Ree and Sapphic Subtext in Winter's Bone

     Winter’s Bone is a novel following our young protagonist Ree as she fights to save her family from losing their house. Several instances in Winter’s Bone suggest that Ree might have romantic for women, particularly her best friend Gail, in the novel. First of all, Ree almost exclusively refers to Gail as “sweet pea” anytime they interact in the novel. This nickname, of course, does not automatically make Ree gay by default, but when paired with other moments in the novel takes on a more romantic light than in isolation. Ree describes an intimate moment they shared before Gail got married and had her child. It was her first kiss and a “practice” kiss between the two, so they’d know what to do when they were kissing a boy they’d like. This, juxtaposed with her unsatisfactory first experience kissing a boy, seems to imply that Ree had a much better time kissing a woman than she would a man: “There came three seasons of giggling and practice, puckering readily anytime they were alone, each being the man and the woman, each on top and bottom, pushing for it with grunts or receiving it with sighs. The first time Ree kissed a boy who was not a girl his lips were sent to hers, dry and unmoving…” (Woodrell 87). Placing these two experiences next to each other seemingly implies that Ree greatly preferred the first instance and was disappointed when she got the “real thing”. It’s also important to note that many straight women do not casually make out with their friends at any given opportunity.

            Another moment worth analyzing when discussing her sexuality is the daydream she had after catching and eating the squirrels she hunted with Sonny and Harold. She’s fed, happy, and resting on the couch when her mind starts to wander… to a naked woman. The dream is more complex than that and does get interrupted by Uncle Teardrop, but it does have many sapphic elements if that’s what you’re looking for: “The lips kept smooching on her sweetly like she was yet and forever a child, though, which felt wrong, stunting and stale, then in the measure of a single heartbeat her dress fell open like shutters and she stood revealed, a woman, and…” (Woodrell 110). The fascination with the female form is not explicitly gay but, like many other moments describing Ree’s sexuality, seem very sapphic when even considering the idea that she might be a lesbian or bisexual woman. Gay stories are usually left vague on purpose for fears of losing a certain audience or opportunities to be published. This story was published in 2006, a year which is much less welcoming to LGBT people as 2021 is. There is no definite answer about Ree’s sexuality, nor does there really need to be in a novel focused on much different topics. It’s interesting to analyze the few clues Woodrell has given us about Ree’s possible feelings for women and what other meanings these passages might have if viewed in a different light.

Disrupted Family Role in Winter's Bone

    In Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone, the role of family is disrupted by drugs. 16 year old Ree is left to raise two boys without a father and an absent mother. Ree’s mother, Connie, is mentally incapable of raising her sons, and her father has not shown up for his bond. Because her father does not show for his court date, Ree’s house and land will be taken as collateral. A 16 year old girl has the responsibility of taking care of two boys and finding out what happened to her father. This is no small task for a girl, but she is the most fit to raise the boys out of anyone. She does not do drugs or deal drugs like many of the other characters, including Teardrop and Blond Milton. She teaches Sonny and Harold to cook, skin animals, shoot, and many other survival skills. She also guides them not to start fights unless to protect each other or ward off bullies. She guides and raises the boys to survive and have reason. Ree constantly denies the use of drugs from people, allowing her to be in control of herself and her family. Despite being younger than the average parent, she is more mature and capable of raising the two boys than other people in the community. When Blond Milton offers to raise Sonny, Ree says, “Sonny’n Harold’ll die livin’ in a fuckin’ cave with me’n Mom before they’ll ever spend a single fuckin’ night with you” (59). Ree does not believe Blond Milton, Sonny’s biological father, is capable of raising Sonny. She would rather raise them in a cave than send them with Blond Milton. The drug trade has really destroyed the community. Ree’s father snitched to protect his family. Teardrop says to Ree, “He loved ya’ll. That’s where he went weak” (110). Ree’s father cared for his family, so he snitched to protect his family. Despite Jessup’s genuine love for his family, the drug trade ruins him and his family. The drug trade also affects Teardrop. He is always high, feeding his violent tendencies. Furthermore, Teardrop does not help Ree at first because he does not want to be involved with the daughter of a snitch. Ree is also afraid of him because of his violent demeanor and disfigurement from a meth lab explosion. However, his care for his niece overcomes his unwillingness to help. If the drug trade did not exist, it is possible that there would be more affection and care between family members. The drug trade perpetuates a cycle of drugs and violence because it disrupts family life. It creates families without capable parents, as shown with Ree’s parents, which leads to more drug users. However, because Ree acts like Sonny and Harold’s parents, she leads them into a better direction. She gives them skills to live and guides them how to act. She breaks the perpetual cycle of drugs. At the end, she will buy “wheels” (142) with the extra cash, symbolizing upward mobility.

Ree's parental responsibilities

 Throughout Woodrell’s work “Winter’s Bone”, Ree repeatedly takes the role of being the parent as a result of her living circumstances. She recognizes that her brothers need a guiding force in their lives while knowing that her parents are both unable to fulfill this responsibility. 

From the beginning, Ree is mature for her age. When seeing her brothers have a joyful conversation, she wishes they “would not be dead to wonder by age 12, dulled to life” as she had become (Woodrell 8). Having dealt with significant hardships, she has altered her own perspective. Instead of dwelling on it though, she uses it to teach her brothers to be more independent in their lives. When she was making dinner, she had her brothers sit and watch her so they would know how to prepare food too. Despite her brothers being under the age of 12, Ree recognizes that it’s on her to give her brothers the skills they need to be self-sufficient.

Her parental tendencies come from the environment in which she grew up. Her mother has been diagnosed with a mental illness, and the drugs she’s prescribed alter her ability to function - she’d been “medicated and lost to the present” (6). As a result, 16 year old Ree must bathe and take care of her mother as opposed to her mother raising Ree and her younger brothers. Additionally, her father is absent from the family’s life. He is a known drug distributor in their local community and has a court date coming soon. Because he is on the run, he is unable to care for the family and all his responsibilities fall on Ree. When the sheriff comes to warn Ree that their house is backing her father’s bond, Ree sets out to find him, as she will be homeless if her father does not report to court. Although parents are supposed to keep track of their children, Ree is having to go on a search for her father to prevent her household from crumbling, illustrating who the parent really is.  

Ree’s account illustrates a different reality in American society: rural poverty. She is forced to act as a parent to her brothers while taking care of her mother and running a household. 

Ree’s Role to Her Family

 

Daniel Woodrell’s novel Winter’s Bone reveals the poverty inside the Ozarks which includes the hunt to reach the Dolly family’s basic human needs. The protagonist of the story is Ree Dolly who is only a teenager but steps up to care for her family after her father, Jessup, disappears and leaves the family behind. Ree takes care of her mentally ill mother by washing her hair and making food, and also takes care of her two younger brothers by teaching them the skills that they will use in the future. Ree is put in a crisis when a police officer reveals to their family that they will lose their home if Jessup does not show up to court. This adds more stress to Ree since their family has nowhere else to go she needs to make sure Jessup goes to court. 

Ree’s role is first shown to the reader when she grabs her little brother Harold by the ear and says “never ask for what ought to be offered” (Woodrell 5) after he says that they should ask Blond Milton to bring them food for dinner. The scene also reveals how getting food on the table is a struggle for their family as they have no money. Her role is matrimonial and is proven through her hopes for her brothers’ futures. She does not want them to be “dead to wonder by age twelve, dulled to life, empty of kindness, boiling with mean” (Woodrell 8). Ree does not want her brothers to be like the other men of their clan. She wants to be able to provide for them and make sure they turn out respectable, independent, and happy, which is what makes her like a mother to them. 

