Book Review: True Grit
So I re-read Charles Portis's excellent western "True Grit" over the past few days. It's a good fast read, and I was in the mood for something like that.
For those who may not know, "True Grit" is quite a famous western starring John Wayne and Kim Darby, about a young girl trying to get the man that killed her father. John Wayne plays Rooster Cogburn, an irascible US Marshal who helps her track down the killer. If you haven't seen it, you could do worse with your time, assuming you don't mind westerns.
I was astonished at how close a translation there was from book to film, in some cases carrying over significant pieces of dialogue word-for-word. Since the dialogue is generally quite good, I'm glad.
However, I am also struck by the character of Mattie Ross, and what a good character she is. In the film, John Wayne's Cogburn very much steals the show (and to be honest, Cogburn is a great character, and the Duke was perfect for the role). But in the book, since it is narrated first person, you get a much better look at Mattie as a character, and can be much more impressed by her (as one should be). In some ways she may come across as stubborn, or immature, or naive...but then one needs to remember that she is supposed to be 14 years old (the movie, by the way, does not make this clear). Considering her age and the time period she lived in (and the way it would be inclined to treat young girls), she actually deals with her situation with considerable maturity and competence, dealing with men like Col. Stonehouse and of course, Cogburn and LaBoef, as an equal and an adult. And what may seem like stubborness is simply something that most men take for granted: expecting to be able to do what one wants, be taken seriously, and get what you want when you're in the right.
While the book would not really pass a Bechdel test (there are in fact almost no female characters aside from Mattie), it does pass another interesting test...one could make the protagonist a male and change almost nothing in the story, and it would still be good.
I include a quote that pretty much sums up what makes Mattie a good character:
(At the end of the book, 25 years after the events of the novel, Mattie attempts to meet up with Rooster Cogburn to say hello, and finds out that he died days before they were supposed to meet. She has him buried on her family plot)
"People in Dardanelle and Russelville said, well, she hardly knew the man but it is just like a cranky old maid to do a stunt like that. I know what they said even if they would not say it to my face. People love to talk. They love to slander you if you have any substance. They say I love nothing but money and the Presbyterian church and that is why I never married. They think everybody is dying to get married. It is true that I love my church and my bank. What is wrong with that? I will tell you a secret. Those same people talk mighty nice when they come in to get a crop loan or beg a mortgage extension! I never had time to get married but it is nobody's business if I am married or not married. I care nothing for what they say. I would marry an ugly baboon if I wanted to and make him cashier. I never had time to fool with it. A woman with brains and a frank tongue and one sleeve pinned up and an invalid mother to care for is at some disadvantage, although I will say I could have had two or three untidy old men around here who had their eyes fastened on my bank. No thank you!"
For those who may not know, "True Grit" is quite a famous western starring John Wayne and Kim Darby, about a young girl trying to get the man that killed her father. John Wayne plays Rooster Cogburn, an irascible US Marshal who helps her track down the killer. If you haven't seen it, you could do worse with your time, assuming you don't mind westerns.
I was astonished at how close a translation there was from book to film, in some cases carrying over significant pieces of dialogue word-for-word. Since the dialogue is generally quite good, I'm glad.
However, I am also struck by the character of Mattie Ross, and what a good character she is. In the film, John Wayne's Cogburn very much steals the show (and to be honest, Cogburn is a great character, and the Duke was perfect for the role). But in the book, since it is narrated first person, you get a much better look at Mattie as a character, and can be much more impressed by her (as one should be). In some ways she may come across as stubborn, or immature, or naive...but then one needs to remember that she is supposed to be 14 years old (the movie, by the way, does not make this clear). Considering her age and the time period she lived in (and the way it would be inclined to treat young girls), she actually deals with her situation with considerable maturity and competence, dealing with men like Col. Stonehouse and of course, Cogburn and LaBoef, as an equal and an adult. And what may seem like stubborness is simply something that most men take for granted: expecting to be able to do what one wants, be taken seriously, and get what you want when you're in the right.
While the book would not really pass a Bechdel test (there are in fact almost no female characters aside from Mattie), it does pass another interesting test...one could make the protagonist a male and change almost nothing in the story, and it would still be good.
I include a quote that pretty much sums up what makes Mattie a good character:
(At the end of the book, 25 years after the events of the novel, Mattie attempts to meet up with Rooster Cogburn to say hello, and finds out that he died days before they were supposed to meet. She has him buried on her family plot)
"People in Dardanelle and Russelville said, well, she hardly knew the man but it is just like a cranky old maid to do a stunt like that. I know what they said even if they would not say it to my face. People love to talk. They love to slander you if you have any substance. They say I love nothing but money and the Presbyterian church and that is why I never married. They think everybody is dying to get married. It is true that I love my church and my bank. What is wrong with that? I will tell you a secret. Those same people talk mighty nice when they come in to get a crop loan or beg a mortgage extension! I never had time to get married but it is nobody's business if I am married or not married. I care nothing for what they say. I would marry an ugly baboon if I wanted to and make him cashier. I never had time to fool with it. A woman with brains and a frank tongue and one sleeve pinned up and an invalid mother to care for is at some disadvantage, although I will say I could have had two or three untidy old men around here who had their eyes fastened on my bank. No thank you!"