The 2010 film Winter’s Bone adapted from the story written by Daniel Woodrell and directed by Debra Granik was critically acclaimed for the thrilling story and the actors’ stellar performances. The progression of the film followed the narrative structure common to most movies, beginning with an exposition, where critical information is relayed to the viewer, rising action where the conflicts and goals of the protagonist are introduced, a climax, where the protagonist directly faces the conflict, and falling action, where the protagonist deals with the consequences of their conflict and their world thereafter. In Winter’s Bone, the exposition establishes the protagonist as Ree Dolly, introduces her relationships, establishes the location and …show more content…
time period, and creates the overall tone of the film. Expositions primarily serve as an instrument by which “some important information” is relayed to the viewer, contributing to their overall understanding of the progression of the film. Within the first fifteen minutes, Ree Dolly is presented as the main caregiver of the Dolly family.
She spends her days looking after her twelve-year-old brother, Sonny, eight-year-old sister, Ashley, and their catatonic mother, all while their father, Jessup, cooks methamphetamine. The exposition secures Ree’s position as the caretaker of the Dolly family, exemplified when she is seen hanging laundry, cooking dinner, brushing her mother’s hair, and dropping her siblings off at school. Although her meth making father, Jessup, never actually appears, he is still introduced through discussion by other characters. For example, Ree’s neighbor, Sonya, inquiries to Ree about Jessup’s absence. This is an important piece of information in the film’s story because it establishes the nature of Jessup’s fatherhood as being notably absent, a direct result of his drug manufacturing lifestyle. The exposition of Winter’s Bone also establishes the setting as a rural town located in the Ozark mountains of Missouri. The town is relatively poverty stricken, illustrated by the worn-down residences of the characters, specifically of the Dolly family. Trash and junk litter their yard, while they lack basic appliances like washing machines and driers. The townspeople are relatively …show more content…
self-sufficient, represented in the opening sequence when Sonya and her husband, who are the Dolly’s neighbors, are portrayed skinning a deer they hunted. This suggests the town struggles to afford food, resulting in their subsequent hunting for sustenance. The setting also takes place during winter, represented by the bareness of the dead trees, heavy coats and layers worn by the characters, and Ree chopping wood to burn for their fireplace. Another important aspect the exposition creates was the overall mood of the movie. The opening scene proves significantly indicative of the atmosphere transcended throughout the film. It consists of Ree hanging laundry on a clothing line to background music. However, the music lacks instrumentals and consists of only a single, haunting voice. Shots of their barren, dingy property along with lingering views of the dead, bare trees and grey sky play out in accompaniment with the song. These artistic choices combined form a sense of unease and dread due to the unnerving quality of the voice and the darkness of the setting. A sense of eeriness emerges, something the movie never shakes, which proves an important aspect of the mysterious and psychologically thrilling quality of the movie. The exposition of Winter’s Bone introduces the important characters of the film, most notably Ree Dolly, the nature of their lives and responsibilities, the setting and culture of the Ozark. Mountains of Missouri, and dreadful mood of the movie. The main conflict in Winter’s Bone revolves around Ree needing to find Jessup before his court date so her and her family can remain in the house he put up for bond, an ultimately Man vs Man conflict.
According to the town Sheriff, Ree’s father put the house up as collateral for bail. She is informed that if he does not comply and appear to his court date, they will be forced to leave and give up the house. The sheriff advises her to find him, because they only have a week until the court date. Ree immediately begins her journey to find her father which is considerably Man vs Man because she has to find him in order to save her family. Slowly, as the film progresses, the conflict reveals itself to also be Man vs Society in two contexts. The first simply pertains to Ree going directly against the entirety of her town, since the majority of its residents seem completely unwilling to help her. For example, when she arrives at Little Arthur’s house, her Uncle Teardrop’s house, and Thump’s house, she is told to stop investigating and leave the situation alone. Her community abandons her and ultimately incriminates itself as extremely suspect in her father’s disappearance. Secondly, one could argue that Ree is trapped by her circumstances. She is only seventeen, and has already dropped out of high school in order to become the main caregiver for her family. She looks after her younger siblings, tutors them, cleans the house, cooks, and even chops wood, mostly because the family
lacks any financial stability. Ree has given up her life and future to look after her family. At one point, Ree attempts to enlist in the army, seeking the forty thousand dollars offered, but cannot due to both her age, and inability to bring her family to training. Due to her family life and lack of resources, Ree is entrapped further in her town and home. Although Ree’s main conflict deals with her father’s disappearance and possibility of losing her home, an additional source of conflict pertains to the town’s resistance and involvement in Jessup’s absence, and Ree’s lack of social and financial mobility in life.
