I paraphrase Woodrell from the video we saw in class: "Life in the Ozarks takes learning to love people who should not be loved." Having finished Winter's Bone, I believe Woodward best encapsulates this idea with the character of Uncle Teardrop. He's more often high on crank than not. He has killed people, ran labs, is violent in nature, and is unpredictable, and acts sporadically on impulse. In the opening of the novel, he is a terrifying, unlikeable presence for Ree. Throughout the novel, however, we see him evolve towards a protector figure for Ree, but Woodrell does this in an interesting way. Teardrop does not improve on his poor character traits, but his eventual respect for Ree and the way he saves her is admirable. By the end, Ree and Teardrop have a strong familial bond, and Teardrop is Ree's protector from danger. Despite Teardrop being a character who really doesn't deserve Ree's or the reader's love, he earns it through his admirable actions by the conclusion of the novel.
The reader is introduced to Teardrop with Ree's awkward visit to his home. Entering, Ree quickly noticed "[a] silver pistol and clip rested in a nut bowl on the lazy Susan centered upon the table. Beside the pistol there was a big bag of pot and a pretty big bag of crank" (Woodrell 22). This is an uncomfortable environment for Ree made significantly more uncomfortable by the entrance of Uncle Teardrop. He doesn't respect Ree at first, telling her off at the idea of she "buttin' [her] smarty nose into" (Woodrell 23) Jessup's whereabouts. Teardrop has a scary face as a reminder of a lab he blew up with a "melted scar down to his neck to the middle of his back" (Woodrell 23). The scene following is bizarre. He grabs Ree by her hair and face, then:
[He] pressed a hand around her windpipe and held her still. He leaned his face to hers from above and nuzzled his melt against her cheek, nuzzled up and down, then slid his lips to her forehead, kissed her once, and let go. (Woodrell 26).
I'm not sure what to make of this interaction, but I think Woodrell is trying to speak to Teardrop's strange dual role. This is outright creepy, and he's imposing his strangeness and roughness on Ree to her horror. Still he kisses her and sends her away with cash to relieve a bit of her financial burden. Throughout the book, he's outright unpredictable and acts dangerously. He narrowly avoids a DUI by talking down the deputy. He's always on crank and behaves sporadically. He warns Ree specifically never to tell him who killed Jessup because he knows one day he would lose control after too much crank and kill the guy. Teardrop is an agent of destruction and instability, and this is consistent throughout the novel.
Despite his destructive tendencies, Teardrop is Ree's strongest protector and ally. Teardrop unsuccessfully tries to trick Ree with an old burnt-out lab to convince her to stop looking for Jessup. This is an act of protection by Teardrop for Ree, and he knows the danger Ree is putting herself in by dealing with people in Hawkfall. After Ree is brutally beaten and lying in her own shit, Teardrop is her savior. He deals with the Miltons and agrees to share her burden. He says to Thump, "[i]f she does wrong, you can put it on me" (Woodrell 137). He knows how to appease the Miltons and get Ree out of her sticky situation. At this point, Ree is concussed, is bleeding, and needs rescuing, and Teardrop is her rescuer. Without Teardrop showing up, the Miltons may have killed her. He makes sure she gets home safely and agrees to help her find Jessup's body. Finally, Ree earns Teardrop's respect, and she responds in her daze by reaching "across the seat to Uncle Teardrop's arm, and squeez[ing], squeez[ing] again" (Woordrell 141). I believe that Woodrell's choice to make half of Teardrop's face burned and scarred is intentionally reflective of his character. He's split. His tendencies are unpredictable, and he's rough around the edges, but at the end of the day he's a protector. He's there for Ree when she needs it most.
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