Ree wants to join the military to get away from her family, she knows that if they lose the house there will be no possibility of this and believes that “she’d be stuck alongside them ‘til steel doors clanged shut and the flames rose” (Woodrell 15). This sends her on a mission to go find her father. Ree is independent and persistent in her search for her father. She goes to many places including Hawkfall which is dangerous. For the first part of her search Ree is unsuccessful but decides to go back to Hawkfall which causes her to be battered by Thump Milton’s family. Ree finds out that her father is dead, but needs to prove it to the bondsman. She shows her braveness and courage as she cuts off her fathers hands as proof to give to the bondsman that he is dead. 

Overall, Ree steps up to help her family keep their home even though she was put in danger while doing so. Ree was brave and loyal to her brothers and mother to ensure that she would be able to live out the rest of her dream. 

The Role of Food in Winter's Bone

Daniel Woodrell’s novel, Winter’s Bone is very much a story of survival. From the opening chapter readers get the sense of community resilience and self-sufficiency from the description of deer carcasses hanging from the trees, “The carcasses hung pale of flesh with fatty gleam from low limbs of saplings in the side yards”(3). The opening page sets the theme for the rest of the novel as Ree and her family struggle to maintain basic human needs including food and shelter. The focus on food particularly caught my attention as it symbolizes not only survival and a basic human need, but also an element of care. One scene that specifically speaks to this care is when Ree cooks deer stew for her brothers. She says, “‘I’ll be fixin’ deer stew tonight...Haul them chairs over here and stand on ‘em with your eyes peeled and watch every goddamn thing I do. Learn how I make it, then you both’ll know’” (19). At this moment Ree is teaching her brothers to take care of themselves while also demonstrating a notion of compassion that comes with cooking food for loved ones. In this instance food represents familial love and communion. 

Communion is crucial regarding food’s role in the novel and is not only demonstrated between Ree and her brothers, but also among neighbors. When Ree goes to talk to Thump Milton she is turned away, yet offered a cup of soup by the women (63). This scene also caught my attention as it demonstrates the human nature to take care of people regardless of their situation. In a way, food offers acknowledgement of existence. The woman tells Ree that she can not talk to Thump Milton, yet she still brings Ree soup to acknowledge her presence. While the presence of food in the story is incredibly crucial to establishing the theme of survival and community, so is the presence of hunger when demonstrating an absence of agency. When she visits the cave Ree, in a way, experiences a raw existence of life experienced by her ancestors. Within the cave she is connected to her past yet lost in her present desperation of trying to find her father. Ree’s sense of desperation is reflected in her body's response. The narrator writes, “Her belly rumbled and pinged and hunger drew her into an aching curl” (68). Through the above examples readers can see the many ways food symbolizes life and survival for characters throughout the book. Food offers insight in family love and community belonging, while also showing the pain that occurs in the absence of basic human rights.

Winter’s Bone: Ree, The Independent Caretaker

At the end of Winter’s Bone, readers find “A Conversation with Daniel Woodrell,” where Woodrell is asked questions about his novel, his life, his inspirations, and more. The interviewer observes the novel’s main character Ree as a strong and serious woman and asks on page 3, “Where did Ree come from?” Woodrell answers this question by recalling his own reading of girls in poverty who often found themselves as the primary caretakers of their households because their guardians were otherwise unable, whether because of a job or an addiction, to do so themselves (page 4).

This leaves readers with Ree, the matriarch of her family: taking care of her younger siblings — both boys — because her mother is mentally unfit to do so, and her father is entangled in her community’s drug dealings. By most accounts, this portrayal of Ree as a caretaker would be a stereotypical depiction of women in literature. However, as one reads Winter’s Bone, they will find that while her circumstances do necessitate her to take on this role for her family’s survival, she is very much not a stereotypical girl.

Ree is an incredibly fierce and strong-willed girl, and in her role as a mother, she does her best to impart these traits onto her brothers. She is gentle and nurturing, but she is not at all soft. One prime example of this is when she teaches the boys how to hunt squirrels and properly prepare them; she describes to Sonny and Harold in gruesome detail the steps, saying “Don’t be scared — the thing’s dead. Nothin’ to be scared of (106).” 

She takes care of them, but she does not baby them; rather, she cares for them in a way that teaches them how to care for themselves. Her lack of a real parental role model enforces a defensive independence in Ree that she uses to protect herself, and she wants to pass this along to Sonny and Harold because her experiences tell her that she can’t rely on anyone to take care of her, therefore they shouldn’t either.

Another example of her independence as a survival technique is seen not when she is caring for her brothers, but when she is caring for herself. When Little Arthur rapes her in chapter 10, she never seeks help. She doesn’t even appear to be particularly affected by the event — instead, she views it as an opportunity to maintain power, to get whatever help she can in finding her dad and helping her family.

 

The Theme of Humanity in "Winter's Bone"

     The environment in “Winter’s Bone” shapes the theme of humanity. The way in which Ree interacts with the environment around her points to the hardships she faces; moreover, it points to the fact that humanity is not always pretty. The imperfection is a part of humanity, and Woodrell uses the interactions between Ree and her environment to further establish the theme of humanity. 

    The cold winter setting both hinders and helps Ree throughout the novel. The book reads, “The snow fell first in hard little bits, frosty white bits blown sideways to pelt Ree’s face as she raised the ax, swung down, raised it again, splitting wood while being stung by cold flung from the sky” (9). The harsh winter makes the work harder for Ree to accomplish. The weather also makes Ree’s circumstances more difficult because she does not have a car; therefore, she cannot travel long distances in the cold. The novel states, “The landscape of freeze framed her so pitifully that she had a lift within minutes” (48). Ree finds many lifts in the novel in order to escape the cold. The low temperatures also help to ease the pain Ree experiences from being beat up though. Gail forces Ree to immerse herself into the freezing water. Ree then comments, “‘I forgot where I hurt’” (160). In the end, Ree finds relief from her pain. Although the cold weather is physically hard for Ree to work and travel, the winter helps soothe her pain as well. 

Ree’s interactions with nature also demonstrates her unwavering emotional strength. In the beginning of the novel, Ree cuts wood in the cold weather while she listens to “The Sounds of Tranquil Shores” (9). The sounds that Ree enjoys listening to are the opposite of her reality, which shows how Ree is discontent in her present situation. Even in her discontent, Ree demonstrates her emotional strength by putting aside her own feelings to care for her brothers and mother. Many events, which take place in nature, point to Ree’s emotional strength. Her tough exterior reflects the strength inside of her when she teaches her brothers to shoot and skin squirrels. Ree says, “‘Now, these are harder’n rabbits but still not too hard, really. Think like your cuttin’ the squirrel a suit, only your cuttin’ the suit off of ‘em, not for ‘em to put on’” (106). Ree makes sure to teach the important skills even when the boys resist. The nature surrounding Ree shows the emotional strength Ree has to be the caretaker of her family.

Ree’s physical and emotional journey in the novel points to the larger theme of humanity. Humanity incorporates both the good and bad parts of life, and Woodrell emphasizes the different sides of humanity through the effects the environment has on Ree’s physical and emotional state. The cold weather physically challenges Ree in her work and travelling, while also providing relief for Ree after being beat up. The nature around Ree also points to her emotional journey of wanting to escape her reality and having the emotional strength to put those desires aside to care for her family. Woodrell uses the emotional and physical journey of Ree to establish the fact that humanity is imperfect and a collection of both good and bad experiences.

