The Spectrum of Drug Usage in Winter's Bone

Daniel Woodrell’s novel, Winter’s Bone, tells the intense journey of stubborn Ree as she sets out to run down her estranged father, Jessup, for his upcoming court date. Taking place in the Ozarks, the reader follows Ree’s journey as the season turns to harsh winter. It is made clear that Ree’s community values shared blood and independent strength. Her large family, particularly those with Dolly blood, make their living on the drug they refer to as “crank.” Drug usage in the novel ranges from medicinal to abusive, and it is the large portrayal of drugs in this novel that call so many messages to the surface. One moment in the novel that stuck out to me occurs soon after Ree learns her father has put the house up as his bond. She visits Jessup’s brother, Uncle Teardrop, and asks if he has any clue about her father’s whereabouts. Uncle Teardrop does not provide any real information and instead flips out on Ree, telling her she is best off staying out of it. As Ree gets up to leave Uncle Teardrop’s wife, Victoria, asks Ree, “Want me to roll a doobie for your walk?” (27). I admit that when I first read this, I had to laugh a bit. Her aunt and uncle provide nothing of value to Ree, not even with her livelihood on the line, but at least they can roll one up for her freezing walk home. The only consolation Ree’s own blood has to offer is a quick smoke, and Woodrell amplifies the gravity of Ree’s situation through her family’s unwillingness to help. 

Similarly, drugs within the novel function as an escape for the characters. At one point in the novel, Ree needs strong painkillers, and she thinks about the various kinds of pills available to her, “[B]lue ones shut you down to an utter smooth blackness … [S]he reached down to the floor bedside, shook loose another blue, and lay back waiting on black,” (162). Laying back and waiting for the black to wash her away, our heroine struggles beyond her physical pain. Another theme not well understood by the characters in this novel, and therefore drawing larger attention to it, is the battle of mental health. Although Ree does not battle addiction, she is susceptible to the slippery slope that it is due to her circumstances, and I think this point in the novel reflects why members of Ree’s family and community cannot escape. Winter’s Bone characters do not want “to be awful” but moral compasses lose direction when a stronger pull pulses in such a small community. 

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Another thought to expand on is how weather serves as a “mood ring” for the novel. So much of our environment is out of our control and Winter’s Bone takes a deep look into the idea that people are a product of their environment. The power of a midwestern drug empire and dreary sky are far from motivating, but Ree’s journey continues, nonetheless. Drugs numb the mind, cold chills the bone, but neither stifle Ree’s spirit. I am curious if anyone else has connected drugs to the weather and what their thoughts on this are.