Chad Anderson
English 102
Instructor Laura Cline
25 March 2012
Is
it a Man’s or Woman’s Job?
Winter’s Bone is a very dramatic story about a young
teenager, Ree Dolly, and the hardship she goes through to provide for her
family. Her mother is mentally ill, and
her father is missing. As the story
unfolds Woodrell tells of her surroundings that are full of drug addicts and
other miscreants. She barely has enough
food for the two other children her parents left her to deal with. She soon finds out that there is something
that is being hidden from her. She knows
that her dad is a meth cook. She also
knows that the people he is dealing with aren’t a nice bunch. She is surprised to find out that her father
has put up the house and all their land for bond. He is missing and no one seems to know where
he can be found. This leaves Ree with
care of a crazy mother, and two siblings with the possibility of losing the
house. This knowledge sends her on a
search for her father. After she is
given the runaround and beaten senseless, she finds out he has been killed
because he talked to the police. In Daniel Woodrell’s book Winter’s Bone, Ree Dolly embodies mature gender roles that
take place when a father and mother figure isn’t present in the family home, both
traditional and non-traditional.
“"Gender" refers not to male and female,
but to masculine and feminine - that is, to qualities or
characteristics that society ascribes to each sex” (“Gender”). Men make the money for the house as well
decide where it is spent. Women clean
the house, and raise the children.
Although, gender roles are changing from generation to generation, the
place where Ree lives is still living by pre woman’s rights movement standards. She shows in many ways how she stays within
these roles, and crosses the boundaries of traditional gender roles throughout
the book.
Ree is placed in a
situation of emotional maturity because of two main factors; the absence of her
father, and her mother being ill. Her
father was a meth producer that was in trouble with the law on a regular
basis. Unfortunately, as Nick Reding points out in his book
Methland, “What set meth apart was not only the idea that one could make it in
the bathtub, but the people that were doing it were poor or working class rural
whites” (Reding pg.16). His last
offense was the same as the one before, cooking crank. This one would have landed him in jail for at
least ten years. Even if he wasn’t
killed, he would have been absent from the home leaving her family, making Ree
take care of two kids and her mother while poor and with no income. Her mother being mentally ill is also another
factor that plays a very big role in her servitude. She is barely coherent most of the day. Woodrell
writes, “Mom’s morning pills made her into a cat, a breathing thing that sat
near heat and occasionally made a sound” (Woodrell pg. 6). Her mother’s lack of mental stability and her
father not being around place a huge burden on Ree. She is forced to be both parents in one. Because of the time she has to spend around
the house, she is forced to drop out of school lowering her chances of getting
a higher education. The Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has this to say about women in
rural areas: “By any indicator of
human development, female power and resources are lowest in rural areas… Rural
women make up the majority of the world's poor. They have the world's lowest
levels of schooling and the highest rates of illiteracy” (“Gender”).
The absence of her father and mother, plus the
economics of her region play a big factor into the roles that Ree has to play
in her life. She has many duties that
transcend her gender, as well as her age.
Many of Ree’s actions
fall under traditional gender roles. She
is the matriarch of the family, even at the age of sixteen. In an article about the gender roles and how
they are changing it states, “Working
mothers still do twice as much housework as their husbands…” (Morin, Megan
Rosenfield). The circumstances Ree lives
in don’t fit this exactly, but it tells what is expected of a working mother in
today’s society. Woodrell goes through the trouble to paint the
picture of her doing many household duties.
He writes of her doing the dishes, laundry, cooking, and maintaining
cleanliness around the house. She is
also in charge of making sure the children do their homework and get to
school. Another example of the
traditional duties is her teaching the children how to cook. She is very kind about it, making them watch
and explaining why she is doing different things. As well as all those household duties, she
has undertaken the job of teaching manners. Harold is eying a deer that is
strung up at the neighbor’s house. He asks if they should ask for some, they
are very hungry and almost out of food. Woodrell
writes, “She looked at Harold, with his easy smile, black hair riffling in the
wind, then snatched his nearest ear and twisted until his jaw fell loose and he
raised his hand to swat at hers. She
twisted until he bore up under the pain and stopped swatting. “Never. Never ask for what ought to be
offered”” (Woodrell pg. 5). Teaching
manners is usually a job that a mother takes pride in doing. Since he mother is absent in spirit she has to
take on that role. As well as tending to
the children, she has to care for her mother as well. A good example of her caring disposition is
the way that she cares for her mother’s hair.
