From the first page of the novel, Ree is portrayed as a self-sufficient, strong, and intelligent girl. She recognizes the cold weather approaching and makes note of cutting firewood and moving the clothesline inside, so the clothes do not freeze. Her little brother comes out onto the porch and notices the meat hanging from the trees across from their house. He says, “’Maybe tonight Blond Milton’ll bring us by one to eat’” (Woodrell 5). Immediately, Ree grabs him by the ear and twists it tight, reminding him to never ask for things that are not offered. This is just one of the many important lessons Ree teaches her little brothers. As time goes on and Ree’s mother falls deeper into her illness, proving to no longer be a suitable caretaker, and she struggles to find her father, Ree decides she must begin teaching her younger brothers valuable lessons. These include how to cook simple meals, shoot rifles, skin a squirrel for food, and fight. All these lessons are taught with tough love, Ree states, “’Harold, get your butt down here. You don’t wanna make me run after you. You truly don’t. Get down here now’n squat beside me. Close your eyes if you want, but get your goddamn fingers in there’n yank out them guts” (107). Ree is very firm and unwavering in her demands for the boys. She understands that Harold is squeamish and does not want to rip out the squirrel’s guts, but the skill is more important than any reservations he may have. She will go to any lengths, like running after him and possibly hurting him, to get him to learn how to survive on his own. While some may not agree with this style of teaching, Ree’s circumstances force her to be stern with her brothers. With their father dead and their mother ailing, if the boys lose Ree they will have no immediate family and no one to take care of them. Therefore, Ree shows her tenderness and care for her brothers by preparing them for the worst. As she mentions in the beginning of the book, she does not want the boys to be “dead to wonder by age twelve, dulled to life, empty of kindness, boiling with mean” (8). She has aspirations for them and wants a better life for them than the people they are surrounded with. Thus, she proves to be a mature caretaker by recognizing the circumstances of their lives’ and teaching the boys important, but difficult lessons, showing her care for the boys through her persistence and dedication to helping them survive on their own.
I really enjoyed your analysis of Ree and how she chooses to interact with her brothers, as she’s always giving them a “tough love” type of teaching because that’s how the world is. With no other sufficient parents in the picture, Dad being dead and Mom dealing with her mental illness, Ree has no choice but to step in and be a full-time parent. The boys can’t be brought up slowly and just enjoy being kids, they have to learn everything as fast as they can and be prepared for the possibility of Ree not being there someday to take care of them. Ree tries to make every lesson impactful by using threats to make the boys understand the severity of what she is trying to teach them. She owes it to her brothers to give them a better life than the one around them, forcing them to not be like everyone else in town: drug addicts and people who hate their lives. Ree is doing everything right that a parent should do at such a young age herself. She shares her experiences with her brothers for them to learn from, provides and takes care of her family, and even sacrifices her own dreams of going into the army at the end of the book to stay with her brothers. When Harold asks if Ree’s leaving now that they have all this money, Ree says that she’d “get lost without the weight of you two on my back” (Woodrell 193). Her place is at home, taking care of her family because she knows that no one else can. There’s still so much the boys don’t know, and it’s up to Ree alone to teach them.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely that Ree's way of teaching her younger brothers is necessary. The "tough love" she shows to them is essential for them to learn in their environment. Their town in the Ozarks is unforgiving, so she needs to raise them in a way to be tough. I also believe she uses this type of love because of her urgency. She wants them to learn her teachings quick due to the house possibly being taken away, and because her father may never come back. She uses this tough love because she doesn't have the time to teach them slowly and carefully. She must be direct because she only has time to teach them once. This tough love is a reflection on how deeply she cares for the boys, she wants what is best for them, even if they may not enjoy it in the moment. For example, like you said, going to great lengths to get Harold to gut a squirrel. I really like your analysis on how deeply she cares for her brothers. Everything she does is for her family and for her brothers. At the end, when she gives up her dreams of leaving the Ozarks for the military was one of the most prominent ways she has shown to care fore her family. That was the biggest sacrifice in her life, so the fact she gave it up shows what lengths she is willing to go. I completely agree with your analysis on how deeply she cares for her brothers through strict and aggressive actions, and I agree that it was the best she could do with the circumstances at hand.
ReplyDelete