Maternal Role in Winter's Bone

 Daniel Woodrell’s novel, Winter’s Bone, dives into the life of a family who lives in the Ozarks. Even at the beginning of the novel it is obvious that Ree Dolly, the oldest daughter, plays the parental role in her family although only being sixteen years old. Her mother is mentally ill and her father is known in the town as a drug dealer. Having two younger brothers, every problem falls on her to fix. In the beginning of the novel, Ree is faced with the winter storm coming up, an abnormally large storm. As the novel continues, she raises her brother as a maternal figure in some ways, but not a typical mother figure. She raises them to be strong men who can be self-sufficient and do not need to rely on other people when they are older. Ree says the her brothers “never ask for what ought to be offered” (Woodrell, 5). She wants her brothers to have an easy childhood so that they are prepared for the real world once they have to be. Ree finds herself amidst larger problems when the sheriff comes to the house and says their father is missing and must show up to his court date or they will lose their house. Ree’s struggle once again is to take care of her brothers, “Ree’s grand hope was that these boys would not be dead to wonder by age twelve, dulled to life, empty of kindness, boiling with mean. So many Dolly kids were that way, ruined before they had chin hair, groomed to live outside square law and abide by the remorseless blood-soaked commandments that governed lives outside square law…The rough Dollys were scornful of town law and town ways, clinging to their own” (Woodrell, 8). Ree Dolly plays a maternal role throughout Winter’s Bone due to the lack of parenting by her own parents. She is forced to grow up and take care of her siblings due to her circumstances.

Humanizing the Ozarks - Winter's Bone

Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone portrays a community going through intense, inherited, and systematic poverty. Both as a source of coping and a source of income, a large portion of the population is reliant on drugs or other mind-altering devices to ease their everyday suffering. Though Woodrell tries to build sympathy for the community and its strong heroine, he does not shy away from the toxicity of the community’s members. That is to say, the readers are not supposed to withhold judgment on characters like Ree’s father, Jessup, who is an infamous crack dealer and addict, or Blond Milton, another drug trader who lies to Ree about the circumstances revolving Jessup’s death. In fact, Woodrell leans into these outward behaviors and appearances to portray not how the poor individuals are singularly responsible for their predicament, but how their living conditions and culture beat them into what they are. Most of these troubled individuals prove to have good intentions at heart, somewhere along the line – and this is no more clear than it is with Ree’s uncle, Teardrop.

At the onset, Teardrop seems set-up to be just another antagonist or barrier in Ree’s search for her father. Disfigured and physically intimidating, Teardrop attempts to use his fearsome appearance to scare Ree away from her mission – his added past as a former inmate and meth cook add to our perception of this. Later, however, it’s revealed that Teardrop was legitimately trying to protect Ree from the dangerous community in which they live. After Ree is beaten by Thump Milton and his crew, Teardrop shows up to protect her, going so far as to make a deal with them: “If she does wrong, you can put it on me,” (137).

Though flawed (because Woodrell does not hide his disapproval for hard drugs), Teardrop is humanized through his commitment towards family. We later learn the same can be said of even Jessup, who was killed because of his betrayal of the other meth cooks to the police, his distancing the life from his family a way of protecting them. At the conclusion of the novel, we find ourselves unable to point to a singular antagonist (although Thump Milton and his crew represent the worst these people can become), but rather blame the conflict on the extended crises of poverty, inadequate/insufficient law enforcement, and all the other things which has allowed for this criminal, desperate way of life to persist in its toxic form.

Family in Winter's Bone

    In Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone, the reader is shown the life of those in the Ozarks. Through Ree the reader gets to really understand how this community is run. The clear ruler throughout the community is drugs, specifically crank. Still in this divided and drug-run community there is still a clear emphasis, especially on Ree’s part, on family. 

    In the very beginning of the novel the reader is introduced to Ree’s immediate, yet physically and mentally divided family. Her father is physically not present, her mom has mental health issues that keep her from truly being present, and then there are her brothers, who she raises on her own. The division seen in her family foreshadows the division the reader later sees throughout the entire family. In this community everyone is related to each other in some way or another. It is this bond that Ree puts a lot of emphasis on when she goes to search for her family. She believes that, since she is a Dolly and the people she turns to are her family, they have an obligation to help her find her dad and be honest with her about what they know. As stated before though, everyone is very divided and doesn’t think the same. This is discussed when Ree goes to Uncle Teardrop and mentions asking around Hawkfall for her dad. After Ree brings up their relation Teardrop says, “Our relations get watered kinda thin between this valley and Hawkfall. It better’n bein’ a foreigner or town people, but it ain’t nowhere near the same as bein’ from Hawkfall” (25). Still Ree doesn’t head this warning and is faced with this reality when she goes to Hawkfall and tries to see Thump Milton. When turned away despite being a Dolly and distantly related she says, “So, come the nut-cuttin’, blood don’t truly mean shit to him. Am I understandin’ right? Blood don’t truly count diddly to the big man” (63). To Ree being family, even distantly, comes with a sense of loyalty and duty to help, but it is clear not everyone sees it the same. 

    The only person who seems to show a similar train of thought is Uncle Teardrop. In the beginning he is rough with Ree and tells her not to go after her dad, but he does give her a bit of money to help. The next time he shows up he makes a comment, “You think I forgot about you” (110). The fact that he says this, even sarcastically shows that he does care and worry about her. Then he truly shows how much he cares when he shows up in Hawkfall after she’s beaten despite wanting to stay out of things and says, “She’s my niece and she’s near about all the close family I got left… If anybody lays even just one finger on that girl ever again, they better have shot me first” (137-138). He proves here that family means a lot to him too. 

Ree's Role Winter's Bone

     The novel, Winter's Bone, is one that delves into a society located in the Ozark's in Missouri that is anything but picturesque. Within the dreary, drug swarmed town, there lives the main character, a sixteen year old girl by the name of Ree. She proves throughout the course of the story to be extremely strong and independent for her age, wielding wisdom beyond her years. While it appears in the book that the men are the ones who hold lots of the power in the Dolly clan, Ree proves that women are able to possess power as well.

    Although she was not given much of a choice, she rose to be the matriarch in her family. She serves as a mother to her younger brothers, due to the fact that they all lack any real authority figures. Additionally, Ree constantly appears to be fearless, by going home to home to those who frighten her, in an attempt to find her father and ensure their home is not taken from them. For example, "Ma'am, I got a real bad need to talk with Thump Milton...I need to, I really, really need to, ma'am. Please—I am a Dolly! Some of our blood at least is the same. That’s s’posed to mean somethin’—ain’t that what is always said" (Woodrell 59). This is just one of the examples where Ree trudges her way over to another lead to find someone that may be able to lead her to her father. She is persistent and desperate to save not only her family, but herself as well. She encounters many who purposefully mislead her, such as her cousin, Blonde Milton, as well as people who simply do not have her best interests at heart. This desperation she experiences on her endeavors drives her, and allows her to prove her resilience and her own sense of power. She shows that she is capable of doing things on her own, and does not need the help of others to achieve what she sets out to do.

In the end she proves herself, when she is able to bring Jessup, her father back, and does justice by herself and her family. They are able to keep their home, and for the first time, have slim opportunities they did not have before. Although a young girl, Ree was able to provide for her family more than any other parental figure she had. It is this that proves her power in of itself, she didn't need her dad, her mom, or any Dolly men to help bring herself peace, in the end she only needed herself.

