work made him” (Mcbride 6).“His father was a black man, a railroad brakeman, and his mother a Native American, so he had a lot of indian in his face: brown skin, slanted brown eyes, high cheekbones and a weather-beaten outdoor look about him..” (Mcbride 120).The writing is figurative by the use of similes and metaphors. “In running from her past, Mommy has created her own nation, a rainbow coalition that descends on her house every Christmas and Thanksgiving.” (277)“Her grits tasted like sand and butter, with big lumps inside that caught in your teeth and suck in your gums.”(McBride 67) . “Ma cried, and she wailed and wailed, the sound of her cries circling the house like a spirit and settling on all the corridors and beds where we ay, weeping in silence.”(McBride 128) Allusions are used to give a timeframe of the time period by talking about issues.“She actually liked Malcolm X. She put in nearly the same category as her civil rights heroes, Paul Robeson, Jackie Robinson, Eleanor

Mattie is the older character in this book that was owned “Jesus is Lord Tires” and was a character that acted as a mother to multiple characters. “She looked at me the way Mama would have,” (Kingsolver 252). This quote was found near the end of the book that signified Mattie looking at Taylor and Taylor observing that look and thinking that it is similar to her real mother’s. Mattie gave some money to Taylor for the trip and Taylor refused to take it, so Mattie said that it was for everyone in the car and gave her the look that reminded Taylor of her biological mother. “’I’ve got some peanut butter crackers,’ Mattie said leaning over Turtle. ‘Will she eat peanut butter?’,” (Kingsolver 252). Mattie seemed worried about Turtle and offered her something to eat. She acted as a mother figure to Turtle because she fed her and gave her more food when Turtle hinted for it. Mattie was the one that fit as a mother figure to a lot of characters in the book. She was the person that led a sanctuary and was the one who took care of the many.

The most reasonable idea that allows Mattie to be the protagonist is that she cared for a little girl named Nell even though she was struggling to care for herself. I predict that having Nell in the hands of Mattie, Grandfather dying, and Mother being gone made sense come to Mattie assuring her that caring for others as well as yourself alone is a huge responsibility. This quote shows Mattie’s thought after Grandfather’s death, “No, I could care for myself. I was not a child.” The two character traits that explains how Mattie matured is independent and a hero. She is independent because she was on her own for awhile and had to find food for herself and care for herself. This piece of evidence shows how she was alone with no one to feed or care for her, “I was alone; Grandfather was dead and Mother missing.” She had no one to count on but herself. Mattie being a hero shows a lot of her maturing. This is because she didn’t care for lots of things such as doing chores, but when things changed she realized that other people were in the need of her help like

In the book, Mattie starts out as a lazy teenager who needs to be told what to do by her over controlling mother, but throughout the story, she becomes more responsible and adult-like. For

The American western frontier, still arguably existent today, has presented a standard of living and characteristics which, for a time, where all its own. Several authors of various works regarding these characteristics and the obvious border set up along the western and eastern sections have discussed their opinions of the west. In addition to these literary works by renowned authors, one rather convenient cinematic reference has also been influenced by these well-known, well-discussed practices of this American frontier. “True Grit”, a film recently remade in 2010 by the Cohen Brothers, crosses the boundaries of the west allowing all movie-goers to capture one idea of the western world. The movie, along with a few scholarly sources

  In the play, descriptive language teaches the audience more about the surroundings than what the characters are actually saying to one another.  "I've not been in this house--it's more than a year" (6), Mrs. Hale tells the county attorney.  It is a very run down house, and the audience discovers there are no signs of anyone really ever being happy.  The kitchen is dirty, and the women begin to feel uneasy about being in a house where there is nothing but darkness and coldness.  The darkness is to signify how alone and empty Mrs. Wright was feeling while living with her husband.  Mrs. Wright did not feel wanted, and she felt like all hope was lost which the audience recognizes with the help of Mrs. Hale's saying, "...he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters.  Just to pass the time of day with him.  Like a raw wind that gets to the bone" (11).  Mrs. Hale conveys these important details to Mrs. Peters, which proves that the environment in the Wright house was dark and dreary.  The audience can imagine living in house where there is nothing but solitude and misery.  The solemn atmosphere makes the readers start to understand how lonely and depressing living in the house actually was.