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.
Another way Ree acts like Sonny and Harold’s mother is by teaching them to shoot. While this may not be an essential skill to someone who lives in the city, Ree and her brothers live in the Ozarks, in a rural town where the only way to survive is to hunt and protect your own property. Once Ree feels threatened by Blond Milton, she sets out to teach the boys how to protect themselves. She grabs the guns from the house and tells them, “Now’s when you boys start learnin’ how to shoot guns at what needs shootin’” (78). While this scene allows Ree to show her protective side, it also happens in response to Blond Milton questioning her aptitude in raising her brothers. By the end of their conversation, Blond suggests that he and his wife can take care of Sonny. Ree rejects this offer and in response, he says “We’d raise the boy way better’n you’n that momma of yours can” (77). So when she gets home, she shows Blond exactly who he is dealing with by hailing gunfire. And, this threat certainly reached him because “the scent of shooting spread on the wind” (79). Ree is able to send a message of exactly what she will do if Blond even tries to take her brothers while also teaching her brothers to protect themselves.
ReplyDelete