Winter's Bone is a good read that has some recurring themes throughout the story. To me the ones that stuck out the most were gender roles, and abuse. Most of the women in the story have defined roles. Although Ree doesn't have a choice, she is taking care of the children that her mother can't take care of properly. She has to cook, clean, and teach Harold and Sonny. Although most of the other women in the story are not the stereo typical house wife of the 60's, they do take second place to men. A good example is Ree's interaction with the woman at Thump Milton's house. Ree goes to get some information, and the woman say's right away, "Ain't you got no men could do this?" She later says that Thump doesn't really talk a lot, especially to women (Woodrell). It seems as though time has stood still, and men in this part of the country still have the beliefs that were intact until the women's rights revolution. One would guess old ways are the good ways.
The other theme that is ever present is abuse. It comes in so many forms: drugs, physical, and verbal. Ree is constantly bombarded by all three. Her uncle Teardrop is a good example, he does all three to her. He is a drug abuser that does meth, drinks heavily, and smokes weed. At every meeting he snorts meth, then offers it to Ree. He also abuses Ree verbally on several occasions, yelling at her and calling her insulting names. He physically abuses her too, to the point of hitting her and throwing her off the front porch of her house. His actions are most likely a product of his meth addiction, but it still doesn't excuse that type of behavior. That is only her Uncle, there are too many other examples in the story that do all the same things to list in this post.
One thing that I admire about Ree is her coping mechanisms and strength. When she is stressed she puts on the soothing sounds of distant oceans, despite her snowy and dismal surroundings. Woodell's excels at describing the very dismal and dreary setting. He leads you full bore into the depressing times and scenery that Ree is going through with vivid continuity.
I really look forward to the a conclusion of this tale. It seems that everybody except Ree knows what happened to Jessup. Hopefully, she will get to keep the house and woods, so some good can come of the horrible situation that she is enduring.
Works Cited:
Woodrell, Daniel. Winter's Bone. New York:
Back Bay Books, 2006. Print
The three themes you found were great, and you really tied them together well. I'm interested to see how the story ends up and how these themes will evolve. The link you have about meth addiction was very informative, and really gives insight on the people that Ree is interacting with. I think it strange how meth users end up with a glazed look about them that looks like all emotion except for pain and anger has left them.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that caught my eye on your post was the photo, but I'm really glad I stopped to read it! The drug abuse theme was so in-your-face that the gender theme seemed secondary, but after considering it closely it seems that perhaps the drug abuse is - at least in part - a product of the gender issues. The boys are raised to be like their fathers, uncles, etc, even given their names, without the possibility of taking some of the mother's qualities. As I was reading the book it kept jumping out at me as what ifs. What if the mothers said, "No, enough!"? Or what if the daughters chose to make changes in their community to combat some of the poverty and drug use?
ReplyDeleteAgain, I enjoyed reading your post!
Your picture surly describes the life. I agree with you there are so many types of abuse.I also agree that addiction is not an excuse. Your are right Ree has gret strenght.I pray she is able to use that strenght to get her mom and brothers out of that life.
ReplyDeleteThen find the resoures to help them cope with the things they have already been though.
Hi Chad:
ReplyDeleteGreat summary of the story so far. I agree with you about wanting to see how the story ends. The author, Woodrell, is so descriptive in his writing that it makes you feel like you are pulled directly into the story as it unfolds. What is unfortunate is that this story is so true to life for many in America, not to mention other places in the world. Thank you for your post and keep up the great work.
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