The pages of Winter’s Bone are dominated by harshness: a cold, unforgiving landscape, community, and fate for the protagonist, Ree. There is relief from this overarching misfortune in the relationship between Ree and her best friend: Gail. Of the many names the Dollys call each other, “Sweet Pea”, Ree’s pet name for Gail, is singular in its affection. Though only teenagers, the girls are adults in this story. We can infer that their upbringings were standard for their community: impoverished, and neglected by drug-addled parents. They didn’t finish their education and are haunted by the limiting, but demanding, gender roles the town enforces. This rearing left them without any idea of unconditional love and healthy intimacy.
Gail’s husband is unfaithful to her, but requires her to raise their children and behave the way he wants. Ree’s absent father and cruel male relatives continually diminish her character and are physically violent towards her. When Ree and Gail are together, though, their interactions are described with a distinct goodness and tenderness. They pick burrs out of each other's hair and massage each other’s aching limbs. They play house, happily pushing a grocery cart together and taking refuge in each other's homes.
Later, we learn they have a genuinely romantic relationship, whether or not they think of it as such. Gail was Ree’s first kiss, under the guise of practicing for being with a man. This was not a one time occurrence: “there came three seasons of giggling and practice, puckering readily anytime they were alone” (87). Given the status quo of the community in Winter's Bone, it would not be a stretch to say homosexuality would be an unacceptable taboo, but they both cling to their love in an otherwise unnurturing world.
Gail, unlike Ree, has a husband and child. Her obligation to them takes precedence over the comfort Ree provides. Ree offers to take Gail and her child away from her husband, allowing them to all live together. She wants this arrangement for herself and Gail, confronting her: “You didn’t like it? You’re gonna tell me you didn’t like it?” (160). Their tumultuous lives will keep them from having either a conventional friendship or relationship. However, their love, as unconditional as either of them will ever know, will remain. At the beginning of the novel, Ree leaves Gail’s trailer, saying: “I’m always for you, remember.” (36). Woodrell writes that the "bone" in Winter's Bone refers to a gift. For Ree and Gail, love threw them a bone by giving them each other.
This post is beautiful <3 I think it's really lovely that Gail too has a relationship separate from her husband, as women are expected to care for their families, their husbands and their house chores. Additionally, women are not supposed to love other women. They're not supposed to kiss other women, affectionately touch them or maintain a romantic relationship with them. Since Ree often serves as the ringleader of women deviating from their given path, it is logical that she is also (possibly) lesbian. I also think the consideration of Ree's sexuality is fascinating given that, despite her circumstances and poverty, love can still flourish even under extenuating circumstances.
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