In Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s
Bone, Ree is a 16-year-old girl who cares for her two brothers and mother. Ree
is forced to look after others at this young age because her mother is mentally
ill and her father is lost for the duration of the book (though the book
implies Ree has been caring for her brothers and mother for a while, ever
before her dad goes missing).
Ree and her family live in The
Ozarks. This is clearly a town with very little opportunity and serious problems
with drug addiction. In particular, the characters struggle with Crystal Meth,
which is referred to as crank in the story. Several characters in the story use
or cook Crystal Meth, such as Ree’s dad: “Jessup’s just about the best crank
chef these Dollys and them ever have had” (Woodrell, 14). Also, Ree’s uncle
Teardrop uses Crystal Meth frequently: “Teardrop reached across to the glove
box and grabbed a baby-food bottle of crank” (Woodrell 140).
Despite her poor circumstances, Ree
gives the reader hope that she will make something of her life and will break
out of the community. She never uses or cooks Crystal Meth and has aspirations
to join the army: “off to the U.S. Army, where you got to travel with a gun and
they made everyone help keep things clean” (Woodrell, 15). Also, she has been raped
by Little Arthur, who is a character she knows well and has to see to track help
track her dad down, yet she shows no signs of serious trauma and is able to go
about her life seemingly normally. She also does a great job taking care of her
brothers. She teachers them practical skills they will need such as how to hunt
and defend themselves.
These characteristics all give the
reader hope that Ree will be able to get out of The Ozarks and create a better
life for herself. At the end of the book, Ree does mention she won’t be leaving
The Ozarks for the Army when she says “I ain’t leaving you boys” (Woodrell,
193). However, the reader is left feeling hopeful due to her previous resilience,
ability to care for her brothers, and newfound wealth that was given to her dad
as bond. I don’t think its much of stretch to imagine Ree taking care of her
brothers until they’re older and enlisting in the army after or using the money
to move the family out of the Ozarks.
This post does a good job of illustrating how strong the protagonist of Winter’s Bone is. Ree lives in a community that has a significant amount of deeply ingrained trauma, yet she is seemingly unaffected by it. She doesn’t do or cook meth like those around her, and because of that, she has the potential for a future. I do wonder whether Woodrell is trying to show readers that the cycle of drugs and poverty in the Ozarks is nearly impossible to break, or whether he is giving readers who relate to Ree’s circumstances someone they can look up to. Ree’s character is written in a way that gives her a lot of depth and her traumatic experiences allow readers to feel deeply empathetic towards her and her situation. While she is not exactly sweet to those around her, she cares deeply about the family around her, and her caregiving is what forces her out into the winter to find her Dad. Despite everything she goes through, she perseveres to complete her mission. I like how this blog post gives examples of Ree’s determination to leave, while also highlighting the traumatic events that make her leaving that much more important.
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