Violence and survival in Winter's Bone

The environment that surrounds the characters in Winter’s Bone creates a bloody and violent mood that reflects the theme of death throughout the novel. The story begins the image of deer carcasses strung up on trees and falling snow beginning to cover them. The description says, “The carcasses pale of flesh with a fatty gleam from low limbs of saplings in the side yards” (Woodrell 3). The grotesque nature of the scene shows the reader the realities of daily life in the Ozarks, where violence and death are used as a means of survival. The death of the deer is also presented to the reader without a somber tone, which conveys that death is viewed as a necessity for life. Woodrell further supports this theme through the scene of Ree sawing off her dead father’s hands to give to the police. The peak of violence and death within the novel occurs when Ree tugs at Jessup’s dead body and uses a chainsaw to take both of his hands as proof of his death. Ree is able to commit this violent act out of necessity because she will lose her home if her father’s body is not presented to the authorities. Her actions show how numb she is to the sight of death because of her desperate situation.

I thought it was interesting how violence is taught as a means of survival to young children. Ree teaches her younger brothers how to shoot guns and clean animals at a young age, even as she herself is still only sixteen. She forces them to look past the death of squirrels in order to take the meat for eating. When Harold puts up a fight to cleaning the squirrel, Ree says, “’You got you a whole bunch of stuff you’re goin’ to have to get over bein’ scared of, boy’” (Woodrell 107). She uses the scene with shooting and cleaning squirrels to prepare her brothers for the future where they may have to take care of themselves. Ree knows from her own experience that one needs to be comfortable around death in order to live in their community. Ree’s need to teach them about this bloody activity further shows the importance of violence and death for survival in the Ozarks.

Role of Motherhood in Winter's Bone

    Daniel Woodrell’s novel Winter’s Bone is a contemporary story taking place in the Ozarks where society has been stricken by poverty and fallen heavily into the use of drugs and their illegal production. The story’s protagonist is a teenage girl named Ree Dolly, whose father, Jessup, has mysteriously disappeared leaving her to care for her mentally ill mother and two younger brothers. Jessup has charges against him and as his court date approaches a deputy comes to their home to inform the family that Jessup has put up everything the family has to their name including their home for his bond. If Jessup doesn’t show up for his trial the court will take the family’s shelter. With her father missing and her mother unable to care for her brothers because of her health, Ree takes on a parental role in the family. Not only does she stand in as a mother for her brothers, but she is also her mother's caretaker and primary provider in the family. Before she reaches adulthood Ree embodies the traits of motherhood. Not only does she act with selflessness, protectiveness, and care towards her family, but most importantly she teaches her brothers what she believes is important for survival, in hopes that they can be self-sufficient in the future. 

    Living in such extreme poverty, Ree and her family primarily live off of the meat they hunt themselves. The meat they hunt is the bare minimum they need to survive, so Ree makes it a priority to teach her brothers how to not only hunt but then skin and cook the meat they have killed. Woodrell writes, “Their skin sticks to ‘em more than rabbits, so you got to pull at it and help it along by easin’ the blade between the fur and the meat. Harold, put your hand in there’n yank out them guts” (106). As Ree is skinning a squirrel she makes her brothers help so they can learn the process from beginning to end. Ree recognizes how vital the practice of hunting is for her family and ensures that her brothers understand its importance as well. Even though they are still young and the process of skinning and killing an animal is unpleasant to watch and even more unpleasant to do, she still teaches them because she doesn’t want anything to prevent them from having something to eat one day. Teaching a child the way of life is a parental responsibility that Ree is left to fulfill for her brothers because of her absent father and ill mother.

    Ree is left not only with the responsibility of caring for her brothers, but also her mother. To her understanding, her mother will never be the same as she was when she was younger. Ree believes that her mother will forever struggle from mental illness and therefore will always be a dependent in the lives of those around her. Beyond teaching her brothers how to take care of themselves, she believes that they must understand how to care for their mother as well in case she isn’t always around. As Ree is washing her mother’s hair in the kitchen sink she makes her brothers sit and watch hoping they will pay attention to how she is taking care of their mother. Woodrell writes, “The boys sat on the countertop close enough to be splashed, wrapped in quilts, watching her scrub, lather, rinse. Ree glanced frequently to keep their attention” (39). Ree wants her brothers to know how to properly care for their mother because she needs to know they will all be okay even if she isn’t around forever. A parent must make sure their child has learned to care for themselves and their future families as well as be self-sufficient. Through teaching her brothers how to care for their mother, Ree is once again fulfilling the parental duty to be the most important teacher in a child’s life, in the lives of her brothers. 

Family Matters: Community and the Lack Thereof in Winter's Bone

Winter's Bone is a novel that takes a look at a commonly overlooked part of the United States - the Missouri Ozarks, and the people who live within it. A common thread throughout the story is the idea of "community," and what that really means. Ree, through the circumstances of her life, has very few people unconditionally on her side. Those who empathize with her and care about her range from family that isn't able to take care of her, family that refuses to take care of her, and friends who, in their attempts to help, cause more problems for her in the long run. When her brother, Harold, suggests that they ask for meat from Blond Milton, she twists his ear and tells him "Never. Never ask for what ought to be offered" (Woodrell, 5). And through this, we're shown from the outset that life in the Ozark communities isn't as easy as it should be. 

Daniel Woodrell shows readers that unfortunate circumstances can lead to a more fractured community. Because the Dollys are such a close community, where there are "two hundred Dollys... living within thirty miles of this valley" (Woodrell, 8), there is a wide number and variety of people that can be considered "community". Ree and those around her know or know of most if not all the other Dollys. However, as shown right at the beginning of the book, and when Ree is beaten up by the Thump Clan for asking about her father, "so many Dolly kids" are "dead to wonder by age twelve, dulled to life, empty of kindness, boiling with mean" (Woodrell, 8). This even comes out from people who care about Ree, and from Ree herself. She hurts Harold when she wants to teach him a lesson. Her uncle Teardrop, even though he eventually comes to her aid and helps her financially and when she's in danger of being killed by the Thump Clan, is introduced to the story with his anger and violence. The characters in Winter's Bone are capable of kindness, of maintaining a community, but they are not nice about it. And they aren't all good, too. It's clear that, even though the only people they can really rely on is one another, especially due to how unhelpful the government at large and the police are to their ways of living, the Dollys are incapable of having a truly "well-functioning" community. And while that may sound bad, Woodrell doesn't ascribe a value to it - he just shows us the truth of the matter.