This shows the kindness that she still has for her mother, even though
she is absent from her family life.
Ree also has
non-traditional roles that make her the Patriarch of her household as
well. The FOA of the United Nations says,” Men
prepare land, irrigate crops, and harvest and transport produce to market. They
own and trade large animals such as cattle, and are responsible for cutting,
hauling and selling timber from forests” (“Gender”). Ree doesn’t fall under all of these guidelines,
but she does in many situations take on the male gender role. She
chops the wood, because there isn’t enough.
Luckily the neighbors let her use their splitter because there isn’t any
fuel in the chainsaw. She is also left
with the task of teaching the children how to shoot and hunt. This is a job that is usually carried out by
the father of the household. Gathering
food and providing for the family. She
shows the children how to skin the squirrels as well. Men of the household usually care for the
finances. One example of her choosing
the spending of the family is when Ree and Clair are at the grocery store. Claire suggests getting “sprinkle
cheese”. Ree says “ Nope. Once the boys
start likin’ it they’ll want it all the time.
It’s too expensive. It cost more than meat” (Woodrell pg. 123). She didn’t want to get the cheese because
that meant she’ll have to buy it every time she goes to the grocery store. This is preemptive logic for hard times. She is also the spokesperson for the
home. When the Sherriff comes to the
house he tries to talk to her mother.
Ree stops this because she knows her mother won’t respond. He intern talks to her about her father being
missing, and having a court date coming up.
Even Thump Milton’s wife thinks that a man should handle the business of communication
between families. When Ree goes to
Thump’s house his wife states within a few minutes, “Ain’t you got no men could
do this” (Woodrell pg. 60). Ways in
rural America are still as they were in the 1960’s, men do the talking about
family business. Her talking to the bail
bondsmen enforces this idea. She is
taking on the entire burden placed on the family, due to her father’s disappearance.
There are other
examples of women pushing the boundaries of gender roles as well. Claire and Thump’s wife make two fine
examples. Claire is at home with her
child most of the time. She is a bonded
servant, to her husband. The prime
example of her pushing the boundries is her getting away from her husband to
help Ree go to Arkansas. This only after
Ree has a talk with Claire about her passivity.
Woodell writes, ”It’s just so sad, man, so fuckin’ sad to hear you say
he won’t let you do somethin’ and then you don’t do it” (Woodrell pg. 35). Claire finally pushes her boundaries after
this said. It makes her come to her
senses about not always having to do what the husband tells you to do. Thump’s wife became an enforcer. She took charge when Ree showed up the second
time, and proceeded to beat Ree into a state that made her bowels loose. She was also entrusted with the dirty work of
bringing Ree to her dad’s body. When
they got there and Ree couldn’t cut off her dad’s hands, Thump’s wife took over
and did it for her. These are both
things that would be taken care of by males in most situations.
Woodrell tries to make
the story complex with the transfer of roles, while still keeping true to the
prevailing societal norms. It goes to
show that even in a social structure where men are the predominant force there
are still roles that overlap to women in certain situations. Ree’s situation is one of enduring hardship
and pain. She was left to take care of a
family while she is still in her youth.
It is true that in the earlier years of mankind she would be considered
a woman, but times have changed greatly.
Civilizations are always changing, as is the culture of those
civilizations. Things that are normal in
West Africa will be looked on with scorn in Switzerland. The common sentiment in Ree’s region is that
a child shouldn’t be placed with the burden of a whole family, but she still
holds on strong to her implied duties. Her
strength in the story is ever present; she overcomes every obstacle that is
placed in front of her. This strength is
an example of what women are made of.
They persevere through lots of hardship and keep going in spite of the
pain. The points in this essay are definitely
a side note to the prevailing subject, meth use, but it is one that should be addressed. Women all over the world are being treated
horribly and that should not be the case.
Hopefully, in the future this will be something looked upon as one of those
relics of civilization’s past.
Works
Cited
Reding, Nick. Methland, The Death And Life Of An
American Small Town. Bloomsbury USA, 2009. Print.
Morin, Richard, and Megan Rosenfield. "With More Equity,
More Sweat." Washington
post 22 03 1998, n. pag. Web.
20 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/gender/gender22a.htm>.
"Why Gender?." Gender. Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Na, 2011. Web. 19 Mar 2012.
<http://www.fao.org/gender/gender-home/gender-why/why-gender/en/>.
Woodrell, Daniel. Winter's Bone. New York: Back
Bay Books, 2006. Print.
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