Winter wasn’t oblivious to her father’s dealing she knew her father was a drug dealer and she just saw it as a sense of normalcy. She was always wearing new fashions, had money in her pockets and known she was in charge. But that was all about to change when her father decides to move them out of the ghettos into the rich suburbs. For Winter that doesn’t go over well with her, she loves being on top of her “ghetto kingdom” and will do anything to keep it. While her mother who has never worked in her life, since being married to Ricky (in compliance to his orders)
The families living conditions were horrible. They lived in a very small apartment which at times had more than ten people living in it. Since LaJoe was a very friendly and considerate person, she brought many kids and adults "under her wing" and took care of them when in need. Some kids in the neighborhood even called her "mom." LaJoe did not have the heart to turn her back on anyone that appeared at her door.
Throughout life, individuals are faced with decisions and obstacles that must be overcome. These decisions and actions are easily influenced by outside forces and motivations and the outcomes of our actions can have a drastic effect on one's destiny. The act of deciding a course of action is not always simple, but it is made even more difficult when we are faced with a time period and a negative outcome if we chose not to continue on our journey. In the short story “Winter’s Bone,” written by Daniel Woodrell, we are taught that throughout life people make choices between what they want to do and what they need to do. Sometimes those choices lead to unfavourable outcomes,
It is no easy task to create a work - through writing or film - that has an impact on society. In writing, one must discuss and analyze a relevant topic that will have an impact on the readers. One must also present stunning sensory images through words in order to create a complete understanding for the reader. In filmmaking it is not much different, but there must be striking visual imagery in combination with a fitting musical score in order to give the viewer of the film the full experience. There must also be historical accuracy, both in writing and film. In either case, it can take years to create such a captivating piece of work. David Guterson's novel Snow Falling on Cedars and its cinematic counterpart of the same name combine all of the aspects of good writing and filmmaking to create an emotionally provocative and historically accurate masterpiece.
The theme that has been attached to this story is directly relevant to it as depicted by the anonymous letters which the main character is busy writing secretly based on gossip and distributing them to the different houses. Considering that people have an impression of her being a good woman who is quiet and peaceful, it becomes completely unbecoming that she instead engages in very abnormal behavior. What makes it even more terrible is the fact that she uses gossip as the premise for her to propagate her hate messages not only in a single household but across the many different households in the estate where she stays.
On one side, there is Kathy Nicolo and Sheriff Lester Burdon who want the house from which Kathy was evicted. It previously belonged to Kathy’s father and she is reluctant to relinquish possession of it. Then there is the Behranis, a Persian family who was forced to flee to America in fear of their lives. They want the house because it symbolizes their rise from poverty (they had to leave everything behind and were quite poor when they arrived in the United States) back to affluence which, to this family, will help to restore their family’s dignity, lost when thrust into poverty. The story centers on gaining possession of the house. Unknowingly, all of these characters are doomed to tragedy by their inability to understand each other, hurtling down an explosive collision course.