The Themes of Family and Drugs in Winter's Bone

My biggest takeaway from this reading was the importance of family. This reading also gave me perspective on people less fortunate than me and the hardships they endure. Throughout the book, we see characters putting themselves in danger in order to help their family. Ree is one character that will do whatever it takes for her brothers and mother. She is willing to put herself into danger by getting involved with her violent uncle Teardrop, Thump Milton, Merab, and many other problematic characters. Another thing that was interesting was the way Ree taught her brothers everything about hunting, cooking, and shooting guns. It made me feel like Ree thought at any moment she could disappear and the kids would have to know how to do these things on their own. This was compelling because you could feel that Ree was prepared for all possibilities, including her death since the people she had in her life were so violent and dangerous. The fact that she was teaching her younger brothers how to survive demonstrated how much she cared about them. Ree gave me a new perspective on the way I view my family. I realized that I am fortunate enough to not have to take care of my siblings or my parents but there are some people that are not as fortunate, and who are in the same position as Ree. I never thought about what it would be like at my age to be unable to go to school and have to provide for my family and keep them safe. Ree is a reminder to the reader about the importance of family and how your family is supposed to help and protect you. This is best demonstrated in chapter 11 when Ree is begging to speak with Thump Milton. “Please--I am a Dolly! Some of our blood at least is the same. That’s s’posed to mean somethin’---ain’t that what is always said?” (Woodrell, 59). Ree is explaining that when it comes to family, you should always be there for them. Something that I found illuminating from this book was the role drugs played. It was interesting to see how Ree rejected drug use considering it played such a big role within her family. It was the source of their income and it was a way for them to escape their reality. It was interesting to see Ree turn to other escapes such as listening to her tapes rather than drugs. It made me realize that although I should not judge people for their addictions or situations, there is always an alternative, perhaps a healthier option. Ree is also struggling with her reality because her life is extremely dark and difficult. “Ree needed often to inject herself with pleasant sounds, stab those sounds past the constant screeching, squalling hubbub regular life raised inside her spirit” (Woodrell, 10). This passage demonstrates how listening to these tapes is dees escape from the constant chaos in her life.

Personification and Dehumanization

  In the novel, Ministry of the Future, author Kim Stanley Robinson provides a comprehensive commentary on how human psychology plays a vital role in the battle against climate change. Through the character of Mary, Robinson sets out to humanize the different solutions that economists and AI experts provide her. And even though this is a critical exploration, it is more important to focus on how Robinson simultaneously personifies ideas and concepts and depicts the dehumanization of people by the same things.

Throughout the novel, Robinson dedicates chapters to prescribing human attributes to ideas and concepts. Robinson immediately sets out these chapters at the very beginning of the novel. In the second chapter, he personifies the sun in multiple ways, it is able to “touch” people and “breathe [its] big slow breaths” (13). By giving the sun human-like qualities, Robinson is able to add to the narrative that nature is a living entity that includes the sun. In chapter 46, he describes the market as having bodily functions: “I digested things and turned them to blood” (191) and it “grew so large that I ate the world” (192). A lot of the economic concepts in the book are hard to grasp, so relating the function of the market to the function of the human body allows the reader to understand the concepts by relating them to something people are familiar with.

A running parallel to the personification of things such as the sun and the market are the depictions of dehumanization of people. The extended touch of the sun leaves people for dead and “floating like logs” (12) in Uttar Pradesh, India. Robinson describes Frank as being “poached” and “slow-boiled”, and limbs like “cooked spaghetti” (12). The similes help show the dehumanizing impact of climate change because it reduces people to the fate of dead trees or meals. Furthermore, the refugees in the novel have many dehumanizing experiences. For example, the refugee riot ends with the feeling that they are like “sheep for slaughter” (145). The image created by the word “slaughter” illustrates the horrible conditions that refugees often face in the world. Here, Robinson directly writes about the dehumanization of refugees: “When you lose all hope and all fear, then you become something not quite human” (145). The experience of a refugee often strips away their human qualities because of how poorly they are treated.

Critique of Economic Systems in Ministry for the Future

 While I couldn't find a source to attribute the quote to, someone said "Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone." Now, that statement is pretty intense, but it does touch on an important point, which is that a society is only as good as the people in it. In The Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson makes his stance well known through his intent behind the novel, that being our current system, and thus foundation for our society, isn't working. It isn't working for the many, and it isn't working for the place that gives us life, It's only working for the select few, and that needs to be fixed. Capitalism is left undefended in Robinson's writing, with him stating "It is easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism." However, his point is easily reinforced with the magnitude of the climate crisis facing us in the now-immediate future. Some may critique The Ministry for the Future as too radical, too sweeping, and too pessimistic, simply due to Robinson's frank description of our seemingly insurmountable challenge. Yet, the nature of climate change, global warming, and its imminent threats make slow and comfortable change impossible. After all, slow and comfortable change is what we have right now. And thus, Robinson's proposed solution is a reformation of our current economic system, and replacing it with an alternative founded in socialism, focusing on equality for all. The novel implicates the natural disparities caused by capitalism as the cause for the looming disasters we face, as capitalism causes the pursuit for what helps get more, rather than what helps the many. The critique of our economic system continues by addressing the vast disparity between those who have planted themselves firmly at the very top, and those who have left behind, not just in the United States, but additionally in non-western countries still stricken by poverty and wealth. Robinson proposes that significant, and rapid change, the uncomfortable kind, is what is necessary to stop the current progress towards our own undoing, while also making things significantly better, not for the few, but for the many.

Ministry of the Future: The Downsides to Capitalism When Looking at the Future for our Population

     Climate change is a topic that is seen as controversial to many. Some think of it as a topic that does not need to be discussed now because it will not happen for a long time. Others think that it is something that will never happen. Kim Stanley Robinson, author of The Ministry for the Future, has shown that his belief is that it is a major issue now, because the effects will start to harm the world’s population in the very near-future.   

Robinson opens the book with a deadly heat wave that takes place in India. People lose power, can’t get proper access to water, and die due to overheating. In the text, it says “more people had died in this heat wave than in the First World War, and all in a single week and in a single region of the world” (Robinson 23). This is something that is going to happen in the coming years, so the contributors to climate change need to be recognized and stopped to prevent this.  

Robinson presents how Capitalism is one of the major contributors to climate change due to a lot of the socioeconomic issues that it causes. In the text, it discusses how there are executives who “earn in ten minutes what it takes their starting employees all year to earn” (Robinson 383). There are people making so much that they do not know what to do with the money, and there are people who are making little to nothing and are barely living off of what they have. They can’t focus on climate change and contributing to help the cause because they must worry about their basic needs; they need to worry about surviving in the present. Earlier in the text, he also discusses the idea of giving people “enough,” meaning spreading the wealth to give people enough to have the right of basic needs. In the text, he says, “There is enough for all. So there should be no more people living in poverty. And there should be no more billionaires. Enough should be a human right” (Robinson 58). There are enough resources, but these corporations are run by people who are making billions of dollars a year and are not spreading the wealth. In the process, they are also destroying the environment by emitting carbon into the air with their factories. They also could be putting this money to better use, by doing things such as helping those being killed by poverty and contributing money to save the planet from destruction. However, this is not being done and based on what Robinson has said, if billionaires keep on arising and ruling the economic system, there will not be enough funds available to help and stop climate change before it is too late.

The Ministry for the Future - Violence and Death

In the book, some groups represent violence, such as the Black Wing in The Ministry for the Future, the Children of Kali, the secret Organization Frank May met. There are similar organizations like CIA, MI6 and KGB in real life. Is having such organizations a must in a revolution? In other words, is having violence a must?

Violence is a threat that forces change. Even though it was not moral to kill random rich people to reduce carbon emission, the world got rid of airplanes in one night because of the drone attack. It could take much longer if people tried to negotiate peacefully. Similarly, Saudis were erased from their countries, which accelerated the promotion of carbon coins and kept the coal in the ground. 

Violence brings death. Death brings actions. Actions sometimes get good results. If Frank May did not experience the heatwave in India and did not see everyone around him die near the lake, he would not kill. He did not achieve much by killing one climate criminal, but he greatly impacted Mary Murphy's life. After Tatiana's death, Mary felt more determined to make more changes in the world by creating global citizenship and combating terrorism.

Violence is how ordinary people gain negotiation power. Mary Murphy is an opponent of violence. She had a different set of problems to consider. She needed to incorporate economy, ecology, geology and technology into her proposals. She had the power to change because she is the head of the ministry. However, ordinary people like the members of Children of Kali do not have that power. They got a seat on the table by creating violence.

