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.
I think your post is really insightful in its characterization of the Dolly clan as a tight-knit community though not a well-functioning community. Throughout the novel, I think Woodrell takes this a step further by distinguishing between the familial aspects of community and family itself. The Dolly clan often seems like it values family, emphasizing everyone’s shared blood; Ree evokes this cultural value when she first tries talking to Thump Milton, arguing “I am a Dolly! Some of our blood at least is the same. That’s s’posed to mean somethin’” (pg. 59). Everyone in the clan looks out for one another so long as their way of life is upheld. However, if someone goes against the clan’s code, even for the benefit of their immediate family, then the rest of the clan will turn on them. Ree feels ashamed for Jessup because “snitchin’ just goes against everything,” but Teardrop emphasizes that Jessup snitched because he wanted to protect his family (pg. 149), emphasizing the difference between community and family. Jessup was murdered, and his family was ostracized from most of the clan because “the Dollys around here can’t be seen to coddle a snitch’s family – that’s always been our way” (pg. 150). The comradery within the Dolly clan is far from the unconditional love of a family; it just upholds a system. Jessup and Ree go against the system for the sake of their actual family, and face the consequences, highlighting the impersonal aspects of life within the clan.
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ReplyDeleteI enjoy your perspective, and I had similar thoughts while finishing the novel. In my opinion, Woodrell parallels his descriptions of "community" to the relationship between the government and The Ozarks. As you briefly mentioned, the Missouri Ozarks are a forgotten part of the country. This is demonstrated in the novel as the road and ditch of government property within Ree's community is littered with trash and other waste (Woodrell 155). Here, the large US government is portrayed as neglecting and untrusting. The land they own in this region is forgotten, like the people who live there.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, characters within the novel are unable to trust law enforcement because they do not view them as part of their community. For example, Teardrop does not obey the officer's orders after being pulled over (Woodrell 173). Like many other communities, this part of the Ozark's does not trust local/community law enforcement. As you mentioned, many of the struggles within the characters' lives comes from lack of government support. Because this piece of the US is forgotten, the characters treat each other as the government treats their land.