True Grit

True Grit is a 1968 Western novel by Charles Portis. It is a story about a 14 year old girl from Arkansas named Mattie Ross who seeks revenge against her father’s killer.

When her father is killed over a petty dispute, the local authorities show little interest in pursuing Chaney, who has fled into Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma). Unwilling to let her father’s death go unpunished, Mattie takes matters into her own hands.

The book is a ton of fun to read. It doesn’t waste your time. It is filled with humorous dialogue and lots of action. Mattie Ross’s motivations are crystal clear and they propel the story forwards. Watching her take on whatever gets in her way, not letting her age or any other excuses weaken her resolve is inspiring and energizing. I love that the book is realistic though, she isn’t gunslinging or fist fighting men twice her size, she uses the tools at her disposal to get things done.

She is more mature than the adults she is surrounded by in the book. She is throughly knowledgable about the paperwork she needs, the payments she needs to make to hire the right people to help her, the negotiations she needs to make, the discomforts and dangers she will have to face in her travels, and she never lets the world dictate her fate. She has what psychologists would call an “internal locus of control”. She has grit. She knows she can make things happen through effort, and she doesn’t let adults keep her out of this messy business. She has work to do.

I loved Mattie’s narration. It felt authentic to the place and time. She makes comments based on her Presbyterian religion, her pride in her family and “the good people of Dardanelle Arkansas”, and her love for her father and contempt for the “scoundrel” who killed him. I could hear a twangy southern accent in my head as I was reading. She makes character judgements based on her background, informed by what she deems proper and ethical. She has a moral code that she abides by and a strong sense of purpose and justice.

Mattie tries to assert control over a world that’s chaotic and indifferent to justice. Her father was murdered not by a mastermind over some grand philosophy, but by a lowlife drifter over a dumb argument. The murderer has run off to join a gang hidden in the wilderness of the Indian Territory, where Mattie’s local sheriff has no authority.

She doesn’t let the cold indifference of the world or the uncertainty of the unknown wilderness she will have to face stop her though.

To look for help, she seeks out the toughest and meanest deputy US Marshal in the district. She eventually finds Rooster Cogburn, an old one-eyed overweight hard drinking man who has a reputation for being too trigger happy. Cogburn is a morally ambiguous figure who is reluctant to listen to Mattie, but is eventually swayed by her stubbornness. They’re eventually joined by a Texas Ranger also hunting Chaney for a separate crime. What follows is a journey that tests their “grit” and forces Mattie to confront the cost of her single-minded pursuit.

Overall, I loved this book. It is unpretentious. It is comedic and tragic at the same time. It is filled with action, dialogue, and great characters. The motivation of revenge and the strong sense of mission propels the story forwards. It doesn’t waste time meandering. We know the characters’ motivations and it keeps you drawn in. We know what Mattie Ross wants and we watch her fight anything that gets in her way.

A lot of popular movies and books these days have flawless heroes who are super geniuses, smarter and more capable than everyone else. I don’t understand the overwhelming prevalence of “power fantasies” that are popular these days, with characters who are elevated so far above everyone, smarter and better than everyone else in the room, smirking while figuring out everything as if it were obvious. I like stories like this one of Mattie Ross and Rooster Cogburn much more. These characters have flaws and limitations, but still show bravery, “grit”, and fight for justice using what they can. I like stories about flawed, limited people like me fighting and overcoming challenges. I find it so much more interesting and a much more emotional experience when I can relate with a character’s flaws and struggles.

True Grit reminds me that we are not perfect beings, the world is unjust and cold, and we are often ill equipped to take on challenges, but we can use what tools we have to fight for the world that we want. Our efforts and grit won’t always be rewarded and it may be messy, but we can still put up a fight.