Violence is a natural reaction. As discussed above, Mary Murphy loves peace, but she even turned to violence when she encountered death. When Tatiana died, Mary told Badim that "when we find them, we'll kill them" (453). Anger naturally leads humans to violence. It's normal to have the tendency. We should not accuse the members of these organizations because violence is the probability their only tool to express anger and agony.

Of course, violence could be catastrophic. The Children of Kali argued, "The worst criminals are not dead, there are many more of them... They always find replacements." (390) They were unwilling to stop at the end, they were just killing to kill. Excessive violence creates disorder in society. I believe, violence, in its best form, should impose pressure without causing much damage.

The Ministry For the Future: Fear and Hope

 Human activity has been proven to be the main contributor to climate change. With that being said, many Americans are still not convinced that our actions are to blame. According to the Pew Research Center, two in ten (20%) Americans believe human activity plays not too much or no role at all in climate change (PEW, pewresearch.org/climate). This statistic begs the question: What needs to be done to convince everyone that climate change is not only real, but something all humans can and must work to decrease the effects of? Do you think Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry For the Future has the power to inspire and convince people to take action? 

Robinson's inclusion of economics, hard science, and atmospheric and oceanic physics to create plausible and fast approaching scenarios work to instill fear in readers. From the moment the novel begins, we are presented with a very frightening scenario. 20 million people have just been killed from a horrific heat wave in India. Those who were able to make it to a nearby lake were, "poached, slow-boiled" (Robinson, 12). What is even more frightening is considering this scenario as a plausible future in reality rather than in fiction. Considering the implications of our actions and what an increase in temperature of just a few degrees can do to our world is terrifying, but might be the motivation Americans need to dodge a mass extinction event. 

When The Ministry For the Future is viewed as a lesson rather than a prediction of the future, it is effective in promoting change. The Ministry For the Future concludes with a rather hopeful and optimistic message. Robinson says, "That there is no other home for us than here. That we will cope no matter how stupid things get… That people can take their fate in their hands. That there is no such thing as fate" (563). Despite the extreme danger presented throughout the novel, Robinson suggests that a good global response could help us avoid a mass extinction event. Humans are resilient and our fate does not exist because no matter what, we will find a way to cope. 

Who's right: Frank or Mary? Robinson Blog

     Throughout The Ministry For the Future, the author, Kim Stanley Robinson offers many different perspectives on how to solve the climate crisis. He does this through different characters, stories, and world events that happen in the various chapters. Two of the biggest perspectives that are shown in the novel are those from the two main characters, Mary and Frank. Mary, named after the biblical figure, works for a major world organization against climate change, the Ministry For the Future, and she believes that the most effective route to solving the problem is through legal legislative changes in world governments. Frank, however, believes that humanity needs to be more aggressive in their push for reform. Frank, when first confronting Mary about the main people responsible for climate change, says, “If they started to die, if a number of them were killed, then the others might get nervous and change their ways” (Robinson 99). Frank believes that the best way to change the world is to kill the people ruining it, as it will save millions of lives as a result.

        As the story goes on, many events happen which would fit into both Mary and Frank’s ideology. For example, world leaders and rich people who play a large role in hurting the environment start getting assassinated through plane bombings. While this kills hundreds of civilians, the terrorist group is satisfied because it killed the target. As a result, people become scared and plane travel goes to a halt, which benefits the environment. While this tactic worked to improve the fight against climate change, I believe that it was an unjustified act. Killing one person does not stop their company or legislation from hurting the environment, as someone else will step in their place. The argument that it saves lives because of the damage avoided by killing the person is incorrect because that person’s company will still pollute. While this caused a temporary solution in the novel through scaring the public, it did not create a permanent, effective solution.

I think that in the end, Kim Stanley Robinson is trying to show that the most effective method to solving climate change is through major legislative changes and a change in how our society operates. One of the major reasons why countries actually started to change and cooperate in the climate crisis is because it started affecting them. For example, the US started having major heat waves in Arizona and Texas, causing millions of people to be affected. In the end, Robinson writes, “word had come in that the latest CO2 figures showed a global drop, a real global drop, which had nothing to do with the season, or the economy tanking—all that had been factored in, and still there was a drop” (445). This had been due in large part to “reforestation and the greening of the ocean shallows with kelp”, as well as to the carbon coin that was proposed by the Ministry. Robinson’s novel tries to show a positive and realistic way that humanity can deal with climate change, and I believe that it shows that Mary’s ideals are the best way to do it.

When are black wings necessary

            In Kim Stanley Robinson’s “The Ministry for the Future,” a character presents the idea of needing a “black wing” (Robinson 99). Frank kidnaps the head of the ministry, Mary, trying to convince her a black wing is needed to enact real, fast change. A couple of chapters later, Mary finds out the ministry has already had a black wing and has already made changes with some coal plants (113). Her ministry has already performed illegal actions to make changes. At what point do the benefits of change from a black wing outweigh the costs of being unethical? In a perfect world, I believe black wings shouldn’t exist normally, but in times of near-future disaster, it could be a necessity depending on the situation.

           Morally, black wings are wrong. A person should never be put in any possible harm to enact change. Just like Mary says “’ Violence begets violence’…’ It cycles forever’” (99), violence is never a permanent solution. Change should be enacted through the law and the system that governs all. This leaves lasting change most will be able to support. However, the world today and the world in the book is by no means a perfect world. It is filled with people who are corrupt, greedy, and who have the power to cause major harm. These people can bend the law to their will to benefit them while the world deteriorates. I believe in times of need such as impending disastrous climate changes, black wings may be necessary to make changes fast.

I think black wings may be necessary because if one person or one organization can deteriorate the world faster while also refusing change, they are risking the lives of many for the sake of their current happiness. The greed and selfishness of this one man can cost the lives of many people while also costing the health of the planet. However, these people despite risking the lives of many, still do not deserve to die. I disagree with Badim when he claims, “there might be some people who deserve to be killed” (115). I believe some people deserve to suffer as much as they have made others suffer but still do not deserve to die. Killing people not only solves little, but it will also only create more harm/death in the world. The founder of the terrorist group, Children of Kali believes now “if you keep killing the wicked ones, the criminals, now that all the worst of them are dead, then you become one of them” (390). Just like we mentioned in class, those people at the top of the organizations are only figureheads easily replaceable. You kill one person, another steps in and continues the actions of the previous.

In times of need, which is the gray area, I believe black wings without killing are necessary to enact fast temporary change. A simple bill in the US will take months, years to pass and enact which will take even longer for something to be passed on a global scale. With the help of black wings, this process could be sped up to the point where millions of more lives could be saved at the cost of our morals.

Morally Grey - The Ministry for the Future

In The Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson creates a future (which could be an extension of our own) where climate change runs rampant because of the lack of legislation and laws previous. But not only does the novel explore a world in which our climate is dying, it also explores the consequences of inequality, and how the conditions in the book exacerbate it. But within this situation, where it seems like wealth and social inequality only make the climate worse, where is right and wrong? Robinson asks us to figure a scenario where all eight billion people on the earth can balance us and the resources earth provides for us, but how can that be created? And how fast do we have to do it (58)? To do so, we must take the morally grey route.

