Character is Called to be a Hero in Charles Portis' novel True Grit

A hero should be able to overcome obstacles and gain something from it. Junior being courageous and go against what is seen as logical for someone like him drives him to make more decisions that seems to have a negative outcome, but ultimately has a positive one instead. Although it might seem extremely tempting to give up, resilience will yield a payoff that is worth all the blood, sweat and tears. Furthermore, motivation from anyone will push an individual to their limits to find out what they can do. Junior demonstrates these traits to find a better life, and to do that, he must experience harsh times. Adversities will be a part of every life, but an individual would have to decide if they would allow it to destroy them, or stand their ground to be a

This is challenging Mattie because she has a choice, act back our keep it inside her and be the more mature one. One more example of this is, “Jeannine saw my dilemma, picked up the plate, and passed it in the opposite direction to her mother”(49). Again this is another chance where Mattie can either act out or keep her composure. I think that these problems that Mattie has faced have helped mature her into an adult, “I stood so quickly that the seams under my arms ripped open with a snarl. The dog barked shrilly. ‘It’s not a tavern, it’s a coffee house!’”(53) This helps Mattie mature because she is building a tolerance for annoying people (like the Ogilvies). Also it shows she will stick up for her family business. That is another conflict Mattie is presented with out of many in this

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.

In the book, Mattie starts out as a lazy teenager who needs to be told what to do by her over controlling mother, but throughout the story, she becomes more responsible and adult-like. For

Mattie is a fourteen year old girl, who has the responsibilities of an adult, which was expected of people that age in this time period. “[Mattie] kept his books for him”(keeping the books means keeping track of the money) said Mattie when she was explaining why she knew how much money her father had (Portis 15). This quote is interesting because it exhibits the amount of responsibility that was put upon her even at a young age. Also, Mattie seems to have the best math skills in her family despite having a mother and father much older than her. Mattie told Yarnell, (who is an African American that works for Mattie's family) “Yarnell said ‘you can't stay in the city by yourself’ [Mattie] said ‘It will be alright’” (Portis 26). Mattie is going to stay in the city by herself without her mom knowing when she will return, or what her sleeping arrangements are. It is strange because she is a young girl in a city alone with nobody to protect her, and her mother has no idea what is going on. Mattie told the sheriff “[I’am] looking for the man who shot and killed my father” (Poti 59). Mattie is not asking the sheriff to find the man and bring him to

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

“The journey of the hero is about the courage to seek the depths; the image of creative rebirth; the eternal cycle of change within us…The hero journey is a symbol that binds …. (Phil Cousineau).” Mattie Ross learns this in True Grit, by Charles Portis, when she experiences the death of her father. She says, ”…Tom Chaney shot my father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas and robbed him of his life and his horses and $150 in cash money plus two California gold pieces that he carried in his trouser band(11)”. Frank Ross, Matties’ father, who was shot to death, by a man named, Tom Chaney. Mattie Ross is just 14 years old in the 1870’s, she states, “Nothing is free in this world except the grace of god, you must pay for everything.(pg?)” Personal

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

Matt is a middle class man who becomes obsessed with the need to get revenge on his son’s death. His son Frank is killed by a man named Richard. He is the husband and dads father of the women his son is in love with. This is what leads Matt into killing someone he wants pay back for his son death. Matt kills because he loves.

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.

Homer’s The Odyssey tells the story of young Telemachus with the task of finding his father, Odysseus while also finding himself. As the hero of this journey, Telemachus develops into a noble, brave, and strong man, through complications inflicted by others’ mental endurance. By overcoming these obstacles Telemachus develops into the universally known stereotypical hero. However, the same cannot be said for the heroes of William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying and Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland. At the end of their journeys, Jewel and Alice become different kinds of heroes; instead of becoming a stereotypical plucky adventurer, they each develop different traits to benefit themselves along their journey.

In the novel ‘Heroes’ it is shown that there is no such thing as a real hero, because everyone has a weakness, Cormier uses Larry LaSalle, Francis Cassavannt and the veterans as a way to convey this message. The protagonist Francis is portrayed as having both heroic and cowardly personality; this forces the reader to consider what makes a real hero. To some people a hero might be someone with great strength or ability. Perhaps someone admired for their great achievements or great qualities. But in this case it is someone who is admired for their great courage and nobility a man in contrast to Francis Cassavant.

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.

From the beginning of the novel, the reader acquires a few key things about the protagonist. Foremost, the members in her community refuse to understand her need to abandon her home and family to go on a manhunt. That point is clear from the beginning of the novel when Mattie states that “people do not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and […] to avenge her father’s blood,” (Portis 11). Typically, when it came to justice-seeking that was a job build for a man. A woman was simply too delicate to take on such a task, nevertheless, Mattie saw the opportunity to punish Tom Chaney for the crimes he committed. Focused on making justice happen, she let go of any preconceived notion of how a lady should act and where her place in society was. Forsaking the need for a comfortable life at