In Daniel Woodrell’s novel Winter’s Bone, it is nearly impossible to get away from the Ozark and in turn away from the cycle of cooking and taking drugs and the danger and violence that comes with it. The protagonist, Ree Dolly, is actively trying to break this cycle by protecting her brothers and by making a plan to join the military to get out of the valley.
Ree wants to break the cycle for her brothers, Sonny and Harold, so that their lives can be better than what is expected to result from living in the Ozark. Her goal is to keep them from being “dead to wonder by age twelve, dulled to life, empty of kindness, boiled with mean” and so she tries to raise them differently than other kids in the valley (Woodrell 8). It is difficult for this cycle of hurt and drugs to be changed unless there is a parental figure willing and able to raise the next generation differently. Ree is in a unique position due to the fact that she is not the boys’ mother but rather their sister, so she has different experiences than their parents do. She is able to raise them differently because of her ‘untraditional’ relationship with them.
Another aspect of the difficulties of getting away from the valley and the fate that is carried with living there is the naming process in this family. The men were majorly divided by one of four names: the “Jessups, Arthurs, Haslams, and Miltons” (Woodrell 62). This was a way of giving them a name that ensures that they “live and die in keeping with those bloodline customs fierce held” (Woodrell 62). This naming process keeps the cycle going and traps them in a future that is hard to avoid. Ree advocated for her brothers and was able to break the cycle by keeping Harold from “becoming a Milton” which allows him to have his own path rather than to be stuck in the fate that the name Milton holds for him in living in the valley (Woodrell 62). Ree is not only forging a new path for herself, but also for her little brothers who she hopes to have a chance at something better than what their future would otherwise hold for them because of who their family is. When Sonny’s father, Blond Milton, offers to take Sonny in, Ree is not even willing to talk about it because “”he’ll make Sonny what [she] hoped he wouldn’t be”” (Woodrell 155). She wants better for her brothers, and she knows that she is their only hope. No one else is making any effort to change their lives besides Ree, so she knows that she is the only one who could break the cycle her family has had going for generations.
I love your characterization of Ree's "motherly" role in Sonny and Harold's life. I would definitely agree that her role as their unmarried sister rather than mother allows her to raise them in a way different than more in the Ozark. She has yet to "submit" to the expectations of the life that has been pre-determined for her by others in her community. One thing that is worth mentioning is not only does she raise the boys to not get into drugs and follow the paths of others, but she also teaches them skills that are outside of their traditional expected roles. Ree makes sure that the boys are equipped to handle life after she is gone. She doesn't want them to fall victim not only to drugs but to the patriarchal society that they live in. She teaches them skills like hunting, chopping wood, and cooking. For example, "I'll be fixin' deer stew tonight... Learn how I make it, then you both'll know" (Woodrell 39). Ree strives to make "her boys" caring and empathic young men who will take care of the family beyond obtaining drug money and bringing trouble like the men that have come before them. As you stated, her position as a so-called "observer" of the system as just their sister means she can see the fault in the lifestyle they could fall into and she works hard to make sure that doesn't happen.
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