The novel creates an “us” vs “them” mentality. Whether Robinson states that “the top executives in these companies earn in ten minutes what it takes their starting employees all year to earn” or critiquing the concept of billionaires, you’re supposed to route for the Ministry of the Future, or the ones actually trying to save the planet. On “Crash Day” sixty passenger jets were essentially attacked with one message “stop flying” (228). Even though these were disproportionately private jets, some were passenger ones. Thousands of innocent lives lost. But it did essentially stop flights, which is a huge polluter. As readers, we are left to think if this was necessary. In a time like that, zombie years as they’re called, we can put ourselves in that mindset. That it is logical to do whatever it takes to save the future, to save the planet. It’s not good, killing innocent people, but if you can also take out big polluters, is it worth it?

Robinson also poses these elites as climate change “mass murderers.” On page 99, even though Mary is opposed to violence, Frank believes that is the only way to solve this climate issue because, without reactionary violence, you’re only allowing elitist violence to continue. We see these polluters and big businesses doing the absolute most to not stop climate change in our current age. We think of our Robert Murdachs and our Jeff Bezoses who only accumulate wealth at the expense of the population. A lot of people today don’t bat an eye when it comes to what they’re doing to ruin our environment. But in the novel, these elite few are still polluting the earth without consequence (to them): “they still burned carbon. They drove cars, ate meat, flew in jets, did all the things that had caused the heatwave and would cause the next one” (228). To get legislation done and get people to start listening to climate change, do we need to go to the extreme? Do we need to create a counter group like the MotF in order to get people in line? Robinson advocates for the use of violence and anger as a tool for change. There aren’t any “good guys,” but when change needs to be brought about through violence, you have to root for the morally grey.

Mary Murphy's Duty in "The Ministry for the Future"

     Kim Stanley Robinson's novel, The Ministry for the Future, attempts to offer solutions to the rapidly approaching climate crisis primarily affecting underdeveloped nations. Robinson insists that major world powers must implement solutions to improve the state of the climate. The novel follows the lives of Mary Murphy, the head of The Ministry for the Future, and Frank May, a survivor of the major heat wave in India struggling with PTSD. Throughout the novel, Robinson parallels Mary's relationship with Frank to the responsibilities of major world powers to slow the effects the climate crisis as Mary attempts to console Frank in his struggles. 

    Although traumatic, Frank's violent and abrupt entry into Mary's life leaves her inclined to help him. Frank and Mary meet as he attacks her on her way home from dinner. He forces her into her apartment and is enraged by her inadequate efforts to decrease carbon-based energy (Robinson 98). Frank blames Mary, the head of The Ministry for the Future, for the continuously deteriorating climate as she does not do enough to help improve it. Before fleeting the scene, Frank advises, "You need to do more" (Robinson 102). Again, Frank suggests that Mary, as a powerful individual, is responsible for creating change within the world to stop the overwhelming effects of climate change which majorly effect smaller nations. After the police arrive, Robinson writes, "She realized as she spoke to them that she would never be able to tell anyone what had really happened. Things like that hour were not tellable" (103). Robinson suggests that Frank's accusations leave Mary to examine her minuscule efforts. This is confirmed as Robinson explains, "...in some ways he had fought hard to persuade her. Words like fists to the face...It was enough to make her heart hammer all over again. Her face burned with the memory" (107). Here, Mary feels guilt after her interaction with Frank as his accusations are true. Mary is left feeling sorry for Frank as she remembers his anger and frustration as he pleads for her to do more. 

    After Frank is arrested, Mary starts to visit him in jail. Mary reflects on her decision to keep visiting him as Robinson writes, "I visit you because I want to rest easier, because I am helping you to rest easier" (283). Mary works to help Frank, yet she feels comforted by his ease. Mary feels compelled to help Frank as their first interaction left her dissatisfied with her efforts. Through this, Mary sees Frank as a small nation, unable to help itself. Mary takes on the role of a larger nation as she feels compelled to help Frank. 

    Frank and Mary's relationship grows stronger as Frank is diagnosed with a brain tumor. As he enters into hospice, Mary relocates her office to his bedside as she believes he should not be left alone in his final days (Robinson 493). Mary commits herself to helping Frank through his final moments while visiting him frequently to comfort him. Soon after Frank passes, Mary steps down as the head to The Ministry for the Future (Robinson 501). Here, Mary implies that her friendship with Frank mirrors her work duties.  Frank's death signals the end of her duties as his friend, and as the head of the organization, as she retires. As both jobs come to an end, they mirror each other as Mary is unable to work for the Ministry without Frank's friendship. 

The Ministry for the Future: Frank & Mary

 The novel "The Ministry for the Future" written by Kim Stanley Robinson tells the story of the future and its devastating effects of climate change. The novel offers insight into what the future will look like if the climate change issue is not addressed before it's too late. It uses violence, science, politics and storytelling to give a depiction of a possible outcome of the world. Robinson is able to make rational claims to back up his ideas, causing readers to believe this story could one day be a reality.

Two characters in the novel are central to Robinson getting his point across. Mary is the head of the Ministry for the Future and Frank is an American who was greatly impacted by the heat wave in India and now struggles with PTSD, depression and other cognitive issues. The night when Frank kidnaps Mary is only the start of their relationship. Frank brings up his concerns with Mary about how nothing is truly working to combat climate change, he suggest doing something more such as implementing violence to get the point across. Mary, who values working within the law and avoided such acts sees his side. When Frank says this approach is not working, Mary "shrugged unhappily, looking away. "It's a process"" she says (Robinson 99). Her body language suggests that she knows what he is saying is true and her response shows her frustration of how the legal route requires time and will often not make big changes. Even though Mary rejects his ideas, she understands his point of view and goes onto inquiry about a black wing when she talks with Badim. 

Throughout the novel, readers see two different approaches to solving a bigger problem; however, neither characters are successful in their endeavors. Robinson is able to show how there are two different people, taking very different actions to work towards a common goal. This is the abnormality of their relationship that seems to turn into some sort of friendship. The fact that both of them are not able to offer successful solutions to climate change suggests how serious and difficult this is and will be in the future. It also shows the complexity of the problem and allows Robinson to show that this matter cannot be handled lightly. This novel works as a warning to society that something needs to be done sooner rather than later. Additionally, Robinson views the novel as a utopia - which is interesting because it does not seem like an ideal world to live in. He goes further into his warning by suggesting that avoiding the end of the world and human population should be viewed as an ideal world as our future has the potential to be difficult and torturous. 

How Much is Enough? — The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Over the course of The Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson imagines a future where the devastating effects of climate change wreak havoc on the world. The book details the international Ministry for the Future, which is tasked with “defending all living creatures present and future who cannot speak for themselves, by promoting their legal standing and physical protection” (16). Robinson’s pervasive idealism and creative postulations beg the question: how much is enough? Robinson argues that this concept of “enough,” a veritable human right, cannot be achieved when both the ultra-wealthy and the impoverished exist (58); therefore, “enough” occurs when one has the means to support oneself without harming others.  

First, it is important to clarify what constitutes “enough.” Enough, to Robinson, occurs when “all the necessities for a good life are abundant enough so that everyone alive could have them” (58). Robinson further elaborates on this by detailing the necessary requirements that everyone ought to have access to: “food, water, shelter, clothing, health care, education… [and] security” (58). With Earth’s current natural resources, theoretically enough resources exist to secure these basic needs for the global population. However, due to the uneven distribution of wealth, shelter, and food, significant portions of the population live in poverty and are unable to sustain themselves.