She explores the theme of transience as a way to yet again highlight society and the individual. In her novel Housekeeping she uses Lucille as a representation of society and thus compares Ruth and Lucille, and Sylvia and Lucille. She compares society to the individual, showing the clear contrast between both elements, while simultaneously influencing the reader to see the better in being individual. She does this by creating symbols out of her characters and providing a comparison between them and society, and by doing so shows the individual in a better light. The theme of transience is often explored through the influence of other characters. In Housekeeping Sylvie is seen as a “wanderer”, and this outlook is one that influences Ruth as she grows up. As stated in Anne-Marie Mallon’s literary criticism “Transients and runaways are not among society 's favored or fortunate... like the townsfolk of Fingerbone, we believe that people and things--like children, relationships, jobs, and houses--need to be made secure” (Mallon). But this idea is opposed by Sylvie as a wanderer. When Sylvie arrives it is evident that she is not one to stay in the same place for a long period of time. As Ruth watches her she states that her habits are “Clearly the habits of a transient”( Housekeeping 103). Ruth watches her in awe of her individualism, she hopes that she will be able
...ream was crushed and then “simply explodes” (Line 10) when her son gives the money away to a man that steals it from him. She does get redemption in the end when Walter decides not to buckle to the Welcoming Committee’s request for them to not move into the neighborhood.
In the first section of the book it starts off with a little girl named Tasha. Tasha is in the Fifth grade, and doesn’t really have many friends. It describes her dilemma with trying to fit in with all the other girls, and being “popular”, and trying to deal with a “Kid Snatcher”. The summer before school started she practiced at all the games the kid’s play, so she could be good, and be able to get them to like her. The girls at school are not very nice to her at all. Her struggle with being popular meets her up with Jashante, a held back Fifth ...
From a structural perspective, movies and novels appear as polar opposites. A film uses actors, scripts, and a set in order to create a visual that can grab and keep the attention of their viewers. However, an author strives to incorporate deeper meaning into their books. Despite these differences in media, 1984 and The Hunger Games present unique, yet similar ideas.
One motif which reappears in the film is the power of nature, especially in relation to the individual. In fact, the film begins with a majestic shot of the Rocky Mountains showing its beauty and height. The beauty of nature and even friendliness of nature changes as the film develops. As the movie progresses the snow still seems white and pure, almost virgin like, but nature becomes an isolating force, not providing the family with a retreat from the pressures of modern life, but forcing the family to turn in on its dysfunctional and psychopathic self. Imprisoned by the snow and the tall mountains , the family seems weak and vulnerable.
...and realities hidden from the reader. If the reader had been aware of everything from the beginning, there would have been no point at all to the story. Carefully revealing pieces of Miss Brill's character through this point of view illustrated her own passage into a new reality. Keeping the point of view limited to Miss Brill and excluding the thoughts of the other characters kept the reader centered on Miss Brill so that the same realizations could come about simultaneously. The reader, through masterful use of point of view, was able to share a very meaningful experience with the character and go through the same steps that she did to reach the end.
Debra Granik presents the unforeseen and diametrically opposed stereotypical, Hollywood representation of America in her film Winter's bone. She provides the audience with multiple visual elements (key scenes). She outlines the idea that, “in the land of opportunity, opportunity is not given”. This means that many in America such as Granik’s character “Ree Dolly” have no ability to pursue their hopes and dreams. They face difficulty standing on their own two feet, without being so reliant on society. Because the opportunities that are supposed to be freely given, are just not given. This gives the audience intuition to think and comprehend what opportunities they have. Additionally, it outlines that American's are free to, but not free from
The beginning of the novel introduces the reader to Esther O'Malley Robertson as the last of a family of extreme women. She is sitting in her home, remembering a story that her grandmother told her a long time ago. Esther is the first character that the reader is introduced to, but we do not really understand who she is until the end of the story. Esther's main struggle is dealing with her home on Loughbreeze Beach being torn down, and trying to figure out the mysteries of her family's past.
The novel explores gender roles through the characters of Mrs. Ramsay, Mr. Ramsay, and Lily. Each of these characters embodies different views in regards to gender roles. The readers are taken into their minds and thoughts and are allowed to see what each character views is the role of his/her gender.