The Tale Of True Grit

On January 3, 2009 around 11:00 PM the phone rang with what I thought was exciting news about my newly born sister, Tristyn ,but quickly turned to horror. I could heard the fright in my dad's shaken voice as he told me Tristyn had to go into immediate heart surgery because she needed a stent to open up the blood flow to her heart. Being eight at the time the only thing I could think about was how she might not make it. My dad said to me “look after your sisters, and tell them nothing about the surgery”, which terrified me more than before. I knew I needed to be brave and take charge of the situations for my sisters. Bravery is something I learned for a situation I never knew would happen.

John Grady Cole starts on his journey to live the dream of a cowboy with his companion, Rawlin. Both are searching for a better life as they wander the plains waiting for

In the 1960’s, women had been placed in stereotypical roles for years. But women were tired of these roles and were done with being complacent. They felt like something was missing in their lives, and they desired something more. The typical American

The primary source that I have chosen to analyze is a scene from the movie Grease. This movie was released in June of 1978 and is about a so-called good girl named Sandy falling in love with bad boy greaser Danny over the summer. Once it’s time for class to be back in session, they find out they attend the same high school and challenges face them as to how they can rekindle their prior romance with the eyes of their friends focused on them. Sandy is the typical good girl who obeys the rules and does what she is told. She falls in love with Danny who is a polar opposite to her. So instead of the typical movie ending where the bad boy turns into a good guy for the girl he is in love with, the writers threw in a plot twist and it ends up being Sandy who changes the most. She alters from a goody two shoes into a “hot and sexy bad girl” as co-creator Jim Jacobs states in an interview about the meaning to the ending of the film. I think that this movie is a prime example of the way gender roles have been visualized among society for a very long time. Additionally, it also doubles as an example as to how gender roles have changed as well throughout the decades that have passed by.

“True Grit” is about a fourteen year old girl trying to bring justice to the man who killed her father. She hires a sheriff named Rooster to help her. Through characterization, setting, and law enforcement, Charles Portis in “True Grit” sets an accurate portrayal of the time period know as the old west to create a more riveting story.

My uncle promised he would buy me a real coconut if only I could say it right in English. I had not savored real coconut water in what seemed like years. Apparently, here in Yakima you could not simply stroll to the beach and grab one like in my hometown. In fact, there was no beach. But I had arrived to the United States only a week ago and I was already enrolled in kindergarten. I had to learn the language no matter what it took, so I studied. I gritted my teeth and sat down with a book and a mug-full of determination. After a whole lot of crying, learning, failing and more learning, I could finally not only say the word, but I was able to demand my coconut all in English. I accepted the challenge, set my focus on the goal, and did not stop until I succeeded. Many people say I am stubborn, and perhaps I am, but that coconut was the best delicacy I have ever enjoyed. Therefore, it is certain that it is not intelligence or luck but perseverance and grit that yields success and although my story is nothing like the compelling tale Charles Portis describes in his novel True Grit, they both express the true meaning of grit. In this novel, fourteen year old Mattie Ross and marshal Rooster Cogburn go on a life changing quest to find Tom Chaney, the murderer of Mattie’s father. The meaning of true grit is explored through Mattie Ross’s revenge seeking journey. Essentially, true grit refers to being strong-minded, determined, and unafraid of confronting difficult situations.

Rooster indeed has grit. The very character of, Rooster Cogburn, can be broken down as a flat out representation of the idea of True Grit. The themes of, revenge and the classic view of the wild west are present in the character. You could say he represents how America at the time went through terrible hardships. Hardships like, getting shot at, carrying a girl while running through harsh lands, and just his demeanor in general. He might get you into trouble, like the old west, but still he’s there to be a true hero like when he rescues Mattie. He is always cussing and being harsh, but he can still be a kind and heroic figure when he wants to be. Mattie views

“People do not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father’s blood.” (Portis 11) And many people still do not imagine that a story like that is even close to being realistic. Even though, True Grit is fictional; it seemed real as the reader saw Mattie Ross came of age. Coming of age is the transition from youth to adulthood. Throughout the novel, True Grit, the protagonist, Mattie Ross, develops courage, common sense, and bravery as she comes of age from her experience of hunting down the man who murdered her father. The fourteen-year-old faced many challenges that marked the growth of her maturity.

True Grit by Charles Portis In True Grit Portis conveys to the reader how strong willed and brave young Mattie Ross is from the outset. He also uses contrasting characters to heighten other characteristics and to show the how wild the west really was back then. Finally, dialogue is a key part of the plot to emphasize the stubbornness and obstinance of the people near the Indian Territory; with long passages of description to make the reader feel as though they were there.

True Grit by Charles Portis tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen when the coward Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and cash. Mattie leaves home to avenge her father’s blood. With one-eyed Rooster Cogborn, the meanest available U.S Marshal, by her side, Mattie pursues the killer into Indian Territory. The novel True Grit was made into two movies, the 1969 version directed by Henry Hathaway and the 2010 version directed by the Coen brothers. Both films possess similarities and differences in some of the scenes that were from the book. There is the Henry Hathaway version, were the movie is more thought out and detailed from scene to scene like in the novel. Then there

However, this did not stop Mattie from being independent; she dressed as she pleased, she got the education she wanted, she earned the job she loves, and she stands up for herself and all women of the time. All of these characteristics of hers, sets Mattie Ross apart from the other women of her time. During this time period women wore very uncomfortable, inflexible, and hard to breath in clothing. According to Dorothy Hartman of the Conner Prairie National Park, women were expected to wear garments such as a Corset.

In Sherman Alexie’s novel The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven shows the struggles of daily Native American life, which is shown through the point of view of male character. All though out the book the following three questions appear: ‘What does it mean to live as an Indian in this time? What does it mean to be an Indian man? and What does it mean to live on an Indian reservation?’ Alexie uses literary devices such as point of view, imagery, characterization to make his point that the conflict of being an Indian in the U.S. in these short stories using the following short stories “An Indian Education” and “Amusement”. “An Indian Education” uses both imagery and characterization to show us what the narrator is

It was over. The dream of a new world, of Albion, had died on the battlefield at Camlann.

Bravery is a terrifyingly beautiful word. As an introvert, I laughed in my head because even the word bravery makes my stomach churn. I hated socializing for the reason that I overthink on what I presume to be another’s criticism. It’s one of the numerous foundations I’ve built myself upon: the thought that maybe if I stayed hidden, I wouldn’t have to feel mortified every time I did something wrong.

This story takes place in a small town in the South in the late 1930s. The main characters are John Singer, Mick Kelly, Biff Brannon, Dr. Benedict Mady Copeland, and Jake Blount. McCullers based Mick Kelly on herself. The five characters continue to cross paths, each having the narrative switch between them depending on the chapters. Their chapters are from their perspective.