With this definition in mind, it is important to explore the ramifications of not having enough. In the opening scene, Robinson details a poignant scene in which a heat wave linked to climate change kills many people in Uttar Pradesh, India (2). Robinson notes that “people were dying faster than ever. There was no coolness to be had” (12). In this eviscerating chapter, those without access to the necessities are particularly exposed to the effects of climate change. Through the widespread quietus, Robinson illustrates how poverty reflects insufficient resources to cope with one’s environment. This depiction of poverty continues throughout the book as Mary notes the “thirty poorest countries” which included “at least ten so-called failed states,” “immiserate[ed] people,” and “wicked problems” (482). Once again, the lack of access to resources to secure basic needs manifests itself as poorer nations are particularly affected by world events. Robinson explicates that these countries do not have “enough” because they lack the resources to sustain themselves or their people.

The abject deprivation of poverty is contrasted with the wealth of those with means. Specifically, Robinson points to the culpability of the rich: “they still burned carbon. They drove cars, ate meat, flew in jets, did all the things that had caused the heat wave and would cause the next one” (228). In essence, through their carelessness and unsustainability, the wealthy are responsible for the deaths in the Indian heat wave. In this way, Robinson reiterates his point that enough “should be a human right, a floor below which no one can fall; also a ceiling above which no one can rise” (58). Because the wealthy harmed others, Robinson asserts they have more than enough–rather, they have too much.

Tools, Perspective, and Fate in Ministry for the Future

 As Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel, The Ministry for the Future progresses, Robinson makes it clear that humanity has the technology required to address climate change, but the key to successfully addressing climate change is to mobilize those resources towards the greater health of the planet instead of using them to maximize individual profit.

One of the many discussions that aren’t directly related to the characters in the novel’s main narrative debates the extent that history is driven by technology. During that discussion, one of its actors mentions that there are “drones developed to shoot mangrove seeds into mud flats,” implying that humans will now rapidly reforest tropical areas because they have the technology (458). The other actor argues the opposite, that “we are the driving force of history,” and that “that same drone could shoot a dart through your head” (457-8). The narrative is full of examples such as these where human invention could be used for good or ill: pumping technology could be used to continue oil drilling or for pumping water from the bottom of glaciers to slow ocean slide, “fission materials” from nuclear weapons “could be used as energy fuel, burned down to nothing” or they could remain deadly weapons, and so on (267, 481). Ultimately, if humanity wants to address the climate crisis, technology already exists to do just that, and if it doesn't, human ingenuity will succeed in creating the necessary tools for the job. It all depends on how humanity mobilizes its efforts.

Robinson demonstrates that addressing the climate crisis is not a matter of the tools that humanity has available, but rather, a problem with humanity’s current mindset, a perspective which seeks to maximize profit for a few rather than the global community’s well-being. Humanity’s current understanding of economics seeks to maximize profit. However, to properly address the climate crisis, “not profit, but biosphere health, should be the function” which is maximized (166). In other words, humans must take up a perspective which mobilizes their limited resources for the betterment of all mankind, not grind out profit for a few. To do so requires mankind to live within the earth’s environmental constraints such that “there is enough for all” and there exists “a floor below which no one can fall; also a ceiling above which no one can rise,” as opposed to using more resources than one needs to amass more wealth than what is necessary to survive (58). While this may seem like a lofty expectation, if this change in mindset occurred, humans would be living within the earth’s means, and everyone would be the better for it. The planet would survive. The novel ends with Mary, one of the novel’s protagonists, saying “there is no such thing as fate” (563). By this she means that humans are not destined to die, but to the contrary, will survive if they begin to prioritize the planet’s health over the well being of a few. Earth’s doom at the hands of climate change is not inevitable; humanity not only has the tools to avoid it but also can change its mindset towards mobilizing those tools to that end.

The Ministry For The Future: Balancing Human Rights

 The Ministry for the Future encompasses a future with the detrimental effects of climate change. The novel forecasts what the future will look like given the current state of the world, especially given countries that contribute more to pollution worldwide. Within the novel, Robinson poses the question, “A just civilization of eight billion, in balance with the biosphere’s production of the things we need; how would that look? What laws would create it? And how can we get there fast enough to avoid a mass extinction?” (321)

In this portion of the novel, Robinson is urging readers to examine how the future would look given the population at hand. Throughout the book Robinson mentions how capitalism has been a root cause for many of the current economic problems, including climate change. In doing so, Robinson argues that having enough is a basic human right. He states, “To be clear, concluding in brief: there is enough for all. So there should be no more people living in poverty. And there should be no more billionaires. Enough should be a human right, a floor below which no one can fall; also a ceiling above which no one can rise. Enough is as good as a feast - or better” (pg. 58). Robinson reasons with the idea of each individual deserving the basic necessities to live. He concludes that having “enough should be a human right” and that as a result there “should be no more people living in poverty.” Overall, Robinson’s argument regarding climate change revolves around the equality aspect of human rights in terms of wealth.

Additionally, to demonstrate to readers Robinson argues about the wage discrepancies. When talking about large corporations he states, “The top executives in these companies earn in ten minutes what it takes their starting employees all year to earn” (83). With this at hand, he is stating to his readers that large corporations are giving big payouts that are more than “enough” to big executives when it is not needed. As result this ties into the question he poses about the avoidance of mass extinction. If individuals do not have enough, which Robinson relates to a “feast,” then it would be hard to avoid a mass extinction because individuals are not being treated as equal. Additionally, after the occupation, Frank states “Of course, there is always resistance, always a drag on movement toward better things” (248). Robinson acknowledges that there will always be a group of individuals who are going to resist avoiding mass extinction, and additionally it will cause the movement towards a solution to be slowed down. All in all, answering how the world would look like given the goal of balancing the biosphere’s production of the things we need and understanding the basis of economics in each country, as well as challenges such as resistance, is what Robinson contemplates within the novel. 

Violence as a Tool in The Ministry For the Future

At its core, the plot of The Ministry for the Future is mainly driven through violence and loss. There is a sort of tacit approval of violent, even terrorist, acts by Robinson in the novel. This is demonstrated through the character arc of Frank, and the Children of Kali. Frank is driven to violence due to his exposure to the deadly Indian heat wave, being the only person to survive in the town he is in (12). Experiencing that utter tragedy causes him to justify committing violent acts, to people who he feels are responsible, going so far as to kidnap Mary Murphy. Ultimately Frank goes to jail, but the book doesn’t attack Frank for committing the acts, because he did what he felt was right. The Children of Kali, likely responsible for most if not all of the large scale terror attacks, are seen as basically a force of nature. Robinson, in the novel, asks the reader not to demonize the people carrying out the terrorist attacks, but understand why they feel they need to be committing terror attacks anyways. The same is true for Badim. Badim, who is the head of the Ministry’s black wing, never comes under attack for the potential terrorist attacks they committed, instead getting promoted to the Secretary General of the Ministry. The point of the novel is to demonstrate that violence is necessary to carry out immediate drastic change in times of crisis. 

After the horrible heat wave that killed millions of Indians, the nation of India began “leading the way on so many issues” (125). The nation got rid of the traditional parties due to corruption and inefficacy, and instead socialized. They came together and took drastic action, including the attempted double Pinatubo, where they released tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, attempting to cool global temperatures for a short period of time. The fact that India didn’t crumble, and instead reformed into something greater displays Robinson’s stance on violence and loss. Ultimately, he feels that short term losses, such as terrorist attacks or the massive heat wave, are the impetus for the changes that need to be made. By having the black wings and the Children of Kali run free in the novel, there is legitimate action taken by the central banks, approving CQE and carbon coin.