Comparative: Hero/Heroine Question
‘Winter’s Bone’ directed by Debra Granik
Heroine: Ree Dolly
1. Ree’s kindness is clear from the opening scene
of the film. Ree is a mother figure to her younger
brother and sister, even though she is only 17.
'Winter's Bone' begins with Ree waking up Sonny
and Ashlee. She makes them breakfast and ensures
that Ashlee feeds the family dog. "Good morning". Ree walks Sonny and
Ashlee to school, practicing spelling and maths along the way. She
encourages Ashlee when she makes a mistake, gently pushing her to try
again saying "good" when she eventually gets it right. Ree smiles at
Ashlee as she takes part in class.
2. Ree refuses to let anyone think they can push her around. Ree is
chopping wood and listening to music but immediately stops when she
sees a police car pull up to her house. Her
instinct is to protect her family. She takes off
her headphones and stands in front of the hall
door. She blocks the sheriff from entering, so
that he has to ask to be allowed in. She
reluctantly stands aside to let him talk to her
mother. Ree warns the sheriff that Connie 'don't talk much'. We do not
see the police officer inside the house, however. Instead, the director
keeps the camera on Ree. She stands on the porch waiting for the
sheriff to re-emerge. The director wants the audience to see Ree as the
focus of the film — she is the heroine.
3. The sheriff explains to Ree that her father is missing and that he has
put the family home, and woods, up as his bond. He emphasises that
Jessup 'signed over everything and that if he doesn't show at
trial...you're all gonna lose this place'. Ree takes responsibility for
finding Jessup. She stares down the local sheriff when he casts doubt
on her ability to find her father. 'I'll find him,' she
says, sternly. The sheriff drives away. This key
moment clarifies that Ree's life has changed. Her
father is missing and her family home is at risk.
These challenges awaken a real power inside her.
4. Ree is a heroine who puts aside her own interests to help others. Ree
puts her safety at risk to track down her father and save their family
home. She calls unannounced to the house of the local drug lord
Thump Milton. Ree is not allowed to see Thump. His wife, Merab, tells
Ree that Thump will not talk to her because 'talking just causes
witnesses and he don't want for any of those'. Ree insists that she must
talk to Thump. Ree puts her family ahead of her
safety. She says that Thump does not really care
about family loyalty (the Dollys and the Miltons
are said to be distant relatives). Merab is furious
at the accusation. She spins around and tells
Ree: 'Don't you dare. Don't!' However, Ree refuses to be put off by
Merab's threatening manner. Selflessness is one of her core values.
5. Ree follows Thump to a cattle mart. He avoids her by using a rear exit
to leave. She chases after him. The motif music plays in the
background, blended with the sound of farm
animals, creates a very distressing atmosphere.
There is no dialogue, apart from Ree shouts:
'Thump Milton, I need to talk to you!'
Confronting Thump like this is a huge risk. He is
clearly a very secretive man. Ree is willing to gamble her own safety in
order to save the family home.
6. Ree, putting herself at great physical risk, calls to Thump Milton's
house after being unable to confront him at the cattle mart. She is met
by a raging Merab who, along with her sisters, attack Ree before tying
her up in a barn. An exterior shot of the barn
shows us how isolated Ree is -- there is
nothing around for miles. Inside the barn
there are ripped electrical cables and broken
farm tools in it is a forgotten place. The
director is signalling that Ree is in danger. The camera blurs off focus
for a moment. This is from Ree's view as she cannot see clearly because
of the assault. She is lying on the ground, vulnerable to an attack by the
gang. Defiantly, she spits blood out of her mouth. Megan asks Ree what
they should do with her to which she replies ‘Kill me I suppose".
7. Thump Milton enters and tells Ree she better say what is on her
mind. She looks him straight in the eye and
says: 'If Dad has done wrong, Dad has paid.
And whoever killed him, I don't need to
know all that. But I can't forever carry them
kids, and my mom — not without that
house'. It is a hugely brave thing to do. She faces a violent and
dangerous gang in the hope of saving her family home. She speaks
bluntly to them, and she even accepts the murder of her father.
8. Merab and her sisters call to see Ree and offer to take her to Jessup's
body. The women get into a rowboat with Ree and they go out onto a
pond. Merab stops the boat and points into the water: 'You're gonna
need to reach down and tug him up.' Ree puts her arms into the water
and recoils at what she feels. At the second attempt she grasps her
dead father's hand. Merab offers her a chainsaw: 'Well, how else you
gonna get his hands?' Ree suddenly
understands that she needs proof that her
father is dead. The only way to get out of
repaying a bond is the death of the person
who owes the money. But she cannot bring
herself to cut her father's hands off. Merab
starts the chainsaw and grimaces as she chops off one of Jessup's
hands. Ree lets go of his body. 'Why'd you let go? You're gonna need
both hands, or sure as shit they'll say he cut one off to keep from going
to prison,' says Merab. She plunges her hands into the pond again.
Merab cuts off the second hand. Finally, her father's 'Let it go,' says
Merab. Ree must let her father's body sink back into the pond. This key
moment demonstrates Ree's won’t let her family lose their home, even
though she is sickened by the act of cutting her father's hands off.
9. The film's final scene shows that Ree
Dolly is a deeply thoughtful heroine. The
bondsman calls to see Ree. He reveals that
as the court has proof of Jessop's death,
Ree's family now own the family home and
the money put down for Jessup's bond. The
bondsman looks at Ree with awe: 'I don't know how you did that,' he
says, referring to the way Ree got her father's hands as proof that he
had died. Her witty reply sums up her family pride, as well as her quiet
confidence. She reminds him that she is a Dolly 'bread and buttered, I
told you'.
10. The film ends with Ree on the front step sitting beside Ashlee and
Sonny. He asks her if she is going to join the
army. 'I'd be lost without the weight of you two
on my back,' she says, reassuring her younger
brother that she is not going to join the army.
Ree hugs Sonny and smiles at Ashlee. The
director keeps the camera focused on the three
of them, as Ashlee strums the banjo. It is a beautiful way to conclude
the film, and it reinforces our view of Ree as a thoughtful heroine. She
stares into the distance, quietly thinking about the life-changing events
of the film.