A Heroic Journey in True Grit by by Charles Portis Essay

Heros are fearless individuals who not only have stamina, but also thrive in adversity. In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Alexie underscores how an Indigenous teen named Arnold ‘Junior’ Spirit undergoes various social and mental challenges as he struggles to fit into his community and new school. Through Junior’s courage, he is willing to make unusual choices that seem to have negative outcomes. Junior can also recover from conflicts quickly and is able to become stronger because he is resilient. In addition to resilience, Junior is he is motivated. Ultimately, Junior can be considered a hero because he has the courage, resilience, and motivation to allow him to overcome the obstacles. As a result of his heroism, he is able to benefit from the experiences.

PARA 2: Miss Eva Turner plays a vital role in Mattie's life by taking her in during her loneliness and destitution and treating Mattie and Basil as if they are her own family.

Mattie Rigsbee is the main character in Clyde Edgerton's southern style novel, Walking Across Egypt. Mattie is a seventy-eight year old widow with two middle-aged children. Living alone in a small house, she makes sure that everything is taken care of. She cooks, cleans, mows the lawn, and takes up numerous responsibilities with the church. She is a very caring person with many friends and a family that loves her dearly. At the time this novel takes place, Mattie is at a turning point in her life. Confusion disturbed her, because the things that people are telling her are not the words that she is ready or willing to hear. Although begins to display some signs of aging, and her family

Many people say that the metal of a man is found in his ability to keep his ideals in spite of anything that life can through at you. If a man is found to have done these things he can be called a hero. Through a lifelong need to accept responsibility for all living things, Robert Ross defines his heroism by keeping faith with his ideals despite the betrayal, despair and tragedy he suffers throughout the course of The Wars by Timothy Findley.

Soon after being deserted on the road, grandfather comes down with a summer grippe and becomes helpless. Mattie then needs to take care of them both by finding food and water. This shows responsibility because she not only had to take care of herself, but of her grandfather too with no help from anyone, and no one to tell her what to do.

The American western frontier, still arguably existent today, has presented a standard of living and characteristics which, for a time, where all its own. Several authors of various works regarding these characteristics and the obvious border set up along the western and eastern sections have discussed their opinions of the west. In addition to these literary works by renowned authors, one rather convenient cinematic reference has also been influenced by these well-known, well-discussed practices of this American frontier. “True Grit”, a film recently remade in 2010 by the Cohen Brothers, crosses the boundaries of the west allowing all movie-goers to capture one idea of the western world. The movie, along with a few scholarly sources

Mattie was smart. She remembered everything her grandpa taught her. She saw Willow trees and remembered this trick: find a Willow tree and you will soon see water nearby. She saw raspberries, and knew that rabbits were nearby. She is the reason why her and her grandfather survived. Her personal traits that helped her get through this was the

Mattie Michael grew up in Tennessee with her family and the father of her child, Butch Fuller. Everyone tells her to avoid him, including Butch himself who warns her saying, “eating cane is like living life. You gotta know when to stop chewing– when to stop trying to wrench every last bit of sweetness out of a wedge…. trick is to spit it out when the wedge is still firm… It’s hard, but you gotta spit it out right then, or you gonna find yourself chewing on nothin’ but straw in that last round” (18). Butch clearly tells her about how he he lives his life, and his issue with staying, yet, Mattie makes the mistake of getting herself involved which leads to her being impregnated by him. This results in her father savagely beating her to the point where she has to flee to Chicago and start her life alone raising her son. Though, Mattie gets through all of this and finds herself in the grace of Ms. Eva who shelters her. Then, after getting the house after Ms. Eva’s death,

Mattie is a strong self confident mechanic, she pushes through the hardships and helps her friends do the same. Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, with two flat tires, little to no money, and a small childtoddler given to her by a stranger. UMattie takes a look upon seeing Taylor,M having a rough time, Mattieshe invites her inside for some coffee and juice. (Chapter 3) When Mattie first meets Taylor, she sees that she is

Anderson teaches many lessons in her novel but among the most important is taught by showing the many steps Mattie took to reach full independence. She began as a bratty teenager with her head in the clouds, and ended as an independent woman with dreams and aspirations. She discovers her identity and while her situation is out of the ordinary, she proves that aging and revealing your true personality can make the difference between life and death. In the beginning of the novel, Mattie feels that she should be praised whenever she does something for someone else. For example, in the beginning of the book on page 3 it says, “I made a face at the doorway. I had just saved her precious quilt from disaster, but would she appreciate it? Of course not.” This demonstrates that Mattie wants perpetual praise from others, an expectation that children often possess. Mattie is also too young to understand the responsibilities that come with adulthood. This is evident in the novel when Mattie is dreaming of a future with no responsibility. Mattie

Mattie does not beat around the bush when it comes to justice. She has a fixed view on how law should be carried out against Tom Chaney and stops at nothing to achieve this. Put simply, Mattie wants him dead, and she wants him to know that he is dying as a result of him killing her father. This view and interpretation of justice closely resembles the “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” philosophy of the Code of Hammurabi where the life of Tom Chaney must be payed for

Mattie Ross clearly portrays the hero of a quest novel. To begin, a hero gets a call that leads them into their journey. The call happens as the basis for the task they wish to achieve. They tend to get the call which bases their entire adventure, and allows the character to become a hero. Mattie receives a call for adventure when hearing the news that Tom Chaney killed her father, Frank Ross. After hearing about her father’s death, Mattie will stop at nothing to get revenge on his killer. Not many people know Mattie’s father, so, Tom Chaney does not have a group of Marshals after him immediately. Mattie claims that her father “was just trying to do that short

Mattie is the older character in this book that was owned “Jesus is Lord Tires” and was a character that acted as a mother to multiple characters. “She looked at me the way Mama would have,” (Kingsolver 252). This quote was found near the end of the book that signified Mattie looking at Taylor and Taylor observing that look and thinking that it is similar to her real mother’s. Mattie gave some money to Taylor for the trip and Taylor refused to take it, so Mattie said that it was for everyone in the car and gave her the look that reminded Taylor of her biological mother. “’I’ve got some peanut butter crackers,’ Mattie said leaning over Turtle. ‘Will she eat peanut butter?’,” (Kingsolver 252). Mattie seemed worried about Turtle and offered her something to eat. She acted as a mother figure to Turtle because she fed her and gave her more food when Turtle hinted for it. Mattie was the one that fit as a mother figure to a lot of characters in the book. She was the person that led a sanctuary and was the one who took care of the many.

Mattie is now in the initiation step of the journey, where she will go through four parts; the first part is the challenges and the second is the abyss. Anywhere that Mattie went she faced challenges as how the hero’s journey’s writes, “Whichever direction the voyage takes… [she] puts [herself] more and more at risk, emotionally and physically…. always seem to strike the initiate’s greatest weakness: [her] poorest skills… [Her] most vulnerable emotions” (Harris and Thompson 51). A challenge that we see Mattie puts herself at risk and show her weakness is when see faces Tom Chaney and says,

How we act or react in difficult situations defines our persona. Sometimes these situations provide opportunities to be a hero. After reading Grant Wiggins’s own definition of a hero, it is apparent that Grant becomes a hero. Grant states, “A hero is someone who does something for other people. He does something that other men don’t and cant to. He is different from other men. He is above other men. No matter who those other men are, the hero, no matter who he is, is above them.” Grant becomes a hero by earning an education to become a teacher, undergoing psychological changes, and counseling Jefferson to die with dignity.