Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone is a story that captures the destitution of Appalachia, one of the poorest and most isolated regions of America. The novel narrows in on the life of Ree Dolly, a 16-year-old girl from the Ozarks navigating a life riddled with poverty, drugs, and violence, all while being the sole caretaker of her family. She’s responsible for her two brothers, Sunny and Harold, and her mother, Connie, who she often describes as crazy. According to Ree, Connie’s “mind didn’t break loose and scatter to the high weeds until (she) was twelve”(27). Her sudden decline in mental health begins once she’s blindsided by her husband's infidelity. Woodrell writes It was “around that time when she learned about Dad’s girlfriend”. Since then, Connie’s mind has completely shut down. She rarely speaks or leaves her rocking chair. Paralyzed by her mental illness, Connie is even unable to dress herself and regularly relies on Ree to help her with her clothes.
Her condition of permanent brain fog is heightened by her frequent pill popping. Nowhere in the novel is the name of the medication identified, but Connie is described as being most reserved after ingesting what seems to be prescription drugs. Woodrell writes, “Mom’s evening pills did not tamp her as far down inside herself as the morning pills did”(17).
Because her mental illness prevents Connie from being a functioning mother to her children, Ree is forced to fill her shoes. As she struggles to stand the pressure of saving her household from certain doom, she grows more frustrated with Connie, who’s unable to help her in the slightest. Ree grows desperate and turns to her mother for help. She pleads, “Mom, I need you. Mom—look at me…I’m going to need you to help. There are things happenin’ that I don’t know what to do about”(92). Ree’s hopes are extinguished as Connie does nothing but stare into the sunset. Woodrell writes, “ her soul was sincerely given over to silence and the approximate refuge offered by incomprehension”(92). In response to her mother’s overwhelming emptiness, Ree “pulled her to her feet, and arm in arm they started the darkened walk downhill to home”(92).
This interaction between the two shows that although Ree is frustrated with Connie, she’s empathetic towards her. She describes her mother as “thoughtless' '(14) and “lost to the present”(9) as if she’s given up hope for her recovery, yet still regards her with great gentleness and care. This is because at only 16 years old, Ree is mature enough to realize her mother’s illness is a response to the traumas she’s endured living in Rathlin Valley. When Gail prompts Ree to tell her mother about the trouble she faces, Ree says, “It’d be too mean to tell her. This is just exactly the sort of shit she went crazy to get away from”(68). Ree knows that life in Rathlin Valley is hard enough to make anybody want an escape from reality. It’s for this reason that her moments of frustration with Connie are followed by gentleness and care. It’s why she makes the effort to carefully dress her mother, brush her hair, and take her on walks in the woods, even though Connie hasn’t been nurturing toward any of her children in years. Ree doesn’t blame her mother for her incomprehension, her reliance on her pills, or her endless silence.
Their relationship is evidence of the cycle of suffering that exists in areas like Rathlin Valley, the kinds of areas that fracture families and rob children of their childhood.
The turn of the 21st century marked a pivotal period in mental health awareness, with various mental conditions slowly being better understood. I agree that Ree’s actions and attitudes, such as calling her mom crazy are disheartening at times, but they are not surprising given the lack of awareness surrounding mental health during the early 2000s. Terms like "crazy" were common and contributed to the continuance of stereotypes and misconceptions. Ree, being a product of her time and environment, adopts this language to express the challenges she faces in understanding and dealing with her mother's mental health struggles.
ReplyDeleteDuring the early 2000s, mental health was often shrouded in silence and stigmatization. Conversations around psychological well-being were limited, and individuals with mental health issues found themselves facing a lack of understanding. Ree's predicament in "Winter's Bone" reflects this broader societal ignorance, as her struggles to cope with her mother's mental illness are met with a community that is ill-equipped to comprehend or address the issue.
Ree's actions and emotional responses throughout the novel can be seen as a manifestation of the collective ignorance surrounding mental health during the early 2000s. You mention that as the sole caretaker of her family, Ree is forced into adulthood at a young age, navigating poverty and familial dysfunction which is exacerbated by her mother's mental illness. Her feelings of frustration, desperation, and occasional defiance are not surprising as she is shoved into a role she is not mature enough to handle.
Understanding Ree's behavior requires acknowledging the profound impact of mental health stigma on individuals, especially in marginalized communities such as Ree’s in the Ozarks. Ree's determination to safeguard her family and even care for her mother in the face of overwhelming odds becomes a testament to her resilience. In a society where discussions about mental health were rare, Ree's responses are not surprising but rather reflective of an environment that failed to provide the necessary support and resources.