Winter's Bone Character Analysis

Hawkfall’s Hero

As Joseph Campbell once said, “a hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” It is difficult at times for people to become completely selfless. It takes courage to face one's obstacles and put another above one’s self to make that person's life simply better. In the novel Winter’s Bone Daniel Woodrell portrays Ree Dolly, a seventeen year old protagonist, as the true definition of a hero. Ree exemplifies Campbell's definition of a hero in the areas of a brother battle, entering the belly of the whale, ultimate boon, and the rescue from without.

Ree fulfills Joseph Campbell’s definition of a brother battle. Campbell describes a brother battle as when “many heroes find themselves locked in

battle, either physical or psychological with someone who is a “brother” whether a blood relation or a symbolic brother.” In this case, Campbell’s use of the word “brother” is symbolic for Ree’s community which is filled with Dollys. Ree’s battle is finding information about her father's disappearance. As a result of Jesup’s wrongdoings, “put [their] house... and those timber acres up for his bond” (Woodrell 14). Ree has taken on a parental figure to her two brothers and her mentally unstable mother. Due to her guardianship, Ree feels as if it is her responsibility to find her father and to keep her family with their home, otherwise they could freeze or starve to death. As a result of Ree’s heroic figure, she finds herself on a quest to find Jessup, her missing father. During her journey she is completely accosted and “folks have noticed the sand [Ree] got”(150). It does not matter who Ree is related to or how well she knows these people, they are only concerned about their wellbeing.These individuals are more perturbed about being arrested for their wrong doings since they are linked with the disappearance of Ree’s father. They are not sympathetic to the fact that if Ree does not find Jessup she will lose everything. They are just concerned about keeping her quiet for them to not be revealed to the law. Therefore, Ree is locked into battle with her distant relatives due to her heroic hunt to find her father.
Similarly, Ree attains Campbell’s explanation of entering the belly of the whale.

This is defined as “when the hero is drawn deep into the journey and must face her greatest fear or greatest evil, the hero is in the belly of the whale.” Ree’s journey, as stated before, is finding her father and she knows the only way to get any information about his disappearance is to search Hawkfall. Ree is fearful of going into Hawkfall because the two towns’ “relations get watered kinda thin” (25), meaning that the people from Hawkfall and the Ozarks, where Ree lives, do not get along well. That is why Ree is told to not “go running after Jessup” (23). Her quest to find her father leads her to a dangerous area that could get her hurt or even killed. Ree is told to never “go down around Hawkfall askin[g] them people… about stuff they [are not] offerin[g] to talk about. That’s a real good way to end up [eaten] by hogs, or wishin[g that she]” (25), is. Although Ree is aware that the only way to keep her home is to “enter the belly of the whale,” better known as Hawkfall. Ree is aware that she should not “go back there” (127), yet her heroic figure realizes that “how else is [she] goin[g] to ”(127), support her family. If she does not try to finish this perilous expedition she will not be able to keep her family safe. Entering Hawkfall may be Ree’s greatest fear, however, Ree’s heroic mentality leads her to face her trepidation in regards to protecting her family from losing their

home.
Additionally, Ree fulfills Campbell’s definitions of the ultimate boon through her heroic actions. Campbell defines the ultimate boons as “when a hero sets out on the journey, it is because there is some problem. The ultimate boon is the solution to the problem. The hero is able, through brave deeds to procure this magic remedy and to solve the problem. Ree’s complication is “huntin[g for her] Dad” (89). Due to her father's disappearance, her and her family are left substandard conditions if he does not attend the court session. However, Ree’s ultimate boon is to prove Jessup is “dead. That [would] sure [e]nough turn things around. Dead men can [not] be expected to show in court” (127). Therefore, Ree would not be without a roof over her family’s head. Proving Jessup's death would make all of their difficulties vanish. In spite of that, Ree needs to be determined to prove that her “dad [is] dead…If Dad did wrong, dad has paid. But [Ree] can [not] forever carry both… them boys [and] Mom…not…without that house to help” (134). With Ree’s courageous actions of entering Hawkfall to seek out this information on her father’s death leads Ree to her “magic remedy” to solve her problem. The women that abused her leads her to where her dead father is kept. Ree is aware that some how she needs to prove the death of her father to keep her home, and cuts his hand off to show the police. With this evidence, her father’s ”hands brought sorrow and a blessing” (187), and were the solution to all of Ree’s problems. Without her father’s hands there would not have been anyway to keep the court from taking everything from Ree. Yet Ree’s valiant persona of seeking out her journey allowed all of her dilemmas to cease to exist due to the “ultimate boon.”
Furthermore, Ree actualizes Campbell’s definition of a hero through rescuing from without. This is described “as the hero tries to return the hero may find herself in a difficult situation that looks like the end of the hero’s quest. Just when things look bleak, someone comes to rescue the hero so she can finish the journey.” This person that comes to the rescue is Uncle Teardrop, Jessup Dolly’s brother who is a daunting and intimidating character. When Ree arrives at Hawkfall she takes on more than she can handle and is almost physically attacked to the point of death. It is not until Teardrop comes to her rescue and and exclaims that Ree is his “niece, and she [is] near about all the close family I got left, so [he] be collectin[g] her now and carryin[g] her on out of here to home… If she does wrong, [the people in Hawkfall] can put it on” (137), him. Without Teardrop saving Ree from this danger who knows if she would have ever made it home. Teardrop has Ree’s back and threatens the ones that have hurt her by stating that “If anybody lays even just one finger on that girl ever again, they better have shot [him] first” (138), because he will go after them. Teardrop’s fearless manner allows him to make a well rounded team with Ree on her journey to find her father. He helps Ree on the areas she is weak, like fighting off a crowd of brutal individuals, even though she “ took that beatin[g] good as most men [he has] seen” (148). Due to Teardrop saving her, she is able to complete her quest on finding her missing father and is successful.
Therefore, Ree Dolly represents all of the core aspects of Joseph Campbell’s definition of a hero. Daniel Woodrell portrays Ree in the novel Winter's Bone as a courageous, fearless, kind individual which is all of the base values of a hero. Brother battle, entering the belly of the whale, the ultimate boon, and rescuing from without are just some aspects Ree represents. Ree is not the fairytale, yet a real world example of someone's knight in shining armor. There are many people in today's society that have a heroic stature similar to Ree’s. A person is not named a hero for a noble deed they have accomplished, but for their brave actions to help another individual by putting them first.