True Grit

             Reading True Grit, and watching the films, I was surprised to see the perspective of the novel, and the style of writing. It was very abrupt and to the point and it was almost like a culture shock going from Pride and Prejuidice to a western novel, but I really enjoyed it. The novel and it's accompanying films both reflect and comment on American mythology. The plot of the novel, and the films, takes on what is assumed to be a typical Western novel plot. There is a character that is killed, one that seeks revenge, and others who go on this journey of vengeance with them. All the stereotypical Western details are in the novel as well, including the small towns and the rivals between towns and states, and the typical cowboys. In these ways, True Grit reflects on how we see the Western world. However, it also comments on this view through the main character, Mattie. I was surprised to see that she was the one telling the story, and whats more that she was the one seeking revenge. Usually, the woman stays behind and the men go chasing the bad guys so it was interesting to see the author's choice in making Mattie the narrator. In the same way, the films do a good job of showing her grit and determination and showed that although she was young, she was firm on what she believed and never left her beliefs. I think this aspect is also a big Western theme, but again, it was interesting to see this from a female point of view. One assumption about the nature of humans that I think the novel takes on are that people always have a motive behind the things they do or the actions they take. For example, when we meet Rooster he's made out to be a deputy who doesn't really care about the law, he just does what he wants. But we later hear his story and where he came from and some of his motives begin to make sense. We already know that Mattie is acting upon her father's death and that she takes on the role of the mature character throughout the novel, even though she is years younger everyone else. We know her motive, and that she is simply an independent character who knows how to stand firm. For society, I think the assumptions made in the novel are that there will always be a "good guy" and a "bad guy," and somehow the good one will have to make justice happen and defeat the bad people. The same assumption is made about morality in both the film and the novel, that there is justice and there is injustice, and not really an in between. This is at least how we see it through Mattie's eyes, although Rooster and LaBeouf see it differently. Rooster is helping Mattie out to catch Lucky Ned Pepper and to get the money, not necessarily because he wants to help get revenge for what was wrongly done in Mattie's life. In the same way, LaBeuof wants to catch Chaney to impress a girl back home and also for money. Whether or not they care about the injustice that was done is not clear, or at least not as clear as it is for Mattie. She would do anything to catch Chaney simply because she knew it was the right thing to do.